Skip to content What Just Happened in Iran? Update on the Geopolitical Situation in the Middle East Mar 16 · 56 min ...more
What Just Happened in Iran? Update on the Geopolitical Situation in the Middle East
March 16, 2026 · 56 min
Series World Prayer Network Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
13.6K followers
Dr. Jim Garlow is a lifelong pastor who most recently served in San Diego, California, and now leads Well Versed, a ministry dedicated to bringing biblical
13.6K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Jesus Reigns: Historic Victories Over Evil 0:31 Well, we welcome you to the World Prayer Network, and we wanna remind you the purpose of the call. The purpose of this call is really very simple. We pray for holiness, righteousness, for biblical justice as opposed0:43 to social justice, and for truth to prevail throughout the nation and the nations throughout the Earth. If you're a part of the media or part of the press, we ask you to please step off of this call. Nothing ever heard0:55 here on the World Prayer Network is to be reported other than here. Thank you for honoring that. And last of all, we wanna remind you the issue of partisanship or way beyond that. We're way beyond the issue1:07 of Democrat or Republican or right versus left. But where we are squarely planted is good versus evil and right versus wrong, light versus darkness, biblical1:19 truth as opposed to anti scriptural constructs, and things of God as opposed to the things of the evil 1. With that being said, we begin every World Prayer Network call with the with the with the shofar.1:31 Robert,1:55 Thank you, Robert. Well, I'm Holly Sorrell. I'm helping fill in tonight for doctor Jim and Rosemary Garlow. And I've also got our special guest, Pam Prior. Pam Prior is cohosting this evening.2:07 She is the former acting assistant secretary for international organizations at the State Department. Pam, welcome to the World Prayer Network.2:16 Thank you, Holly. And since I am former, I think I'm probably getting a lot more sleep than anybody at the current State Department. So it's good to be with you, though. I really appreciate this time and the topic that2:27 we're gonna be discussing tonight.2:29 Thank you so much. Pam is a wonderful friend and supporter of the World Prayer Network. I'm gonna turn it over to her. I'm going to let her introduce our very special guest this evening, Pam.2:40 Thank you, Holly. Well, my goodness. What an incredible 36 hours this has been. I think I need to start with the fact that I never thought I'd see2:52 this day in my lifetime, but I'm getting used to saying that a lot with president Trump and his administration. I never thought I'd see the day Roe v. Wade was over, and I never thought I'd see the day when3:04 the Ayatollah Khomeini was actually taken out and that an American president stood up to Iran, a country that for all of my adult years3:16 has been saying death to America. And now maybe we have a chance. But over all of this, I want us to remember that Jesus reigns above it3:28 all. None of this was a surprise. God is in control, and it's going to be a very tense few weeks, but we do know who we can rely on. And3:40 I am so grateful for that and for the World Prayer Network. And I'm also grateful for our guests tonight, Darren Gob. I asked Darren earlier if I could read off of his website and I thought, boy,3:52 that was crazy because if Darren didn't want it on his website, it wouldn't be there. But you've probably seen Darren, if you've watched at all what's going on with Operation Epic4:03 Fury, you have probably seen Darren. Darren has been up for probably 48 or so hours right now, maybe working on just a little bit of sleep, but Darren is a4:16 Lieutenant Colonel. He's retired now. He's no stranger. I'm gonna read this to you because this is good. He's no stranger to hard truths or hard landings. Over the course of a 28 year military career,4:27 he served as an infantryman, a helicopter pilot, strategic planner, task force commander with deployments across the globe. I also, he didn't put this on there, but he's4:39 won several commendations, bronze stars on and on. But long before his uniform came off, he understood that service doesn't end when the war does. Today, Darren continues4:51 that mesh mission not with weapons, but with words, leadership, and a steady moral compass. He's become a trusted voice on national news networks, relentless advocate for constitutional5:03 values through Restore Liberty, the grassroots organization that he cofounded. So whether he's addressing a church, briefing a media panel, or writing from his kitchen table in Montana,5:15 Gough brings clarity, conviction, and hard earned insight to the challenges facing America today. And the last 2 sentences I think are really important. He writes not to impress, but to5:27 equip, And he leads not to be followed, but to serve a nation he still believes is worth fighting for. Darren, thank