IRAN: THE ENDGAME?

The chart I use for modern Iran is that of the proclamation of the Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979 at 3pm. This was 2 months after the revolution that brought the mullahs to power, but it seems to work well. It is particularly good at describing the nuclear crisis of the last couple of years since Ahmadinejad came to power.

Iran has Mars at 25.37 Pisces in the 8th House and square to Neptune. It is square to the American Mars at 21 Gemini, which is no surprise, as the 2 governments – or is one a regime? – have been enemies from the start.

Mars in the 8th is good for a secret (8th) weapons programme (Mars), and the sign of Pisces, along with the square to Neptune, describe the ongoing attempts at deception around it. And, perhaps, the delusion that they'll get away with it.


By transit, Saturn is about to enter Iran's Second House (wealth), reflecting the US economic sanctions that have just been imposed.

Also by transit, Pluto has been squaring Iran's natal Mars: the first exact square took place in Jan 2006, 5 months after Ahmadinejad became President in August 2005. In terms of Iran’s international relations, his Presidency has so far been the story of this Pluto-Mars transit.

Pluto has finished making exact squares to Mars – the transformative process that has turned Iran into the centre of an international crisis – and what we are seeing now is the endgame. In one month, Pluto will permanently move 3 degrees from the exact square, and this is the stage of the transit when outcomes start to happen.

(People sometimes get impatient at the end of Pluto transits, wanting big changes to happen: but shedding a skin is a slow process, and it can easily be a year or two after the exact crossings have occurred that the next phase of life can really begin.)

This observation about the timing of the Iran endgame can be backed up in other ways. Progressed Mars was exactly opposite Prog Pluto in March this year, and will oppose natal Pluto next April, bringing another cycle to an end.

And here is a strange one: In Arabic astrology, the Moon in late Gemini is supposed to be a favourable time to start a war. The attacks of Sept 11th 2001 took place with the Moon at 28 Gemini. Over the next 7 months, Iran’s Progressed Moon will move through the last 7 degrees of Gemini.

So we may get to the point of war. However, Ahmadinejad does not have absolute power, he is an elected President. It is hard to know what the politics are in Tehran, but if we look at the Solar Return for 2007-8, we see the Saturn-Neptune opposition running along the IC-MC axis respectively. I interpret this as the dissolution of the present government (Neptune-MC) by the forces of caution and conservatism (Saturn). Mars, a few degrees further away, is the threat of war bringing about this change. Iran is just starting its first Saturn Return, which also suggests realism rather than recklessness. It is a time of growing up, when you need to learn to live with how the world is.

Time for a few stars while I’m about it. In particular, the Heliacal Rising Star, which is the last star to rise before the Sun, and which is in a sense the ruling star.

For Iran itself, the Rising star is Deneb Algedi, the ancient Law Giver. This is very appropriate, given that the modern country is the product of an Islamic Revolution, a return to ancient laws. If you are a westerner, it probably appears as a negative manifestation of the star; if you are a Shia Muslim, it would appear as positive. But as astrologers, our job is just to say that it is the ancient law giver.

Ahmadinejad was born 26 Oct 1956, and his Rising Star is Spica, one of the most major stars, indicating someone who has great gifts that he needs to develop. You often find these major stars in the charts of people who achieve prominence.


And then his Presidency, which began on 5th August 2005, has the brightest star of them all rising, Sirius. This star is known as the scorcher, and it can consequently be difficult to handle. It suggests that actions by the individual can have far-reaching effects on the collective, and there is no doubt that this has been the mark of his Presidency. In this context, it also provides an eerie reminder of the blinding light of nuclear energy. I think that the result of Sirius in this case will probably be the scorching and destruction of Ahmadinejad, rather than the rise of Iran as a nuclear power.