The World and Everything in It: March 3, 2026

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Good morning!

Pro-lifers in Virginia find ways to stifle the growth of the abortion industry.

RADFORD: Virginia is basically an abortion tourism state.

NICK EICHER, HOST:Also today, the Senate primary in Texas. We’ll have a report.

And how one couple is finding solutions for the local homeless.

COLE: Being on the streets so long and you walk in the door, it’s very special.

And WORLD Opinions Editor Albert Mohler on Iran’s narrow window for change.

MAST: It’s Tuesday, March 3rd. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

MAST: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Iran: 6 killed, Trump on military action » The American death toll from Iran’s response to the US and Israeli strikes has now risen to at least six. U.S. Central Command announced that U.S. forces recently–“recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran's initial attacks in the region.”

At the White House on Monday, President Trump says he mourns those lost:

TRUMP:  In their memory, we continue this mission with ferocious, unyielding resolve to crush the threat. This terrorist regime poses to the American people, and a threat indeed it is.

The president again defended the military action, saying the time to strike was now to eliminate the Iranian threat before it became any more dangerous.

TRUMP:  We thought we had a deal, but then they backed out and, and they came back and we thought we had a deal and they backed out. I said, you can't deal with these people.

Trump said after focused strikes against nuclear targets in Iran last year, his administration warned Iranian leaders not to take further steps toward a nuclear weapon, but they did not listen.

Iran: Rubio remarks » Secretary of State and Acting National Security Adviser Marco Rubio addressed reporters Monday. He said the imminent danger was likely retaliation by Iran from a planned Israeli strike.

But Rubio said, if the U.S. did not act now, it would have been forced to act within a matter of months.

RUBIO:  This operation needed to happen because Iran, in about a year or a year and a half, would cross the line of immunity, meaning they would have so many short range missiles, so many drones that no one could do anything about it because they could hold the whole world hostage.

The secretary said the goal of this mission was not regime change, though the administration would be delighted to see more rational leadership in Iran. But the goal of this action, he said, was to destroy the country’s ballistic missile capability and prevent a nuclear Iran. And:

RUBIO:  The hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now. Someone was screaming, how long will it take? I don't know how long it'll take. We have objectives.

President Trump said the initial timeline was 4 or 5 weeks, but the US is more than capable and prepared to go longer if needed.

Iran: Israel strikes Hezbollah » Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Dannon echoed the remarks of President Trump and Secretary Rubio, saying despite the short-term risks of this conflict for Israel, his government had to act.

DANNON: Look at what they’re doing now without a nuclear weapon, threatening the entire region. Now imagine that same regime with a nuclear capability.

Israeli forces launched retaliatory attacks in Lebanon after the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah fired missiles at it. And an Israeli military official did not rule out another ground invasion in southern Lebanon.

Iran: World, Washington react » Meanwhile, some Democrats are taking shots at President Trump's decision to launch Operation Epic Fury in Iran.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told lawmakers yesterday he's not shedding any tears over the death of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. At the same time, he accused the president of breaking a core promise to his constituents:

SCHUMER: Donald Trump ran for office on the promise to wind down America's endless wars. What he's doing is exactly—exactly—the opposite. He's picking military fight all over the world, and not taking care of business here at home.

Schumer says he plans to lead a war powers resolution, aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to launch similar strikes in the future without congressional approval.

But Schumer's GOP counterpart, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, said Iran's leadership left the president with no choice but to attack.

THUNE: President Trump and his administration relentlessly pursued a diplomatic solution to the threat posed by Iran. But the Iranian regime refused diplomatic offerings. So now the president is taking action.

Thune added that Iran fuels terrorism throughout the Middle East, and the current regime must be stopped.

DHS shutdown » With some expressing growing fears of terror attacks amid the conflict in Iran, the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security rolls into its third week.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more.

HARRISON WATTERS: Lawmakers are still negotiating a deal to fund DHS after Democrats derailed funding last month, demanding changes to Immigration and Customs Environment–or ICE.

Neither side has budged since last week, even with heightened fears of threats to the homeland.

On Friday, many DHS employees received partial paychecks. But Border Patrol and ICE officers received full paychecks thanks to funding passed last year.

