‘This attack is about raw power, not about regional stability or better outcomes for everyone.”
‘While there won’t be many Arab tears shed for Iran, that does not amount to support for Israel.’
‘Israel seized an opening to strike. The hard part may be closing it.’
‘Israel is not building a better tomorrow, it is destroying whatever could threaten it. If in the meantime the war distracts from the horrifying civilian toll in Gaza and derails the international conference on Palestinian statehood planned for next week, all the better for Netanyahu and his extremist coalition.’
Commentators are struggling to see what the end game is in a conflict where neither side is commendable. Last October, Israel took out most of Iran’s advanced air defences and yesterday decapitated much of Iran’s military and scientific leadership, destroying some nuclear and military facilities. But eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat would require active U.S. involvement which with Trump flip flopping wildly remains the imponderable question.
Neither of the 20th Century Iran charts work as well as the 22 December 1501 which is particularly sensitive to transiting Uranus in late Fixed degrees – previously in the late 1970s the Ayatollah’s revolution kicked in with Uranus in Scorpio; in 1962 with Uranus in late Leo an earthquake killed 12,000; In 1942 with Uranus in late Taurus there was a severe famine.
This chart has Mars in late Taurus opposition Pluto in Scorpio square Uranus at zero degrees Pisces. [I am not sure of the calendar for this so it may be a few days out but the degrees will be there or thereabouts.] Tr Uranus is opposition the Pluto exactly now for a monumental upheaval with accompanying violence and moving to square the Uranus in July and repeating on and off into mid 2026.
The T square of Mars opposition Pluto square Uranus was being undermined into its Solar Arc positions by tr Neptune in hard aspect during the 1979 Revolution which installed the Ayatollahs.
This year in addition to the T square being pounded by tr Uranus; tr Neptune Saturn are also square the late Sagittarius Sun into early 2026. So a phase of being completely undermined and destabilized.
Ayatollah Khameini’s chart, 17 July 1939, is also under crushing pressure from Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Cancer Sun following on from late year’s Solar Arc Mars square his Sun – and tr Pluto is wading its way round his Fixed T Square of Pluto Mars and Saturn till late this year.
Reza Pahlavi, 31 October 1960 11.55 am Teheran, the son of the late Shah, will be watching anxiously though there is no certainty a) that the present regime will fall; or b) that he will be invited back. He’s a Sun Neptune in Scorpio with an 8th house Uranus and Pluto and North Node and a 12th house Jupiter and Saturn in Capricorn.
His Solar Arc Saturn is conjunct his Sun now for a discouraging moment; with an uncertain tr Neptune Saturn square his Jupiter now into early 2026. The Solar Eclipse in Virgo in September will also rattle his Pisces Moon for an emotionally fraught few months. But he will be due a major confidence and morale boost in late 2026 from his Solar Arc Jupiter opposition his Pluto.
The USA/Iran 1501 chart is on edge and blocked, more stressed in 2026 and on. Though the USA/Iran 1979 relationship with Revolutionary Iran looks more pressured this year (see previous post.)
What is marginally worrisome is the USA Solar Arc Sun square Saturn which has been bearing down on the natal Mars square Neptune, since just before last year’s election and on for another two years till 2027. When the SA Sun is square the USA Mars from the end of this year into 2026 there will be a ‘collision’ of sorts. This could be the jangled and jolted effect of Trump’s pinball politics but it could also have military overtones.
Trump’s chart relocated to Teheran puts an indecisive Neptune in the 10th and a divisive Uranus in the 7th so is not war-mongering.
