In a previous article I wrote about the Spirit of Christ vs the spirit of antichrist. What we are seeing in Iran is an, “in the news”, example of this. The battle of Christ vs antichrist ultimately takes place inside of every person in real time, as we each decide by our own free will, whose side we choose to join, What we are seeing in the news, concerning the Iran war, and the news in general, are the physical results of the spiritual war we are all involved in.

We recently saw how the Iranian Islamic government was willing to slaughter thousands of unarmed citizens who were simply protesting for their right to freedom; that is to make their own individual decision to worship the God they choose. The Iran regime is one of the cruelest barbaric governments on earth. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with its Basij militia and allied security forces, serves as the regime’s primary instrument of internal repression in Iran. It enforces strict control through systematic violence, including maiming people, public executions, coercion of athletes and civilians, and mass killings. An antichrist government system uses tactics to terrorize the population, deter dissent, and maintain the regime’s grip on power through fear.

The current Iran regime is a terrorist government, both to other nations and to their own people. During the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests (sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in “morality police” custody) and subsequent waves, IRGC-linked forces repeatedly used shotguns, pellet guns, and paintball weapons at close range, deliberately aiming at protesters’ faces and eyes. This was not random crowd control but a calculated tactic to maim, mark, and psychologically break people—especially women and youth—leaving them visibly scarred and often unable to work or participate publicly. The people have been begging the USA and Israel to help set them free.

Iran is a house divided. Polls show that only 40% of Iranians consider themselves Muslim. The problem is that those who identify with Shia Islam, estimated at 32% to 40%, believe that the 60% majority of the population should submit or be slaughtered in barbaric ways.

This research originates from independent online surveys by GAMAAN (Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran). Their landmark 2020 survey (over 50,000 respondents, mostly inside Iran via anonymous online methods) found only ~40% identified as Muslim overall (~32% Shia, ~5% Sunni, ~3% Sufi), with ~9% atheist, ~8% Zoroastrian (often cultural/nationalist rather than practicing), ~7% spiritual, ~6% agnostic, and ~22% “none.” Many Christian mission organizations, persecution watch groups, and evangelical ministries widely describe Iran’s underground church as one of the fastest-growing—if not the fastest-growing—in the world.

Around half reported having “lost their religion,” and high support for secularism (e.g., separation of religion and state). Later GAMAAN polls (e.g., 2023–2025) and related discussions show similar trends: growing secularism, irreligiosity (~50%+ non-religious or having lost faith in some interpretations), and strong opposition to theocratic elements (e.g., 70–80% favoring secular government or rejecting compulsory religious rules). As few as 20% of the people actually support the regime. That means 20%, and possibly less, are keeping 80% of the people in a cruel national prison camp of control.

Islam is not the oldest religion in Iran. Zoroastrianism was founded by the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra) between roughly 1500 and 1000 BCE in eastern Greater Iran. It became the state religion of the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian empires.

At age 30, while fetching water for a ritual at dawn, Zoroaster (Zarathustra) experienced a divine vision where the being Vohu Manah (“Good Thought”) appeared and led him into the presence of Ahura Mazda (the Wise Lord) and other radiant figures. This revelation taught him the principles of the “Good Religion,” emphasizing monotheism, the battle between good and evil, and the importance of free will, leading him to reject the traditional polytheism of his time.

At its core these are simple yet profound beliefs:

1) – Worship of one supreme good God, “Ahura Mazda” (“Wise Lord”), creator of all that is light, truth, and order.

2) – A cosmic moral dualism: humanity’s free choice between, “Asha” (truth, righteousness) and the lie of evil (Angra Mainyu).

3) – The famous ethical triad: “Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds”.

4)- Belief in an afterlife judgment at the Chinvat Bridge, resurrection, and a final renovation of the world where evil is defeated forever.

Fire symbolizes divine purity; temples kept eternal flames. Zoroastrianism gave the world some of its earliest concepts of heaven and hell, angels, a coming savior, and ethical monotheism

Zoroastrianism seems to be more similar to Christianity and Judaism than Islam.

The empire that spread Zoroastrian values across the known world was founded by Cyrus the Great (559–530 BCE). He united the Iranian peoples—Medes, Persians, and others—into the first Persian Empire. Cyrus was almost certainly a monotheistic worshiper of Ahura Mazda (the supreme wise lord of Zoroastrianism), practiced religious tolerance (a hallmark of Zoroastrian ethics), and his actions—like freeing captive peoples and restoring temples—reflect Zoroastrian values of justice and benevolence. He is celebrated in Zoroastrian tradition as a pious ruler inspired by these ideals. His famous Cylinder and the biblical Edict of Restoration (allowing Jews to return from exile) embody this spirit of mercy.

Zoroastrian Iran fell not because its faith was weak, but because of military conquest. Between 633 and 651 AD, Violent Arab Muslim gangs of the Rashidun Caliphate defeated the Sasanian Empire at decisive battles such as al-Qadisiyyah (636) and Nahavand (642). The last Sasanian king, Yazdegerd III, was killed in 651. Within two decades the entire Iranian plateau came under Muslim rule.

Conversion was gradual—driven by tax incentives, social pressure, and integration—taking two to four centuries until Islam became the majority faith around the 9th–10th centuries. Islam is more than a religion, it is a governing political system of totalitarian conquest, like communism.

Even then, Iranians preserved their language and many customs, eventually shaping a distinctly Persian form of Islam. Today’s widespread protests, demands for secular government, and declining religious observance in Iran are not random. They echo the ancient tension between authoritarian rule and the Zoroastrian ideal of justice that Cyrus embodied. Historically, Iran has repeatedly thrown off imposed ideologies—whether Hellenistic, Arab, or now theocratic—while quietly preserving its pre-Islamic identity.

Is it possible that Jesus appeared to Zoroaster? I believe that it is possible based on the things he was taught. The one he calls, “Wise Lord”, creator of all that is light, truth, and order, certainly matches God, our Righteous Father, who reveled Himself through the Biblical Jesus, we know.

Jesus has always been the WORD, the communication and mediator between, God, our Righteous Father, and man. In Genesis 15:1, The “WORD of the Lord” came to Abram in a vision. Many Bible scholars believe that the “WORD of the Lord” in the Old Testament, is Jesus in the New Testament.

The things revealed to Zoroastrian would have been given in a way he could understand. If he was taken into Heaven, then those things would be communicated heart to heart, in perfect communication. When Zoroastrian returned and began to publish his revelations they would have been translated from his understanding.

For God is One, and The Mediator of God and the sons of men is One: The Son of Man, Yeshua The Messiah, Who gave himself a ransom in the place of every person, a testimony that has come in its time, (1 Timothy 2:5-6).