Later today, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats plan to grill her about the actions of ICE agents in Minneapolis … while Republicans are expected to dig into how the shutdown is affecting the function of agencies like TSA and FEMA.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters.

I'm Kent Covington. 

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 3rd of March.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

First up: Local leaders in Virginia are using zoning ordinances to shut abortion businesses out of their communities.

Many pro-lifers say the approach is a good one. But others say the regulations don’t go far enough.

WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry has the story.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: Last month, residents of Lynchburg, Virginia packed the city council chambers to give testimony about a proposed zoning ordinance. The new regulation will significantly restrict where abortion facilities can open within city limits.

About 70 people spoke at the meeting, with the overwhelming majority supporting the ordinance.

MIKE MAURICI: The zoning amendment before you, as you’ve already heard, is simple in its purpose. It simply places reasonable limits on where these facilities can operate.

JESSE HUGHES: You hold the power of life in your hands whether you realize it or not.

ALEXIS STOKELEY: There is no one more vulnerable than a child who cannot speak, vote, or defend themselves.

The council voted 4-2 in favor of the ordinance.

City Council member Martin Misjuns said the protections are in line with the community’s values.

MARTIN MISJUNS: I can’t imagine what it would look like if an abortion clinic petitioned to come into Lynchburg. The number of people that would show up to speak out against it would be exponential.

Other municipalities are also considering similar legislation as a proactive response to a November ballot item that could enshrine abortion into the state constitution. If that amendment passes, some pro-lifers worry that abortion businesses could flood Virginia.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and pro-life trigger laws took effect in states like Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky, thousands of women began traveling to Virginia for abortions.

Currently, the state is the only one in the south that allows abortions through the second trimester of pregnancy. And a baby may still be killed later if three doctors agree that the mother’s physical or mental health is at risk.

DAVID RADFORD: Virginia is basically an abortion tourism state.

David Radford is the vice chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.

Last month, Radford and his fellow supervisors directed the county’s planning commission to evaluate an ordinance similar to the one that passed in Lynchburg. Roanoke County is located about 50 miles from West Virginia where babies are protected in nearly all cases.

There are three abortion facilities in the county. Radford said he and other local lawmakers started considering zoning ordinances after the newest facility opened in Vinton in 2024.

After Summit Medical Centers submitted paperwork to open an abortion facility in Vinton, residents pushed back. The town council approved an ordinance requiring a special use permit for abortion facilities.

But they were too late to stop Summit and the facility opened just a few months later.

MISJUNS: They caught them by surprise. That’s what’s happening in Virginia right now. These out-of-state providers are targeting Virginia cities.

While the ordinances do not ban abortion outright, Misjuns and Radford agree that the change is the most legally defensible way to control where such facilities operate.

Virginia is a Dillon’s Rule state, which means local governments only have powers that the state legislature explicitly granted to them. Radford said that includes zoning.

RADFORD: Our basic ability at this point is we want to identify and call it out and give the public a chance to oppose it.

Otherwise,

RADFORD: It looks like Virginia could be the capital of abortion on the East Coast.

While many local pro-life leaders see these zoning ordinances as a win, others say they are not really protecting unborn babies. Mark Lee Dickson, founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn initiative, believes abortion should be outlawed in the same way many municipalities ban prostitution.

MARK DICKSON: We do not say it is OK for women to prostitute themselves on this street corner but not that street corner. We do complete bans across the board.

More than 100 cities and counties across the country have done just that, introducing sanctuary ordinances outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking. Dickson says the regulations are based on the federal Comstock Act, which prohibits mailing drugs or tools used to perform abortions. He argues that abortion businesses can be banned because they are violating federal law.

Supporters of such bans believe municipalities should not treat abortion facilities as businesses to be zoned, but as criminal entities.

DICKSON: We shouldn’t even entertain organizations coming into our cities, coming into our counties, saying that they want to end the life of innocent children made in the image of God.

Dozens of cities and counties have successfully introduced Dickson’s sanctuary ordinances. But some legal experts say federal law is too easy for Congress to change and is difficult to enforce.

