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| Khamenei |
Coming Monday: Are we like Heinz varieties,
or are we one Holy Temple?
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Not long ago, our last administration bent over backward to reach a questionable nuclear materials agreement. This included lifting sanctions, freeing large amounts of Iranian wealth.
What if none of that money trickled down to ordinary folks? What if the unpopular regime gives way to a police state?
Hormoz Shariat, a Muslim, trained as a scientist, immigrated to the U.S. after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Authorities arrested his brother on political charges, and in 1983 executed him by firing squad.
Shariat began reading the Bible, searching for an alternative to Islam. In 1987 he started a church in San Jose, Calif., focusing on Muslims.
He began thinking of satellite channel broadcasting in Farsi. The 9/11 attacks added urgency, and before 2001 ended, Iran Alive Ministries was beaming into Iran. He finds ways to slip through Iran's blocking efforts.
There are 500,000 to 2 million Christians in Iran, but headcounts are impossible with believers unable to gather and worship. Even house churches get into trouble. Iran Alive has an estimated audience of 6 million, so numerous Muslims must be watching.
Phone-in lines and website chat spaces allow staff members to receive prayer requests and other information. In 2017, prices for milk, bread, cheese and eggs shot up with general inflation, prompting some desperate viewers to call for financial help.
Unemployment increased, but government jobs and luxury items are available to the ruling clergy class.
Shariat told WORLD magazine there are more Maseratis in Tehran than in Beverly Hills. Their drivers are "children of the mullahs."
Recent discontent followed President Rouhani's unusual release of a proposed government budget. It showed millions of dollars going to Islamic religious foundations and clerics' offices, while cash subsidies to the poor were cut.
Tomorrow: Is the regime on the way out?
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