Hero Nation Iran

by Karl Richter

Karl Richter on Iran as the Katechon and the humbling of the Great Satan.

Last night we witnessed a turning point that can only be described as historic—an event of the kind one perhaps experiences once every thirty or forty years. The opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was such an event (even if we see it differently today), and another was the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

But this time, something even greater was at stake, and anyone with a certain sensitivity could perceive it: the Iranian people went to the very limits of what is humanly possible. Hundreds of thousands were prepared to defend bridges, power plants, and vital infrastructure with their own lives after Trump and his ally Israel announced their criminal plan to destroy the foundations of Iranian life. Trump, seemingly driven only by sinister forces and whisperings, openly threatened “the end of an entire civilization.” The Iranians were ready to sacrifice themselves. God heard them. Whoever wishes may see a miracle in that night.

In recent weeks, the Iranians have revealed themselves as the heroic people of our time. Who would have expected them to stand up for five weeks against the heavily armed military and nuclear powers of the United States and Israel? That they would ultimately prevail? Something incomparable has unfolded before our eyes.

The consequences are still difficult to foresee. The “Great Satan” has been humiliated before the eyes of the world. Now on the table are the demands from Tehran, forming the basis of the forthcoming ceasefire negotiations: the complete withdrawal of all U.S. forces from the region; the full release of all Iranian assets frozen abroad; the opening of the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian conditions; and the codification of these terms in a binding UN resolution under international law. If the Iranians succeed in this, they will emerge as victors—as a new regional power, and as a full member of the community of nations that, after 47 years of deadly sanctions imposed by the “values-based West,” has broken its chains and stands with head held high. Nota bene: only recently, the American political scientist Prof. John J. Mearsheimer recalled that U.S. sanctions have caused 38 million deaths over the past 50 years.

38 million deaths.

If the peace now being negotiated holds, future historians will date from this moment the beginning of a new order in the 21st century—one in which the world has ceased to dance to the tune of the West. The United States, humiliated in its most fundamental domain—military power—will henceforth be a toothless tiger. The world, aside from the utterly hollowed-out and impotent Europeans, will no longer feel either respect or fear towards it. Its time is over, and that is for the best.

I admit that I do not write these lines without emotion and profound disturbance. I know Iran from personal experience; I know and respect the five-thousand-year-old Persian culture, which ranks among the richest and most beautiful in the world. It is connected to our own through a thousand subtle, subterranean channels; as is well known, the Iranians are an Aryan brother people. They tell this to German travelers at every turn, because it matters to them.

Karl Richter in Mashhad in May 2018, on the occasion of a congress marking al-Quds Day.

At this hour, the streets and cities of the country are overcome with boundless jubilation. A people has proven to the world that the criminal rule of “USrael” is not a law of nature. It can be resisted. Its mask can be torn from its face. It is worth fighting. It is worth being ready for sacrifice. When will we, as Germans, be ready?

I do not wish to be a Cassandra. The Great Satan will not rest. It requires the great war, the great slaughter, which was once again averted last night. The Iranians are, at present, the Katechon—the restrainer who, at the end of times, stands for a brief moment against the coming of the Antichrist. One may dismiss this as a fantasy. Yet it suffices simply to open one’s eyes. And still, one can, at this very moment, feel profoundly happy.

(Translated from the German)