you so much for being with us. And I don't know how5:39 you're upright after all that you've been through, but we are so glad that you were here and anxious to hear your thoughts, Darren, on what's going on. If you could,5:51 it's a very dynamic situation. I've been glued to the television and which is probably not always a good source of information, but it's it's just been phenomenal to6:03 watch what's going on. Probably starting with the fact that an almost 80 year old president delivered the address at 3 in the morning. And you don't have to go6:15 back to too many presidents to think that, just that alone wouldn't have been an accomplishment. So, that started us on this wild, wild time in our life. So6:27 Darren, I just wanna, what's on your mind right now? What are you thinking as you look at this, Israel and the United States and going against that really,6:39 sponsor of terrorism, Iran. What what are you thinking about right now?6:45 Well, start off with what a day to be alive. Yeah. What what else can you say? It has been wonderful despite lack of sleep and various things. There's just anyway, it's6:57 been said before, be careful what you pray for, and I prayed once to say, God would give me a voice so I could be a voice of reason for our country the best I can. It's kinda like praying for patients. It's7:09 gonna come and it's come in droves, but, I am extremely honored to be here tonight in front of of all of you. And I'm thrilled that God has decided that, I'm a voice that he could7:20 use in in whatever way I'd have or small or large on any given day to help provide, I think, reasonable analysis of what's going on, but make sure that most importantly of all of it, it that it's informed by a7:32 biblical worldview. Because I think what is happening not only in Iran, but the effect of what's happening in his in Iran is tempered by a biblical worldview knowing that7:44 history is his story, and I don't have to worry about it, the outcome. I don't have to fear any outcomes. God knows exactly what's gonna happen. You said it. He's not surprised by this. He's not7:56 up on the throne going, oh, I didn't see that coming. And what an opportunity for the people of a country that I hope takes the name back of Persia and8:07 becomes free and prosperous again and is able to really just worship Christ. I mean, let's see what happens. I truly believe that can be8:19 wonderful. And, I don't know how long you want me to go right now if you intended for me to stop and then start again.8:26 Well, let's stop and start again. That's a great8:28 idea. Alright.8:30 Garrett, let's let's cover first kind of the military action that, up until now, what can we expect? I I thought it was so8:42 prescient of president Trump to say, guys, this is not gonna be over in a few days. You know, we got so used to, things out of the Middle East being done quickly, although we've had some wars that8:54 drag on, but we're always hopeful. And I I love the way he set the table that this could take weeks. You know, we'll see. We're starting to see some of our I'm gonna do air quotes around allies,9:06 because outside of Israel. But, anyway, we're trust attorneys see our allies. Those very generous Brits allowed us to use 1 of their air bases or landing strips. But, what9:18 can you just bring us up to date as a military guy, what you've seen and then what you expect to see? Let's let's go with, just this week.Military Mastery: Operation Epic Fury Breakdown 9:27 Sure. Well, first of all, timing wise, I have told people on the news that I believe that the the major thrust of the action is going to be completed in 7 to 10 days.9:39 But I I really don't think you're gonna see, military action, specifically bombing or missiles, those kinds of things cease entirely. I think that's gonna go on for a month to 6 weeks9:51 or so because that's just the nature of combat. It's a it's a very fluid environment, and you you can never say it's gonna end here. It's it's always based on conditions, not necessarily a10:03 clock. Now that's the first thing. Second 1, imagine putting together the most complicated choreography you can ever imagine, and then trying to present that10:14 to a world at large. And what you're seeing is that being done right now, and it's being done extraordinarily well. There's always gonna be hiccups. There's no doubt about that. But when you talk about the10:26 number of aircraft, the logistics to support them, the number of targets that are hitting, number of nations involved directly or indirectly, the expertise required to do10:38 this on both on the Israeli side and our side and other allies that are are part of this, I think what we're seeing is a message sent to the world that,10:50 despite what happened under the Biden administration and and the complete lack of focus and despite the failure of Afghanistan and how that happened, that was, you know, that was not necessarily military competence as an11:01 issue. That