JOSH HETZLER: I wouldn’t hang my hat on the Comstock Act.

That’s Founding Freedoms Law Center’s Josh Hetzler.

HETZLER: If Virginia law says generally there’s an absolute fundamental right to abortion, I don’t think the local government is going to be able to say otherwise.

Hetzler acknowledges that a zoning ordinance won’t protect all unborn babies. But he still sees the tactic as a small victory.

HETZLER: There may be a way that is more perfect and we should continue to strive for that. But it’s not a compromise to move the ball forward.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: A Senate showdown.

Today is the last day for Texas voters to choose their candidates for the November general election. Early voting began in February. And polls say the races are close.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: On the Republican side, a longtime incumbent faces a challenge from the state attorney general and a U.S. congressman. On the Democratic side, a moderate-branded state senator and a U.S. congresswoman are vying for the seat.

WORLD’s Todd Vician has more from Houston.

TODD VICIAN: Republican Senator John Cornyn is seeking a 5th term in Washington, and he’s running on a long track record.

CORNYN PRESSER: Like I said, complacency is our biggest threat.

He has millions of dollars in funding from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he's endorsed by law enforcement groups, and he votes with President Trump 99 percent of the time.

FEATHER: He doesn’t always vote with you, but he always does the right thing as far as he can make it work.

SuZanne Feather is a longtime Cornyn volunteer. She helped with setup at a Houston restaurant before the senior Texas senator spoke to about 50 supporters the first week of early voting.

CORNYN: Well the good news is that you’ve been around awhile you learn a few things…

FEATHER: He is the only politician that I have worked with that I have never been disappointed in.

But Cornyn faces the stiffest competition of his long political career from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Here he is during a campaign stop at a bar aptly named The Angry Elephant:

PAXTON: I’ve been acquitted, I’ve been redeemed, and I’m on my way to winning this race.

Paxton championed his no-holds barred attacks on progressive politics and federal overreach. That message resonates with Republicans like Tom Oliverson, a state representative who sits at the desk Paxton once occupied.

OLIVERSON: The status quo is not okay for me.

Oliverson introduced Paxton to supporters during early voting.

OLIVERSON: I want someone with more conservative values, and I want somebody who's going to be like Ted Cruz was when he first got in the Senate…

But Paxton’s career and personal life have been riddled with scandal. He narrowly survived impeachment proceedings over financial fraud allegations. And last year, his wife filed for divorce on biblical grounds. Paxton has said the allegations are political hit jobs. He had a slight lead in the polls heading into early voting.

PAXTON: I feel like we we have so many issues that we need to deal with from the deficit to China to better judges to actually representing Texas values on Second Amendment.

But the GOP worries he could lose a general election and a crucial seat in Washington. Here’s Senator Tim Scott, chair of the GOP’s Senate fundraising committee, on Fox and Friends.

SCOTT: If it's not John Cornyn, it is a guaranteed 100 plus million dollars spent and no guarantee that we hold Texas. It is that serious.

Cornyn also faces a primary challenge from U.S. Congressman Wesley Hunt. Hunt’s polling and fundraising trails behind the leaders, but he could block any of the candidates from getting 50% of the votes. If that happens, the top two will head to a runoff in May.

In the Democratic primary, state Representative James Talarico and U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett are both pitching themselves as the answer to combating the Trump administration.

JONES: The actual politics and policies proposed by both Crockett and Talarico are pretty similar.

Rice University political science fellow Mark Jones says Crockett is in the lead with non-white voters. But Talarico is enjoying a popularity surge. And their campaigns are completely different.

JONES: It’s more in terms of style and background and just overall vibes and likability.

Crockett is a former lawyer known in Washington for her quick comebacks and arguments with conservative House Republicans… like this one with then-Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene last year.

CROCKETT: You're the one talking about–

GREENE: I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading…

CROCKETT: If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach-blonde, bad-built, butch body that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?

COMER: A what now?

Crockett has won longshot campaigns before, and she believes she can win this year’s race not by pitching to moderates, but by bringing out the blue progressives in a red state.

CROCKETT: If I allow someone to disrespect me, how is it that the people that I represent will believe that I will fight for them? [That's right.]

