Free Republic

The Bible is full of praise for Persia (today's much-maligned Iran) and for its rulers. In the Book of Ezra, God speaks through the proclamations of Cyrus, the king of Persia, who declares, "The Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem." Cyrus acceded to this divine command, and thus was the Second Temple in Jerusalem built. In other parts of the Old Testament, there is ringing praise of Cyrus as God's "anointed" and the "chosen" ruler, who freed Jews from their Babylonian...

VIENNA, Austria (CNN) -- An Iranian official has warned European countries against "coercive" measures in the diplomatic standoff over its nuclear program as Tehran removed the U.N. watchdog agency's seals from its Isfahan nuclear processing facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon to discuss the issue after Iran announced it would resume operations at its Isfahan uranium conversion plant. Cyrus Nasseri, Iran's chief delegate to the watchdog agency, told CNN that European countries should "think twice" before taking any action that might be considered "coercive." "That would be a course of action that...