was strategic national leadership that we didn't have. In this case, we have it, and it's not because Trump's a military expert. It's because he lets the experts do what they do11:13 best. And he tells them ultimately what he wants to see when it's all done. Is that perfect either? No. But, you know, this is a tough environment and nobody else has done this. Nobody else11:25 has tried it. We can't put 150000000000 dollars on pallets and think Iran's gonna become our friend and suddenly act peacefully. So on the military side, we of course pray for those casualties we've11:37 had and we pray for those who are still fighting and hope that they all come home. And we thank them for being such professionals because they are, and they are doing a phenomenal job right now from my perspective as a11:48 as a military strategic planner who's helped deal with making plans for nations like Iran and other regions of the world. It is going about as exact12:00 exact to that plan as I could imagine, and it is going about as well as I can imagine. That's the general broad overview. Next would be the continuation of what you're gonna see is continuing12:12 targeting ballistic missile facilities, maybe even logistics who support their launch, the the command and control facilities that help them launch the missiles themselves, give the commands to do so. Yep.12:24 And the biggest command and control strike was, of course, the first night when 40 were taken out immediately. I think what you're gonna see now, the continuation of that process, degrade air defense, degrade missiles,12:34 degrade nuclear capability, find and kill national leaders who who seek to continue the vision of Khamenei. But the other 1 is number 4 is going to be to remove their navy. Cause if you remove their navy, you remove12:46 their threat from the Strait of Hormuz. And what you don't put the world into is a, an oil price shock potentially that could impact multiple nations and drive prices way up at a time when we don't need it12:58 to. I think the vision of a free and prosperous Persia in the future is worth that risk, but, we've already sunk, last time I checked, 9 ships, 1 submarine, and are doing a pretty13:10 good job of making sure the 21 mile wide straight support moves remains open. And I don't think there's gonna be any tolerance for them trying to shut it down.13:19 Darren, are there any things we should watch for, like you said, 7 to 10 days? Any, any any earmarks where we'll go, oh, things are going that way,13:31 things are going this way. Is it watching? Who else gets behind Iran or or US and Israel? What are what are things we should be watching for? And, again, we're not13:43 nearly as astute on middle military things as you, but what kinds of things should we be saying, oh my goodness, that's a real point of prayer because this is going that way and we need it to go this way.13:55 I think there's 3 things, primarily. And the first 1 being that straight to hormones and what that means to the world, that it stays open. And and, you know, people complaining about oil is like people complaining14:07 about oxygen. It's kinda 1 of those things you gotta have. So, that's important. 2, as you mentioned, who aligns with who at this point? I14:19 call Iran being in a death rattle right now, and they're looking at their lifespan ending as as a as a dictatorship, which is wonderful. That's not a judgment on people of Iran that I think14:30 can would love to be free again. But they're throwing missiles everywhere. In some cases, it just seems like it's totally out of control. And so what they've done is they14:42 seem to have made or be near making enemies of those nations around the gulf that may have been apathetic or just tried to run the middle ground. So how does14:54 this look as nations align, and who do they align with? That's critical to watch too because Saudi Arabia is a strategic competitor to Iran that's religious and socioeconomic,15:08 But, it could show an Iran that's getting increasingly isolated, which could cause, you know, a an Islamist style dictator to react very erratically. So we gotta watch that, see who stays on whose15:19 side. That's not just in the Middle East. That's that's globally, frankly, and see if anybody responds. And then probably the most important 1 is what are the Iranian people gonna do?15:33 Are they gonna rise up? Are they gonna make sure that this dictatorship doesn't come back? Tied to that is what is the IRGC, their, you know, their ground army and their police forces and these things, how do they react15:43 as well? Most people don't know that the IRGC and the Iranian military is more of a military pointed in than out, and they're used to police their own people more than they are. They're not15:55 they're not an invasion force for foreign nations. They're a force for control of their own citizenship citizenry. So that's probably the top 3 I would watch right now. Timing wise, you16:06 