Iran (MNN) — The June memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran appears to be over after the US reimposed oil sanctions and the two nations resumed an exchange of regional strikes this week.
Tuesday’s reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil by the US were a response to recent strikes on three tankers in or near the Strait of Hormuz. US officials believe those strikes came from Iran, which has insisted that it will not give up control over the international waterway. The US conducted strikes early Wednesday on Iranian air defense systems, radars, and dozens of small boats used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran did not claim responsibility for the tanker strikes, but it quickly responded to Wednesday’s US military actions by targeting US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. The two countries have continued strikes on Thursday as well.
Security forces open fire on street protestors in January 2026.
(Photo courtesy Transform Iran)
Transform Iran’s Lana Silk says she wasn’t expecting things to change this quickly, “but I was expecting the Iranian leadership to go back on promises they had made and to continue on with their express objectives of eventually wiping out Western democracy.”
Silk says tens of thousands of people in Iran have fought and died for freedom over the past six months, with disheartening results as the regime stayed in power and talk of peace persisted.
“Because what [peace] communicates to the Iranian people is that concessions are being made and the West is going to find a way to brush over what’s happened the last few months and patch things up and move on,” she explains. “There is a sentiment that ‘Could it have been that all of this great cost that has been paid was for nothing?’”
But after the renewed tensions of this week, Silk says, “Now I think the sentiment [among Iranians] is much more along the lines of, ‘Okay, maybe now the rest of the world will see what we see: that this government is duplicitous, this government doesn’t want peace, this government is on a path to destruction towards other people.’”
Preparing for what may come next
Ceasefire or not, Transform Iran’s team remains on high alert, operating carefully as the Iranian regime continues to arrest citizens in greater numbers.
“People are being pulled aside in their vehicles, just pedestrians on sidewalks. There really is almost a sense of randomness to it as well, that you could just be picked up at any point and have your devices checked,” says Silk.
Transform Iran has been preparing for political and spiritual change in Iran for decades. The past six months have held increased urgency and intensity in that focus.
“We’re really sensing that God is about to do something glorious in Iran, and we want to make sure that as a ministry we are there ready to respond to the needs in every way, physical, spiritual, mental,” says Silk.
Prayers matter
Don’t underestimate your prayers in God’s hands. Transform Iran makes sure that Iranian believers know the global church is aware and praying for them in these challenges. It strengthens them.
Azadi Square, Tehran, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Erfan Ro via Unsplash)
“And of course [prayer] matters from an eternal perspective. God has good plans for Iran, and we want to be part of that, and really partnering with the plans and purposes of God for this country,” says Silk.
Here are a few strategic prayer points that she suggests.
- “Pray for an exposure of the schemes of the enemy in Iran, that Western governments and leaders will be left in no doubt as to the real threat of Iran to the West, and there will be courage and wisdom in how that’s dealt with.”
- “We want to see a new regime in Iran — a kind and just regime in Iran — but we also want to see salvation in the current regime. So, pray for the leaders of Iran today, that God would intervene. He will reveal Himself to them, that they would have their ‘Damascus Road’ moments, and come to know Jesus, and glorify Him in their repentance and their salvation.”
- “Pray for the church, pray for courage, pray for safety.”
- “Pray for the lost, that they will be saved, that this freedom they so badly long for, they would find the perfect version of it in Jesus Christ.”
- “Pray for us in ministry that we would make good decisions and use the resources available to us with wisdom, to have them make the greatest possible difference in the country for God’s glory.”
Header photo of Tafresh, Markazi Province, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Mostafa Meraji via Unsplash)
