The prince of the Kingdom of Persia then and now

The year was 536 BC, the third year of the reign of King Cyrus the Great. Daniel was on the bank of Tigris River, fasting and mourning, confessing the sins of the Israelites when the Angel Gabriel approached him and said that his journey was delayed for 21 days by “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” as revealed in the book of Daniel chapter 10.

Biblical scholars interpret “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” as a high-ranking demonic or fallen angelic being whose role was to exert spiritual influence over the Persian Empire. This suggests that spiritual forces do exist, influencing or dictating the behavior of human governance.

That chapter suggests that Gabriel was fighting a tough spiritual battle against that demonic angelic being until Archangel Michael came down to fight the guardian of Persia, allowing Gabriel to go on and deliver God’s end-time message to Daniel.

The battle against Israel in the spiritual realm is manifesting itself in today’s reality. The “prince of the kingdom of Persia” that the book of Daniel describes is still working to influence and direct the way in which the “New Persia” should treat Israel.

The “prince of the kingdom of Persia” did not terminate his mission even after Persia renamed itself on 21 March 1935 when Reza Shah Pahlavi formally requested during Nowruz celebrations that foreign governments use “Iran” instead of “Persia” in official correspondence.

For 44 years after that, Iran maintained relatively good relations with the British Mandate for Palestine (1920-1948) established by the League of Nations. But from 1979 onward after the Iranian Revolution, its supreme leader—who brazenly claimed to be the “spirit of God” as declared by the word “Rohullah” in his full name Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini—called Israel “the Little Satan” and America “the Big Satan”.

Not surprisingly even today, pro-government Iranians are still chanting “death to Israel” and “death to America” in their demonstrations. And the current supreme leader is using the phrase “the enemies of Allah” in referring to pro-democracy protesters that aim to overthrow his regime.

Khamenei uses that phrase because he wants all Iranians to believe that, as the political heir of Khomeini, whom he venerates as the “spirit of God,” he is also so divine that people revolting against him are “the enemies of Allah,” punishable by death. This explains why the IRGC feels obliged to savagely crush pro-democracy protesters in the ensuing unrest that began on 28 December 2025.

Khamenei himself has ancestral bloodline ties to an Azeri tribe in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province, where Ebrahim Raisi’s Bell 212 helicopter crashed on 19 May 2024, instantly killing the Iranian president, after he inaugurated Qiz Qalasi Dam with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan—an ally of Israel. Not a big surprise to many.

If those protesting against the regime that venerates the self-acclaimed “spirit of God” are wrong, then that “Prince of Persia” should do his best to protect the regime from falling and keep it safe. But reports about tens of thousands of innocent Iranians having been massacred indicate that the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” is utterly enraged at pro-democracy protesters aiming to overthrow his governance in the physical world.

US President George W. Bush said in his 29 January 2002 State of the Union Address that “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, aiming to threaten the peace of the world,” citing their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear weapons) and support for terrorism as threats to US allies and global security.

I think the phrase “axis of evil” is not the right phrase to describe a sovereign country, because it is inappropriate and derogatory. But I don’t know if in using “axis of evil”—a term previously coined by speechwriters David Frum and Michael Gerson—President Bush was referring to the works of that “prince of the kingdom of Persia”.

But even if he wasn’t, the reality today is that Israel is a sworn enemy of Iran, and the theocratic Islamic regime is determined to destroy the only democratic country in the Middle East and wipe it out of the world map—“from the river to the sea.”

Those who study biblical history should not be surprised why this happens. In Tehilim 83 all the tribes and nations that consider Israel their sworn enemy and wish to obliterate it are very clearly mentioned by name.

The “prince of the kingdom of Persia” was not just working in Daniel’s time to obstruct end-time divine plan for Israel; he is still working even more aggressively today, clearly visible with spiritual eyes, though incomprehensible to physical sight.

As the Angel Gabriel could not defeat the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” by himself until Michael—the commander of heavenly hosts—intervened, so can’t Israel rely on its own military might until it relies on divine intervention in the same way the Israelites won various battles during their 40-year desert journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

The problem for Israel today is that the world is being governed by interest-ridden and unfair international laws. What Israel considers rightful is deemed wrong and unlawful by many countries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly based his speeches to the UN on biblical history that Jerusalem had for over 3,000 years been the capital of Israel—ages before the UN’s establishment date—but many nations consider it a naked breach of international law.

The endless war is between Israel’s comprehension of its biblical history and prevailing understanding of the UN Charter and international laws. Now we understand why no single resolution of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the UN has ever been supportive of Israel’s 78 years of struggle for existence.

Nobody can predict when or how the widespread enmity and deeply rooted malice against Israel will ever end. The UN doesn’t know it, nor does any other international organization. Even the Angel Gabriel refused to reveal to Daniel how end-time events would unfold and what Israel’s fate would be.

The angel only said (Daniel 12:9-10), “Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but they that are wise shall understand.” [*]