Looks can be deceiving. That’s true even without any deliberate effort to misrepresent anything. It’s especially true after applying thousands of dollars’ worth of cosmetic procedures on those looks, which are then propagandized in crystal-clear HD on social media, as is the case with the Islamic State.

It’s such effective psychology that United States Army Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.) declared: “[The Islamic State] is now the new face of radical Islam. … The evidence is clear.”

However, the Trumpet strongly disagrees, as editor in chief Gerald Flurry said in his February 28 Key of David program: “The face of radical Islam is still Iran many times over.”

Mr. Flurry has been declaring this since 1992, and he’s still saying it today. Why? He explained in the same program that “history” and “what is happening on the world scene tells us that even right now.”

Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran has been the deadliest Islamist entity in the Middle East. Other entities have come and gone, some have weakened, others have morphed from one form to another, and some have only come late in the game. But Iran has been a consistent menace.

Since 1984, the U.S. State Department has designated Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. The State Department’s archives of Country Reports on Terrorism consistently condemn Iran as “the most active state sponsor of terrorism.” And, as the reports note, Iran’s terrorist activities have been increasing. In 2012, Iran “increased its terrorist-related activity” and “reached a tempo unseen since the 1990s.”

Right now, as Mr. Flurry indicated, there is profuse evidence that Iran is the king of radical Islam. The nation extends a heavy influence over Iraq’s government and Shiite militias. It is the primary sponsor of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria. In Yemen, it sponsors the Houthi militia, which recently deposed an American-aligned government. In Lebanon, Iran sponsors Hezbollah as a terrorist proxy. And in times past, Iran has, in one form or another, collaborated with al Qaeda and the group that became the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, the international legitimacy Iran has acquired is astounding. Iranian diplomats sit at negotiating tables with Western authorities—something the Islamic State can only dream of. Hezbollah is a prime example of how Iran and its terrorist proxies have been tolerated and legitimized. It took Europe 30 years to decide that the terrorist organization was, indeed, a terrorist organization. Yet some of these same nations only apply that designation to Hezbollah’s military wing—but not its political wing.

Both the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic State are staunchly Islamic—very Islamic, as Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry explained in his latest Trumpet Daily program.

Both entities believe in the Islamic doctrine of Taqiyya—permissible deceit and lying toward non-Muslims. Islamic State leaders quote eighth-century Muslim authority al-Muhallab, who declared, “You must use deception in war, for it is more effective than reinforcements.” Iranian leaders have similarly lied about their nefarious programs and even bragged about it.

Author and former Islamic studies professor at the American University of Beirut, Sami Mukaram, wrote in his book Dissimulation in Islam:

Taqiyya is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practices it … We can go so far as to say that the practice of Taqiyya is mainstream in Islam, and that those few sects not practicing it diverge from the mainstream …. Taqiyya is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era.

The Islamic State’s primary use of deceit is to make itself appear more menacing than it actually is. Unfortunately, it’s working well. On the other hand, Iran’s primary purpose for deception is to appear less menacing than it actually is. That too, is working well, unfortunately. Through that strategy, Iran could acquire weapons far more terrifying than the Islamic State’s knives, tanks and rockets.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in his March 3 speech to the U.S. Congress: “To defeat [the Islamic State] and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war.”

As Gerald Flurry explained, Iran is still the face of radical Islam. Failure to defeat Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is not just losing a battle—as would be the case with defeating the Islamic State—it’s losing the war.

If you haven’t already, watch Stephen Flurry’s program “The Iranian Threat—Imagine ISIS With Nukes“ and Gerald Flurry’s program “Germany‘s Secret Strategy to Destroy Iran.” These programs will help you better understand who will lose the war against radical Islam and who will win it.