The war against Iran, like all the other preemptive wars of choice, will likely result in little or no gain for America or Israel, and it will almost certainly cause tremendous pain to many of our allies in the Gulf region and beyond. What’s worse, it will undoubtably have the unintended consequence of benefitting both Russia and China. Indeed, it seems the war is already having this effect in Moscow and Beijing.

Almost no one would be surprised to learn that Evangelical support for the war in Iran is disproportionately high when compared to other segments of the U.S. population. According to a CNN/SRSS research poll from February 28, 67% of white Evangelicals strongly support the U.S. and Israel trying to overthrow the Iranian government. The poll’s results are unsurprising because Evangelicals have generally supported most regime change wars in the Middle East since 9/11.

The majority of Americans, however, are opposed to U.S. military action against Iran. According to a national Quinnipiac University poll, taken one week after the start of the war, over half of the respondents (53%) said they are opposed U.S. military intervention in Iran. The CNN/SRSS poll has the number of opposed slightly higher at 59%.

That this war is waged on behalf of Israel is no secret.

What is most perplexing about the U.S. Evangelical support for this war is that Iran is home to one of the fastest growing Evangelical populations in the world. Estimates suggest there are as many as 1-2 million Christians in Iran. While many of these Christians are Evangelicals recently converted from Islam, there is a considerable number of native Christians from Armenian, Chaldean, and Assyrian backgrounds living in Iran.

It is impossible to predict exactly what the fate of these Christians will be amid the massive U.S.– Israel bombing campaign, but Evangelicals in America who support this war should give serious consideration to the real possibility that many of these Christians may be killed, wounded, or displaced.

And what about the Jews living in Iran today? Many Christian Zionists seem wholly unaware that Iran is home to the largest Jewish population in the entire Middle East outside of Israel. Some say the Jewish population in Iran is as few as 8 to 10 thousand while others say it could be upwards of 15 to 25 thousand. Many Jews living in Iran today can trace their lineage back 2,700 years to the exile in Persia, or to the Jewish diaspora after A.D. 70, making theirs one the world’s oldest Jewish communities.

What’s more, there are around 30 synagogues in Tehran, and more than 100 throughout Iran. Iran even reserves a seat in parliament exclusively for a Jewish representative.

After the combined U.S. and Israeli bombardments started, Iranian Jews gathered in one of their synagogues in Tehran and prayed for their country: not Israel, but Iran. This begs the question: Are the lives of the Jews in Iran somehow worth less than Jews in Israel? Will so-called smart bombs be able to avoid killing or wounding Iranian Jewish citizens?

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