know, just know it. And if you start you'll know when it's going, if things are going well, when you can say between, like, say, 10 and 20 that what's going on is a little lower16:18 maybe on sometimes on the media hits.16:23 Darren, thank you for that, by the way. What what what's in your gut for the Iranian people? I know, I worked16:34 under Mike Pompeo, and and I've heard, secretary Rubio say this as well too. We we hate the North Korean government. We hate the Chinese government. We hate the Iranian16:46 government, but we love the Chinese people. We love the North Koreans. We love our Persian brothers and sisters. But beyond16:58 that, when you have been captive for 47 years and and really even a little bit longer than that because of that, just the way that all happened, you know,17:10 sometimes is there the will? Is there the will? My my belief is there is the heart beats and yearns for freedom. But Pam, when when it's just been beat out of you,17:22 you just wonder, will they have the ability? And when they've just watched 32 is the low estimate to maybe 60032 thousand to 60000 of their fellow citizens17:34 be killed for protesting and saying, we do want this freedom. I mean, I I wanna believe, and and I'm I'm going to pray for that. And I think the Lord can disrupt the plans of the enemy.17:46 But, boy, this is the well, it's 64000 dollars is nothing anymore. We should say this is a 64000000000000 dollars question. It's what's gonna come out of Yeah.17:58 What what do you think the people I mean, I can't can you imagine what it's like to be 1 of them right now tonight?18:05 You know, I I I don't think any of us can unless basically we've been a captive. Yeah. And that's how I look at it is, and I wrote on a substack that I'll maybe bring up later too18:17 about what it's like to be in a captive environment and talk about, you know, the Stockholm syndrome. For those who are familiar with that, it's it's when a prisoner basically becomes dependent and starting to18:28 like their captor, to the point where they almost protect their captor more than the people who free them. And and so that on a macro scale is kinda what I'm watching here with the with the people there. I do18:40 believe that there are a number and a probably a vast majority of them, frankly, want it, want that freedom. But do they know how to grasp it with what's in front of18:52 them? Because we're looking at this from the outside in going, why don't you just do this? But this is like the prisoner of war who's been there for 5 years in Vietnam, for example.19:04 And suddenly, they're freed somehow, and they don't really know how to grab on to that. And so I think this is where the leadership side of this comes on. And and I there's a19:16 there's a a saying in military planning and strategic planning that you have to begin with the end in mind. And if I were in the White House or the State Department or something, Department of War, Defense, whatever,19:28 I would ask that question routinely, like, where are we what are we trying to get to? And now build me a road to get there. And it's never perfect. But the Iranian19:40 people are critical to the building of that road. There's 90000000 people in Iran. They can do this. And I think Trump's doing a good job with his messages saying we're here to help,19:52 but that this is going to be the challenge. How do you do that somewhat from a distance? Well, we're setting the conditions to make sure that the the the revolutionary guards and others don't have20:04 the military capacity, 1, to threaten the region. 2, next step is to make sure they can do the limited threat to their own people so those people can throw off their own government20:16 and start anew. And and that's when we come in and say, okay, here's how we think we can help you, but we don't want to do it for you. You can do some things, but they need20:27 ownership. And like I said, I'm teaching in Joshua right now at church. It's wonderful. The conquest of the land of Canaan. And sometimes, God says, you know what? I'm gonna take your enemy army20:39 out for you, and I'm gonna hit them with hailstones and only hit them. Nobody else. God's got a great sense of humor. I think he sits up there and says, watch this.20:51 Let's see what I'm gonna do next. So it's all hedging right now on the reaction of the of the Iranian people, and and I really think in ideal conditions, they can do21:03 this.21:05 Oh, from hopefully. And21:08 Yeah.21:08 But let's and I and I'm with you, and it's not lost on a whole lot of us. The Purim is tomorrow. And we think about there was a time when it looked that Haman was21:20 going to succeed. I mean, he's pulling building the gallows. You know, he's he's set the table, and yet but God. But God.21:32 But God.21:32 And it it will be so fun to watch this. And I think praying for the Iranian people to really have that strength is so important for us. You did mention your article, and I I just read it.Freedom