JERUSALEM, Israel – This past week has brought a new reality to Iranians and to those who have helped the Iranian Church for decades. Iranian-born Lana Silk, from Transform Iran, shared her thoughts on the implications of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, explaining how the regime is portraying it as a victory.
To watch the interview, click on the video above. We’ve also included the text of the discussion below.
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CHRIS MITCHELL: Lana, a lot of people right now in the West are talking about peace, and they’re talking about this deal being a very good thing. But, how are our enemies looking at this?
LANA SILK: Our enemies, I think, see us as a little bit foolish and naive in what we are celebrating right now. They have made their long-term objectives no secret, and those objectives haven’t changed. And we only need to look at Islamic precedents to see that it’s smart play for Sharia-led, you know, Shi’ite Islam, a Muslim, to lie, to get to their objectives.
In fact, just a week or so ago there was a quote in an Iranian paper by Rafsanjani, Jr. So his father was prime minister not long ago, and he said, you know, we can make any agreement we want with America. Trump will be gone in two years, and we can tear up that agreement whenever we want. So, they’re not even hiding these things. We just have to be really careful.
We talk about peace, and we think that by not fighting right now we have restored peace and, or even worse, stability. We haven’t. What we’ve given is money in the pockets of our enemy, and time for them to regroup, to strengthen themselves, and to get back to the fight that they have all along intended to fight and win. So just because we’re not fighting in this moment doesn’t mean that we have stability or national security long-term. I don’t believe we do.
I think Iran is still intent on the same purposes, and we’ve just bought her time and given her funds.
CM: Would you call this what they say in Islam a “hudna” (a period of time for a pause to regroup and re-arm)?
LS: Yes. Yeah, I think it is. And in fact, you know, when they talk to each other, sometimes they’ll do that; they’ll speak to make an English statement, and then they’ll turn to Arabic or in Iranian cases, Farsi, and say, remember a hudna, just let’s remember we have a long-term plan here and we’ll get there.
CM: There’s a 60-day period right now when they’re going to be discussing Iran’s nuclear program. What do you expect in those 60 days?
LS: I expect Iranians to lie, to get what they want and play the game that they need to play to buy themselves even more time. Every time we’re into negotiations, or some kind of ceasefire, what that means to Iran is time. They get to just figure themselves out. They get to play the long game. Their important officials are (in) lifelong posts. Their enemies are in a democratic context where every four years or however many years, they’re replacing their leaders, they’re replacing their regime, even their agenda.
Meanwhile, the Iranian ayatollah just continues decade after decade, in the same vein, so they can afford to wait things out. They can afford to keep stringing us along until they have the kind of regime, leadership in the U.S. that they’re more willing to dialog with, or feel that they can overcome more easily. They know they can’t overcome Trump as he is right now. He’s too aggressive; he can be even too volatile. So they’re just waiting him out, really, and that’s what this is.
This is just more time. And if we look at the immediate agreements that have been made, the biggest thing that Iran has given away is the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz wasn’t even something that we were discussing six, seven, eight months ago. I feel like they’ve been so smart. They’ve taken something from us just so they can use it as leverage to then return back to us. So really, they’ve just gone back to where they started, and in return they bought time and released funds for themselves. So I just think, I think the Iranian government are the winners in this negotiation right now.
CM: Any final thoughts, Lana?
LS: Well, we don’t want to lose hope with all of this. These are the facts on the table, and we should be informed. And we should not be duped by the sort of, the frenzy of, oh, great, everything is good now. But once we’re informed, then we get on our knees, and we pray, with authority, with confidence that God is the victor in all this. And God is not surprised. And God has a plan.
And it does make me think a little bit also about what happened in Egypt, you know, when God worked through Moses to liberate the Israelites. There was a lot of immediate hardship; there was a hardening of the heart of the Pharaoh. And, you know, God could have just softened Pharaoh immediately and taken the Israelites out of captivity. But he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and everyone paid a price for that. The curses that came – the locusts, the darkness, the dead livestock – you know, this affected everyone. Everyone paid a price for it. And through all of that, God was making sure that everyone understood that He, and He alone, delivered the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh.
So I look at all these events, and I think God is getting ready to liberate Iran. He wants to use Iran for good. He wants to bring stability, but He will not allow anyone, whether it’s the Iranian leaders or American or Israeli leaders, any of them there, none of them are going to get the glory. God is going to stand up and say, I did it even when it looked completely impossible; I delivered. So that’s where I see this going.
CM: Amen. Great insight, Lana, so good. Transform Iran. Thank you so much.
LS: Thank you.
