Does the Bible speak of demonic ruler reigning over Iran?

The Middle East is witnessing a shift in power dynamics as the influence of Russia grows while that of the United States declines. Moscow has established ties with every country in the region, and its alliance with Iran and Syria has raised concerns for Israel, England, and the United States. Turkey has also joined forces with Iran and Russia and recently pulled its support for Israel while continuing to back its neighbor in the South, Syria, from the Kurds.

Yet, despite other threats in the region, many believe that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the greatest danger to both Israel and the stability of the Middle East. But why? Why has Iran historically been an enemy of Israel and a destructive force in the Middle East under the leadership of the Ayatollah?

According to the Book of Daniel, a strong demonic entity is said to have controlled the region of Iran for thousands of years. This entity is believed to be responsible for the violence and is actively planning to cause more chaos in Israel.

In Daniel chapter 10, Daniel details a spiritual vision and revelation he received in 536 B.C. (at the end of the seventy-year captivity of the Jews): “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision.”

But even before the rule of Cyrus, Elam, an ancient region in the Near East located in modern-day Iran and Iraq, was a rival kingdom to Mesopotamia, particularly Assyria (Isaiah 22:6). Elam is often depicted as a formidable military force, feared and respected by its neighbors. In the formative years of Israel’s establishment, the forces of evil led by Satan and his legion of demons worked tirelessly through the Elamites to sow the seeds of destruction and chaos in the region. Their evil plans aimed to disrupt God’s divine plan for His chosen people, causing immense suffering in the process.

Over time, the prophetic pronouncements against Elam became warnings and, eventually, judgments on the Elamites. Major prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel vividly described the destruction and uncertain future of a once-mighty kingdom (Isaiah 11:11, 21:2; Jeremiah 49:34-39; Ezekiel 32:24-25).

Before the Achaemenid Empire’s rise in the 6th century B.C., references to Persia are scarce in the Old Testament. However, figures like Darius I and Cyrus II are mentioned in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, as they played a crucial role in facilitating the return of Jewish exiles from Babylon and rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple.

It is during this pivotal time of the Jews being set free that Daniel is given an explanation of the demonic forces at hand in the Persian Empire. Daniel 10:13-14 reads as follows, “The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.” In Daniel 10:20, the angel went on to say, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.”

The Hebrew word for “prince” is śar, “to rule; to have dominion over.” Other titles than “prince” are “chief, captain, ruler, governor, chief captain, and keeper.” According to The Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament), the Hebrew word śar can be translated as “to superintend” or “to be in charge.” This word conveys the idea of an overseer with the implied authority to accomplish a mission.

In their well-rounded theological book Spiritual Warfare in the Storyline of Scripture, Chuck Lawless and William Cook piece together what precisely this demon represented in the pages of Daniel. They write, “This “prince” was most likely a hostile angelic power. The Hebrew word sar, translated “prince” in this chapter, sometimes refers in Daniel to human rulers (9:6, 8; 11:5). But it is also used of angelic powers (10:13, 21; 12:1). Since the angelic “prince” Michael here opposes the “prince” of Persia, it is likely that the latter is an angelic power as well.”

Although Christians believe the spiritual realm is real and hold fast to Paul’s statement that we don’t “wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers” (Eph. 6:12), we can so quickly lose sight of the demonic forces that are at work in our daily lives.

In the book of Daniel, we see the spiritual warfare that occurred when God was delivering His people from the Babylonian captivity. The story reveals that a demonic ruler over Persia attempted to block God’s activity in the region. In response, Michael the Archangel was sent to overcome this demonic force and remove the spiritual blockade that prevented Daniel’s prayer from being answered.

The revelation of Daniel into the spiritual realm reminds us that our battle is not only physical but spiritual as well. As Christians, it is essential always to be prepared for spiritual warfare. We must not ignore that there is more at play in the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East or the United States. We need, as the Bible commands, to be “Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour” (AMP, 1 Peter 5:8).