for Persia: People, Oil, and Geopolitics 21:44 I thought it was so good. I wanna spend can we just do, like, 3 minutes on oil21:52 and how21:52 that has a geopolitical, ramification? Really, China, Russia, everybody's involved.22:00 Sure. Yeah. And and that's 1 of the things I found is that, there are some of those topics in that article on my Substack, which if you type in my name in Substack, that's the only 1 you're gonna get. Nobody else wants a22:12 name like mine. It's easy to find. But, and then you can bring up that link to my Substack there, Tristan, if you want. That's easy too. Regarding oil, I would say, first of22:24 all, what stuck out to me the most was that, it started frankly when we went after Maduro in Venezuela. So we took out, their leadership, their leader, I guess you could say their dictator22:36 in Venezuela. In Venezuela, by the way, 80 percent of the oil they sell goes to China and keeps their economy alive. And that's the reason why China wants to control as much as they can in the Panama Canal. So22:48 that's 1 of the major major suppliers of petroleum products into China that keeps their economy going. They're ailing economy. Now, you're basically in the process now of23:00 shutting down their second largest supplier of oil out of out of Iran. And by the way, they get oil for fairly cheap from both of these countries because they're ideologically aligned. And of course,23:11 that's changing. Venezuela shipped oil to the United States finally. Right? So in 60 days, the 2 largest suppliers of oil to China are you know, they're getting removed from23:23 China's, you know, battlespace, we use a military term, and things are changing. That could put China into a pretty hard position, to say the least. And that23:35 does that make it more dangerous or less dangerous or, you know, that remains to be seen. But I think it could be important because that leads to the question of what I hope they're trying to do and I've advocated for23:46 for a while, which is you gotta peel Russia and China apart. You don't have to make them fight each other, but they shouldn't be such close friends right now either because that's what's keeping some of these wars going.23:58 So that oil has been funding the Chinese and what they're doing to the United States and to others around the world. There's a there's a pipeline that has been shut down from construction. They're waiting to see what24:09 happens with Iran because there's a lot of oil and energy pipelines that run through places like Georgia, Armenia, into Turkey. There's a lot of that that's we gotta watch closely and whether24:21 or not there's an oil shock if the straits do get shut down successfully somehow. I don't think that's gonna happen. But our world runs on anticipation of events and risk,24:33 whether it's realized or not, the prices will still go up. Tied to this, of course, is if China goes away or if Iran goes away as a supplier of oil to China, does China now reach out to Russia and become a24:45 friend to get energy from them? And how much does that hurt the market? And what does that do to European nations that are still trying to get it out of Russia as well?24:56 Oil is the blood of the economy of the world right now, and its supply is getting distributed differently than it was before. And China could find itself withering on a vine25:08 if they're not careful.25:10 Wow. And I think a lot of what you're talking about, as you start with, relationships of China and Russia may be coming to25:22 aid Iran. You're you're starting to talk a little bit Ezekiel 38 kind of stuff. And so Yes.25:28 Let's call it Gog and Magog. Right? And Yeah. Yeah. We know.25:32 Just call them what they are. Absolutely.25:34 Yeah.25:34 It's also you know, there's this theory of the butterfly effect. There's just not 1 thing that's ever done in the world that is in isolation. And as we watch this, I've been watching25:47 from a little tiny town in Texas, to LA, even Times Square, the Iranian diaspora just ebullient, joyous.25:59 And I've been thinking, Darren, that that those people from the outside might honestly be able to influence what's going on on the inside. And then the Iranian Christians, the Iranian Jews26:11 that are so thrilled with what's going on, that might be able to give them some backbone.26:19 Oh, it absolutely could. And this is as you mentioned, it's it's way beyond Pallavi and the desire potentially of these folks who left 40 plus years ago to go back there. And maybe he's the name that's gonna be26:31 recognized. And maybe he's the guy who can unite their country to avoid things like civil wars and power struggles and all that that happens when there is a power vacuum like that. I certainly hope so. And then you think26:42 about compare it to the return of the the Jewish people to Israel in April 19 48 and on. The injection of what happened in the region because of Israel's presence26:54 and then, you know, the prowess and