Thirty years ago, the largest man-made, non-nuclear explosion in history ripped through the Marine Battalion Landing Team headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. The explosion vaporized the majority of the four-story building and punched a 39-foot crater into the ground. Two hundred and forty-one sleeping American servicemen residing in the barracks never awoke that night.

The perpetrators of 1983 attack on the Marine base in Beirut were from the recently established terrorist group Hezbollah.

From the beginning, this group was supported by Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (irgc) was accused of planning the Beirut attack. The mastermind behind it was the irgc commander in charge of the region. His name is Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan.

In 1982, Dehghan, a senior member of the irgc, was dispatched to Lebanon to aid Hezbollah in its establishment as a formidable terrorist group in the region. It was under his guidance that Hezbollah carried out the attack that killed the 241 American servicemen.

Following his exploits in the Levant, Dehghan was sent home to Iran, where he commanded the Revolutionary Guard’s Tehran unit before moving up to deputy commander of the irgc’s air force, then commander in 1990. The next step was deputy chief of the irgc Joint Staff in 1992. In 2005, he was head of the Martyr’s Foundation, and held that position until 2009.

The U.S. Treasury has this to say about the Martyr’s Foundation:

The Martyrs Foundation is an Iranian parastatal organization that channels financial support from Iran to several terrorist organizations in the Levant, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. To this end, the Martyrs Foundation established branches in Lebanon staffed by leaders and members of these same terrorist groups. Martyrs Foundation branches in Lebanon has also provided financial support to the families of killed or imprisoned Hezbollah and PIJ members, including suicide bombers in the Palestinian territories.

Dehghan’s latest posting really takes the cake. Hasan Rouhani—the man championed as Iran’s new “moderate” prime minister—has made Dehghan the Minister of Defense.

That’s right. The man many claim was behind the murder of over 200 U.S. servicemen now has a front row seat in the Iranian cabinet.

This is a severe slap in the face for America, which is desperately attempting to thaw the icy relations between the two nations. But Rouhani is far from the “moderate” America is basing its foreign policy hopes on.

The Trumpet’s editor in chief, Gerald Flurry, commented on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarks on Rouhani:

Prime Minister Netanyahu urged the world to not be fooled by Rouhani. In his public addresses, Rouhani mentions the “human tragedy in Syria”—but, as Netanyahu pointed out, Iran is one of the biggest supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad! Rouhani condemned the “violent scourge of terrorism”—yet Iran is the world’s chief sponsor of terrorism! Rouhani criticized “attempts to change the regional balance through proxies”—but Iran itselfuses proxies to stir up violence in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Bahrain and several other places.

Rouhani’s most recent radical action is the appointment of Dehghan as minister of defense. Can anyone point out how this man fits into Rouhani’s “moderate” image? Certainly, in 2012 he joined a group of ministers who wrote a letter criticizing then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But a single letter does not a sheep out of a wolf make.

The truth is, Rouhani has selected the perfect radical candidate for a radical government.

Placing Dehghan into the office wins Rouhani the support of the irgc, which has enjoyed having its members occupy the last two minister of defense positions. And Dehghan’s close ties with a multitude of Iranian proxies and allies across the Middle East, established over the course of his long and violent career of dealing with the various Iranian terrorist arms, will undoubtedly come in handy when handling the nation’s military objectives.

Rouhani can play the “moderate” image all day, but if you see a sheep running with a pack of wolves, chances are, it isn’t a sheep. As Mr. Flurry points out:

Much of the international community appears to be deeply impressed with the new Iranian president, Hasan Rouhani. People are enamored with his supposed “moderate” inclinations.That is madness. Anyone who believes Rouhani is moderate has to ignore mountains of evidence to the contrary. Rouhani headed Iran’s Security Council from 1989 to 2003. During that time Iran’s henchmen murdered opposition leaders in a Berlin restaurant. They murdered 85 people at a Jewish community center in Argentina. They killed 19 American soldiers by blowing up the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

The world, especially America and Britain, is fooled by Rouhani’s moderate words. They are so blinded by their pursuit of peace with Iran that they won’t look at the facts—like the Iranian defense minister being responsible for the murder of 241 American citizens.

What will it take for the world to wake up and see the true danger that is building in Iran? Will it take another Beirut, or worse? With Iran about to create its own nuclear bomb, failing to see the radical regime behind Rouhani could lead to a deadly lesson indeed. Mr. Flurry continues:

What will it take for people to give up their devotion to trivial pastimes, and focus on the Earth-shattering events around them? Open your eyes, and you know the world around you is falling apart. Time is short. However, there is still time for individuals to escape the coming nuclear destruction, when, as Amos says, there will only be “pieces” of the nations of Israel left.Also, understand that there is incredible hopebeyond the coming horrors of nuclear darkness. Don’t lose sight of the vision at the end of Amos. If you can grasp that vision, if you can avoid the distractions of our world and see beyond the terrible times to come. Then you can be sure to one day participate in the awesome world God has in store!

If you really want to understand Iran’s role in days ahead, order and read a copy of The King of the South, and see why the new “moderate” regime cannot be trusted.