Russia and Iran Stirring the Winds of Prophecy - by Bill Wilson, KIN Senior Analyst – www.watch.org

Anyone who has ever had any doubt about where Russian President Vladimir Putin stands among the leaders of the world need only look as far as his most recent visit to Iran to determine that the former KGB boss is no ally to liberty and justice. Putin, in a visit to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned the United States that it should not use any former Soviet republic as a staging ground for military action against Iran.

Russia and Iran have been strong business partners in energy, weapons and nuclear technology; and politically, Russia has supported Iran on the United Nations Security Council by blocking strong sanctions against Iran's nuclear program — which is being built with Russian help. According to the Associated Press, Putin, at a summit of the five nations that border the inland Caspian Sea held in Tehran, said none of the nations' territory should be used by any outside countries for military force against any nation in the region.

It was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. is planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran. Putin said, "We are saying that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state." Ahmadinejad added that none of the Caspian Sea nations should allow an outside nation to harbor its ships for military purposes.

The Caspian Sea is thought to have about a third of the world's energy reserves. Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet Union and Iran shared the resources of the Caspian. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, however, claims to the Caspian have been diluted — with each of the former Soviet republics claiming an amount commensurate with its shoreline.

The positive U.S. relationship with some of those former Soviet satellites has Putin worried that they would sell the U.S. energy by bypassing Russia. Iran is worried that the U.S. will use them as launching bases in military action against it. Russia and Iran are the cornerstones of an end-time prophecy in Ezekiel where Magog (modern-day Russia), and Persia (modern-day Iran), will join forces with other nations to attack Israel with such vast military resources that, as it is said in Ezekiel 39:9 , after they have been defeated by divine intervention "those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel . . . for seven years they will use them for fuel." The groundwork for Russia to attack Israel has been laid over the past 40 years as the former Soviet Union was an instigator of and supporter of the Arab nations that came against Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

As Iran and Russia continue to solidify their relationship politically, economically and militarily, the prophecy clock tick forward toward this end time collision.