As already mentioned, the blazing Leonine star, Regulus, is activated by Mars in Leo/Virgo today, and for the next couple of days. I thought this, from the late fixed star expert Diana K. Rosenberg, was very interesting:
“Regulus was the royal star of ancient Persia, now Iran; a Solar Ecl at Regulus 8 20 1952 underscored a power struggle between Premier Mossadegh and the Shah of Iran; 1 year later the Shah drove Mossadegh out, enraging the populace. Twenty-seven years later another Solar Ecl at Regulus, on 8 22 1979 (semi-square the US Saturn) occurred on the very day that the just-deposed, dying Shah was permitted to enter New York Hospital, precipitating the US/Iran hostage crisis. Ancient Persia’s royal star continues to mark Iran’s history!” (The Ground of Heaven by Diana K Rosenberg)
The upcoming Solar Eclipse in Aquarius in February 2026 opposes Regulus, and is close to the USA’s national Moon (the people). It is significant for the current horrible conflict’s charts in other ways as well. Success if revenge is avoided is the basic message of this star, but one could interpret this in a number of ways of course.
Jane,
You do know thay the so-called Persian Royal Stars are kind of an invention and that there might be a mismatch between the stars that the Persians talked about and the ones we think are the royal stars?
Good morning EA! I’m aware of some scholarly debate on this, yes. However, those four Royal Persian stars remain as very meaningful fixed stars today. Their association with ancient Persian, Assyrian and Babylonian astrology/astronomy is not in any doubt, since their heliacal rising once marked the Solstices and Equinoxes in ancient times and their brightness means they are highly visible. You might like to read Bernadette Brady on this, her comprehensive Book of Fixed Stars is available online, free at, I think, the Internet Archive.
There are a number of 1st Magnitude Stars but none are closer to the ecliptic than Regulus. Of the so called Royal Stars Antares and Aldebaran are also near. This means they are often occulted by the Sun, Moon and other planets. I would expect them to be significant in most older astrological systems. Fomalhaut is further away but was near enough to be used for navigation purposes in the past. The other 1st magnitude stars close to the ecliptic and visible in the northern hemisphere is Spica.
The problem with the Iran/Israel conflict in recent years is that the respective regimes in both countries have had a vested interest in keeping it going to bolster their respective governments domestic positions while not escalating matters to the point where they might themselves be destabilised. The worry now is that they have pushed the envelop to the point where that latter scenario might happen. Ironically Netanyahu probably needs a weakened Islamic Iran whose nuclear capability has been removed but can still be trotted out to frighten his own population. He does not want to run out of external enemies.
I think Netanyahu’s chart and transits for the next few years need to be studied intently. Marjorie, could you have another look at this area if possible? Thanks.
He did have Pluto squaring all hi Libra planets but that is moving on now.
In the Bible, Isaiah calls the Persian emperor Cyrus the anointed one because he freed the Jews who had been enslaved by his Assyrian predecessor, who also destroyed the First Temple built by King Solomon, and allowed them to return to Jerusalem. Those two people go way back more than 2,500 years. I am being told that some Iranians who hope for regime change are grateful for the attacks. Many Israelis are of Iranian origin.
Israel rightly fears an Iranian nuclear bomb while having many of its own who have never been subjected to international supervision.
Astrologically, it is clear this conflict is far from over. The question is whether the US, Russia or China will be dragged in. China and Russia have already helped the Houthis in Yemen, an Iranian proxy, to pressure Western maritime trade.
All charts with late Leo placemetns (Israel, Netanyahu, Trump and the US Moon in opposition) have indicated this week would be a turning point, but there will be others this year and next.
Here in Canada, we are having the G7 meeting starting tomorrow. Modi and MBS have been invited. Perhaps all these leaders could reflect on their massive collective failures.
If one looks at the number of Jews in the Middle East, Iran is the country with the highest number of Jews after Israel. And although the Iranian government does not recognise Israel, a Youtube documentary (I think it was by Deutsche Welle, but I could be wrong) had stated that the Iranian government facilitates pilgrimages to Israel for its Jewish population. So yes, it is a strange modern relationship between the two ancient nations.
