Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Europeans on January 28 that Iran will do nothing to help end the bloody Syrian civil war, which has caused the largest mass migration of refugees since World War ii.

At a news conference in Paris, Rouhani was asked if Iran would drop its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

From the European point of view, the question was a logical one.

Many Europeans say the surest way to resolve the crisis of refugees pouring across their borders is to settle the problem’s source: the Syrian civil war. It’s clear the war won’t end until Assad is out of office. And for the last several years, one of the main factors perpetuating Assad’s reign has been Iran’s staunch support for his regime.

But with the new Western embrace of Iran has come new hopes of Iran reversing its policy toward Assad. After all, now that Iran has been declared a member in good standing of the international community, and now that Europe is cutting billions in business deals with Iran, surely the Iranians would want to start doing their part to help resolve international crises.

This line of thinking prompted an Agence France-Presse reporter to ask Rouhani the question that was on the minds of many hopeful Europeans: Will Iran finally drop its support of Assad, which is bringing so much mayhem to European nations?

But Rouhani failed to see the logic. He called the question “strange.”

To him, the very idea that the nuclear deal and the global community’s sudden embrace of Iran would have any effect on Tehran’s Syria policy was bizarre.

While standing next to French President François Hollande, who has called many times for Assad to step down, Rouhani dismissed the question and said: “Syria’s problem is not a question of people. The problem is terrorism and the Islamic State.”

These brash statements would have upset many Europeans.

Iran is clearly the kingmaker in Syria. Iran is in a unique position to take steps that would bring some resolution to the crisis and stem the flow of refugees into Europe. To many Europeans, Tehran’s blithe refusal to take any such steps is provocative.

The Trumpet has long pointed to a prophecy in the biblical book of Daniel that says, in the end time, Iran will “push” against Europe. This push will infuriate the European nations and eventually prompt them to react with force (Daniel 11:40).

In response to the ongoing refugee crisis, Europe is becoming more nationalistic and militaristic. As the refugees keep flooding across its borders, Europe is positioning itself to be capable of taking devastating military action.

And since that European transformation is happening largely as a result of the refugee crisis, we can identify Iran’s role in perpetuating that crisis as a part of its prophesied “push” against Europe.

At present, Europe is still enduring the push of radical Islam with restraint. But its patience is thinning. When the time is right, and when the patience of Europeans has been depleted, the nations of Europe will take decisive and devastating action against the powers of radical Islam.

To understand the details of how this devastation will occur and what its consequences will be, read our free booklet Nahum: An End-Time Prophecy for Germany.