On Friday, former Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed Crockett.

Crockett’s competition James Talarico has won swing districts before too, and he’s on a mission to convert Republicans.

TALARICO: That word love is maybe the most important word in the English language. It's certainly the most important word in all of our lives. And yet we rarely hear it spoken in our politics.

The 36-year-old seminary student has put his ordination plans on hold to focus on politics first.

TALARICO: Politics is just another word for how we treat our neighbors. And we should treat each other a lot better than this.

In 2021, he claimed God is “nonbinary” while arguing against a law that would bar boys from playing in girls’ sports. Since then, he’s condemned Christian nationalism, argued that the Bible does not talk about abortion, and claimed conservatives manipulate Scripture for political gain.

Early voting turnout was unusually high, with Democrats leading the surge. Here’s Jones again with the polling:

JONES: No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994. And so hope springs eternal, but Democrats this year are optimistic with Donald Trump in the White House and the potential to face a damaged or flawed Republican candidate, that this could be the year that they actually are able to win a statewide race and break that losing streak that's been hanging over them for now, 30 years.

A record $110 million has already been spent on each side for advertising alone.

If either race comes to a runoff, those will take place in May.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Todd Vician in Houston, Texas. Additional reporting and writing by Carolina Lumetta.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Last week the Supreme Court issued four opinions. WORLD Legal Correspondent Jenny Rough has this roundup.

JENNY ROUGH: I’ll start with a correction. Last week, when I reported on the tariff decision, I said that along with Chief Justice John Roberts’ principal opinion and Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s principal dissent, every other justice with the exception of Samuel Alito wrote a separate concurrence or dissent.

But Justice Sonia Sotomayor didn’t either!

And Justice Alito actually brought up their omissions during a recent oral argument. The tariff opinion was the size of a small book: 170 pages. Last Tuesday, a lawyer before the court suggested the justices could decide his case with a super short written opinion.

JOHN BURSCH: All we’re asking you to do is to to reverse. I mean, it could be an opinion that’s 160 pages less than the tariffs opinion last week. (Laughter.)

JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO: Well, that’s certainly a goal to aim for. (Laughter.) I felt very left out in the tariffs case. Justice Sotomayor didn’t write, and I didn’t write opinions.

JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: Maybe we’ll have a chance here. (Laughter.)

I did read all 170 pages. Apologies for the oversight.

Alright, moving on. The court issued four more opinions last week. First, Hain Celestial Group versus Palmquist. Sarah and Grant Palmquist fed their son baby food they say contained heavy metals that contributed to their son’s autism. Justice Sotomayor wrote the unanimous opinion. She affirmed that a lower court correctly held the parents could pursue their case in Texas state court instead of federal court.

Here’s Justice Sotomayor during oral argument, giving an early indication of the decision to come:

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: The rule is very simply this plaintiff filed in the forum it wanted. And it filed appropriately. It was entitled to stay in state court.

A trial in federal court has already taken place, and the Palmquists lost. But this decision means a re-do in Texas, in the proper court.

Next, GEO Group versus Menocal. GEO Group runs a immigration detention facility in Colorado under a contract with ICE. A group of detainees allege the government contractor forced them to do janitorial work for no pay, or a dollar a day. GEO Group lost its argument that it’s shielded from liability because it acted at ICE’s direction. It wanted to appeal that unfavorable ruling before the trial began, but the Supreme Court said no. This one, too, was unanimous, Justice Elena Kagan writing that the GEO Group can raise that as a defense during the trial. But it’ll have to wait to appeal the ruling denying it immunity until after final judgment.

Number three, Villarreal versus Texas, another unanimous judgment. David Villarreal took the stand at his murder trial to argue self-defense. But an hour into his testimony, the judge called an overnight recess. The judge instructed the defense attorney to refrain from discussing his client’s testimony during the recess. But he was permitted to talk about related topics with his client, like whether he should take a plea. At oral argument, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that sounded reasonable.

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON: To the extent that the lawyer couldn’t manage, coach, prep, practice with the witness while he’s on the stand, why should he be allowed to do so during an overnight recess?