Quasi-astrological observation: An interesting thing about the calendar in use in Iran is that even though Iran is a Muslim country and so uses the Hijri era , it uses a purely solar calendar, while the rest of the Muslim work uses a purely lunar calendar and so the years of the two calendars (the Iranian Hijri and the Islamic Hijri) are quite apart. The current Iranian solar year is 1404 and the current Islamic lunar year is 1446.
From an astrological point of view, the months in both Iran and Afghanistan (which also used to use the Iranian calendar till recently) are aligned with the tropical sun signs, with the New Year/Novroz being on the astronomical observation in Iran of the vernal equinox. So if somebody tells you their birthdays in the Iranian calendar, you can straightway tell their sun sign. Indeed, in Afghanistan, the names of the months *were* the Afghan names for the zodiac signs.
Of course Iran has had a long connection with both astrology and astronomy. The three wise men/magi were likely Persian. The Magi were known for their knowledge of astronomy and astrology and hence would have followed the star of Bethlehem.
Yes, I’ve been wondering about Ancient Persian astrology. I’d noticed that tr Mars in Leo, already energised by the square with Uranus, approaches the powerful ‘royal’ star Regulus in Leo this weekend. Regulus is now at 0 Virgo (since approx 2012), Mars enters Virgo on 17th June. This Israeli attack is called ‘Operation Rising Lion’.
The Royal Stars of Persia are:
Aldebaran, 9 Gemini, Constellation Taurus, “Watcher of the East”
Regulus, 29 Leo-0 Virgo, Constellation Leo, “Watcher of the North”
Antares, 9 Sagittarius, Constellation Scorpius, “Watcher of the West”
Fomalhaut, 3 Pisces, Constellation Piscis Austrinus, “Watcher of the South”
Elsbeth Ebertin has this to say about Mars with Regulus:
“Elsbeth Ebertin studied historical events with the planetary configurations in each case and came to the following conclusion; “when Mars or Saturn are in conjunction with Regulus, especially exciting events are always recorded e.g. assassinations, coup d’états, revolutions, revolts, demonstrations, overthrow of heads of state and similar events”. [Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation, Elsbeth Ebertin, 1928, p51-52.]
I’ve been mulling the Mars in Leo over. It sits on the Sabian symbol “daybreak”. Another rising sun. The Gemini Sun was rising in the attack chart and of course Netanyahu linked the Operation Rising Sun to the Numbers verse about the Jews rising up like a lion to slay its prey and drink blood. However, Persia was represented by the Lion and the Sun symbol until 1979. This symbol is astrological.
The Leo Mars is the attack of the lion. Part of the attack included Mossad agents inside Iran. Maybe the start of Persians rising up too? Israel’s Persian partners. The Taurus Venus.
The only problem I see is that the Aquarius Pluto, which I take to represent the nuclear program – key scientists/nuclear material, escaped. The Neptunian flood failed to reach it.
The answer to whether or not the Persian lion rises comes down to the 22° Gemini Sun. Maybe Gemini’s twins? It is on the symbol “a barn dance”.
There is another astrological instrument. The Taurus Venus opposes the retrograde Scorpio Vesta. Mercury is trine Vesta and sextile Venus. Mercury is also the attack chart ruler. Astrology King says this is the Single Ambivalence Triangle.
Scorpio Vesta opposing Taurus Venus is the conflict, Venus-Mercury asks for the solution, and then Mercury provides the solution. If the Persian lion rises, it will be described by this instrument.
Mars and Regulus will be together in the sky soon:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2025/06/14/red-meets-blue-dont-miss-the-rare-mars-regulus-kiss-this-week/
I can’t say I fully got the line about Iranian birthday – I know the Sun sign in the West too, bare the cusp dates.
The wonders of ‘visible astrology’ El Aznar! Thanks for the link. Always pleasing when astronomy and astrology line up like this, since they were once united in the ancient world. I very much hope Mars with Regulus doesn’t bring too much upheaval in the coming days.
thank you Marjorie