the economic prowess, the technological prowess of Israel as a result of what happened. You know, while these folks may choose to go back to Persia and be part of rebuilding the27:04 country that that that that they came from, that organization that was mentioned, Restore Liberty, 1 of the people I work with in California, she was she barely escaped with her parents in 19 79.27:17 She's thrilled. You never know, she may decide that it's time to take her family home to the country where she was born.27:26 Wouldn't it be fun if some of the people on the left could get just a teeny tiny bit of thrill in their demeanor about what's27:34 going on? Know is they hate this country, and it doesn't matter what happens.27:37 Yeah. You're right.27:38 They're27:38 gonna use it to try to do the worst the worst thing they can.27:41 So sad. So sad. Darren, I'm gonna be true to, Holly's request from us. We've got just a couple of minutes left. Anything else we need to be thinking27:53 of? This is not a war of flesh and blood. This is not a war of ballistic missiles or even fighting over oil. We know what it's really about.28:05 It's good versus evil. And this is going to be a showdown. This is, and again, I just wish we had unity in our country too. I think28:17 unity is an important word for us to really camp on. But tell me, what what are your last thoughts before we, go to prayer and worship?28:27 Last thoughts. Yeah. As you mentioned, Ephesians 6. Don't forget to put your armor on and make sure that you remind yourself that it's on your front, not on your back. We're supposed to be advancing at all times, not28:36 retreating. Second of all, my favorite verse of the bible is second Kings 6 17. Take a look at that messes all about Elisha looking around and realize that the hills were full of chariots and horses of fire all around.28:48 I've told people here, if you feel like you're outnumbered, outgun, outfunded, and all these kinds of things, just embrace it because that's the way it's supposed to be. Is if you can accomplish this on your own, you28:58 don't need God, and we all need God. So let's remind ourselves that we are the majority. We always win because God makes sure he fulfills his promises. Last thing29:10 is these terror cells that came across the border, whether they be Chinese, Iranian, or some other Middle Eastern nation where they came from, those things are real. You've seen some of that activity already.29:23 Act like a neighborhood watch. Keep your eyes out. Pray for this nation as well because we're the like Israel, we're in the middle of this fight. And personally, I can think of nowhere I would rather be.29:36 Amen. Amen. My pastor today said, Jesus plus nothing is everything, and we've got Jesus. So we'll take that. We'll take that.29:47 Holly, should I go ahead and pray for Darren right now? Would that be a good time for us to pray for him?29:54 Well, Pam, it'd be great if you could pray for Darren. But right before I have you do that, right before we went on the air, you shared with some us a video, a short clip. If we could play this, this is a wonderful30:06 song. Tristan, could you roll that clip about the, is they were the Iranians in the street rejoicing.30:39 Yeah. Yeah. We we forget. We have brothers and sisters tonight. They were singing in Farsi, way maker, miracle worker. It's and that's what the30:51 Lord is. He is a waymaker. And Darren, right now, you're right. This is gonna be tough. We've we've gotta put our armor on, but we do have the waymaker with us. And I'll31:03 take Jesus plus nothing else, and we'll have everything.31:08 Can I ask a favor real quick?31:10 Sure.31:11 When you pray, can you pray for the Persians and everybody here? Not just not Amen. Not just me, please.31:18 Yeah. I would31:18 say rather you do that.31:20 You know what? We've got so many things to pray for. I'm gonna call an audible here. Holly, I'm gonna turn it back over to you and see where you wanna go with the prayer time. Darren, the 1 quick prayer I wanna do for31:31 you is just may the Lord bless you, keep you, make his face shine upon you. May his angels tonight, like it says in Zephaniah, have danced over you with singing, and may you get31:43 a good night's rest in Jesus' name.31:47 Thank you. I'll be on Fox at 0 1 in the morning eastern, so no promises.31:53 Okay, Holly.31:54 Well, thank you, Pam, and thank you, Darren, for sharing. We're so grateful for that stunning report this evening. Well, we are gonna go into worship. I'll have Kingsley Walker lead us in worship. And then Faith32:05 McDonnell, will you please pray? And Suzanne Trites lead it lead us out in prayer. So Kingsley, go ahead and lead us in worship.Show more In this video 0:00 Jesus Reigns: Historic Victories Over Evil9:27 Military Mastery: Operation Epic Fury Breakdown21:41 Freedom for Persia: People, Oil, and Geopolitics32:20 Worship and Prayer: Covering Persia and Israel
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.