She wrote the opinion affirming a lower court’s ruling.

Finally, the last case today, U.S. Postal Service versus Konan. Konan sued the postal service, alleging it wrongfully withheld her mail and its reason for doing so was racially motivated. The postal service argued a federal statute protects it from claims “arising out of the loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters.” Here, the debate centered over whether the statute’s language protected the postal service from intentional misdelivery.

In a 5 to 4 ruling, in favor of the postal service, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion to say it does. Justice Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, and Jackson.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Rough.

NICK EICHER, HOST: A five-year-old boy in Colorado just conducted his first airline audit. Five years old! William Hines loves airplanes.

So when a family friend gave him a Southwest Airlines pilot training manual, he didn’t just flip through it. He studied it. And he spotted what looked like a discrepancy — two terrain graphics that didn’t quite match up.

So he told a grown-up. The note made its way up. Eventually landing on the desk of the CEO.

Southwest says there wasn’t actually an error — just different zoom settings on those graphics. But that wasn’t ultimately the point. The kid was impressive. 

So Southwest invited William and his family to Dallas for a VIP tour of headquarters. The youngster even got in the simulator and sat in the captain’s seat.

Five years old, and already cleared for takeoff.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Tuesday, March 3rd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Next up on The WORLD and Everything in It, homelessness in America.

As of 2024, nearly 800,000 people are homeless, driven by a mix of factors: massive migration, high housing and rental costs, family instability, the sudden loss of income, not to mention untreated mental illness and substance abuse.

MAST: One solution for the chronically homeless is found in Springfield, Missouri. It’s not a government program. It’s privately supported and local. It’s called “Eden Village,” one of two such projects in town, and WORLD’s Mary Reichard paid a visit.

MARY REICHARD: I’ve driven past this drab area on the old industrial side of Springfield, Missouri for years. It’s a mish-mash of strip mall buildings and concrete by the train tracks.

But then there’s this 4.5 acre stretch with cheery houses painted red, blue, green, orange, or yellow on each side of a neatly paved road.

Eden Village is a gated neighborhood for chronically homeless people. Estimates are that this town with a population around 170,000 has up to 2,700 homeless people.

Heather Cole used to be one of them, until she landed here.

HEATHER: I ain’t really ever had a place of my own ..

She recalls the day she unlocked the door to her brand new home.

HEATHER: When you’ve been on the streets so long and you walk in the door, it’s very special. It’s overwhelming, it’s breathtaking. I cried like a baby.

This is what Eden Village provides for people. Linda Brown founded it with her husband David.

DAVID BROWN: The longer they're on the street, the longer it takes to read, to acclimate, yeah, you know, they can't live beyond the hour they're in. They can't even think about tonight. They can't think about tomorrow. They're incapable of, they've gotten so used to just surviving in the moment that they can't project out. “Well if I do this, I can do this.” So they’ve got to relearn all that.

The Browns saw the problem up close after they moved downtown in 2010. Linda explains:

LINDA BROWN: I’ve always had a passion, a curiosity—what is their story? Why are they homeless? What happened to them? So we started with a small space one evening a week…

….someplace to serve meals and get to know people.

LINDA: It came to me after a while, after several years, that what we're doing is basically a band aid.

The Browns got to go home and sleep in warm beds. Their friends walked back to the woods and alleys to sleep, exposed to the elements. So Linda got an idea:

LINDA: Tiny home craze was starting at that point, and I said, why? Let's check out some tiny homes and see. And so we researched that on real estate. And so we found this vacant mobile home park here, and we thought this would be a perfect place.

The infrastructure for building was already there. But there was a lot more involved:

DAVID: Our idea is, let’s give some dignity to our friends. They don't have it on the street. You know, nobody pays attention to them. And so what we said, we're going to put them in something we would live in, not something in between, which would be better than living on the street, but we still wouldn't live in it. What does that say to that person?

So, they decided on a 400 square foot fully furnished home. To fund the project, the couple spoke to any group that would listen, like local Rotary Clubs. Soon, others caught the vision, too. Community support led to a $3 million plus development of 31 tiny homes.

