US and Israeli Duo’s Aggression Against Iran: Heading Towards the Armageddon End-Times War?

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, WASHINGTON— When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared as an enlightened secular figure disappointed with Iran’s “theocracy” and stated that Iran’s leaders are extremist Shia clerics who make geopolitical decisions based on their religious views, and when US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also declared that extremist regimes like Iran, clinging to what he called the “Islamic illusion,” should not possess nuclear weapons, US military leaders instead conveyed an entirely different message to their troops. One leader urged his officers to tell their troops that the war is part of God’s plan, then stood before the officers quoting Bible verses about the Battle of Armageddon and the imminent return of Christ. He asserted to his officers that US President Donald Trump has been anointed by Jesus to ignite the spark of this war with Iran, serving as the starting point for the outbreak of the Battle of Armageddon and the subsequent return of Jesus to Earth. The situation is not much different in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted the Torah amid the war against Iran. He equated Iran with Amalek, the ancient enemy in the Torah symbolising evil. On 28 February, a few hours after the start of the war operations against Iran, Netanyahu linked the comparison between ancient Persia and the current Iranian regime. He cited the biblical story in which the Persian enemy sought to destroy the Jewish nation, but the Jew Mordecai and Queen Esther succeeded in saving the nation, leading to the fall of the Persian enemy; similarly, according to Netanyahu’s claim, the evil Iranian regime will collapse. Quoting Al Jazeera, Thursday (26/3/2026), the symbolism here is clear: just as the Persian leader in Jewish heritage sought to annihilate the Jewish people, Iran now, according to Netanyahu, threatens to destroy the occupying state and seeks to acquire nuclear weapons, as if Jewish history is repeating itself according to the religious narrative he is trying to promote. Amid these lines, we find indications that the US-Israel war against Iran is not merely a war aimed at freeing Iran from religious governance, but a war driven by religious visions as well, alongside the geopolitical objectives of the US and Israel.