The residents also have skin in the game. They pay about 300 dollars a month in rent, usually out of welfare or disability checks. Eligibility requires a person to be homeless in Springfield for at least a year and have a diagnosed mental or physical disability.

Once housed, the rules are simple: be a good neighbor and keep drugs off the property.

LINDA: If we find out that there are drugs in the home, we give them a choice: you either move out, or if you go for treatment, we’ll save your home. And when you come out, you’ll have your home. And then it’s their choice.

A disaster relief organization in Springfield provides common household items.

LINDA: We have a store, a little store, here on the property, so the residents know what's in the store and how many points it takes for toilet paper, whatever. And so they earn points by, you know, either mowing someone's yard. And we keep track of all that. So they accumulate their points, and that's how they purchase. So we're having to acclimate them into living as we do, and so it, that's a transition for them.

One man who repeatedly wins the “Home of the Month” award for mowing lots of yards and keeping his tiny house and yard tidy? His street name was “Dirty.”

Now they just call him “Kevin.”

The Browns see Eden Village as an expression of their Christian faith.

LINDA: We call it God’s project. Because we couldn’t have done it on our own Our prayer at the beginning was, God, if this is not what You want us to do, close the doors—well, you can see He’s opened them.

As for Heather who lives at Eden village, she’s got a job and her life is stable. Does she plan to stay here forever?

HEATHER: I’m 48 years old, and it is designed for single people, and I don’t know that I want to stay single for the rest of my life. I’m not leaving my home for anything less than what I think God wants me to have, which is a godly man that works and doesn’t do drugs. You know, I set my standards a little higher.

And in part because of the opportunities a home brings, she’s got higher standards for herself, too.

HEATHER: It was love. It was somebody showing me I was worthy enough for them to care about.

After nearly a decade on the streets, that’s allowed Heather to go beyond surviving to learning how to really live.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Reichard in Springfield, Missouri.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

A door has opened in Iran. Whether it leads to freedom — or slams shut again — depends on what happens next.

Here is WORLD Opinions editor Albert Mohler.

R. ALBERT MOHLER JR.: The world order can change in a matter of hours.

We saw that this weekend.

As Iranians began their work week, Israeli and American forces struck with overwhelming force. By the end of the day, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei — supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran for more than three decades — was dead. Iranian authorities confirmed it.

Khamenei was not merely a head of state. He was the embodiment of a revolutionary regime born in 1979 — a regime built on clerical rule, sustained by repression, and animated by a militant, apocalyptic vision of Shi’a Islam.

For forty-five years, that regime has defined itself by hostility to the West, by sponsorship of terror, and by the relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons.

It appeared immovable.

Until it wasn’t.

History reminds us that regimes which seem permanent can fall with stunning speed. The Ottoman Empire once appeared eternal. So did the Soviet Union. So did the shah of Iran.

And now, the second supreme leader of the Islamic Republic is gone.

The military strikes continue. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards remain powerful. The future is uncertain. But this much is clear: the architecture of fear that held Iran in place has been shaken at its highest level.

That matters.

Moments like this are rare. They are dangerous. And they are decisive.

The Iranian people have endured decades of censorship, imprisonment, torture, and the violent suppression of protest. Many have longed for freedom. Many have paid dearly for even whispering it.

Now, history has handed them a narrow window.

Whether that window opens into liberty or slams shut into deeper repression will depend on what happens next — inside Iran.

President Trump has called on the Iranian people to seize political control. That is easier said than done. But the opportunity is real.

Let us be clear: opportunities like this do not linger. They are measured in days, perhaps hours.

Let us also be clear: the removal of a tyrant does not guarantee a free society. But it does remove an obstacle that once seemed immovable.

So pray.

Pray that courage rises. Pray that wise leadership emerges. Pray that the Iranian people recognize the gravity of this hour.

Because this is not merely a military development. It is a civilizational moment.

And as the president said: “This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Washington Wednesday, the Iran war and American politics and policy. And, we’ll talk to the creators of a new graphic novel about a modern day martyr in Pakistan. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible records Mary’s song of praise: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” —Luke 1:46-50

Go now in grace and peace.

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