Pastor Steve Berger spent more than three decades in ministry before stepping into a role that sits at the seam of faith, politics, and high-stakes diplomacy. In recent months, he has appeared at Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast events and in Washington-adjacent circles, presenting himself as a pastor with unusual access—someone who prays with, advises, and privately counsels elected officials and other decision-makers in the US and abroad.

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In an interview with The Media Line, Berger describes private conversations he says he has had with senior figures, including Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi. He speaks in sweeping terms about US foreign policy, the leadership style of the American president, and what he believes is a historic opening for change in Iran.

Berger’s lens is distinctly pastoral—heavy on spiritual conviction and personal relationships—yet the policy implications he raises are concrete: sanctions, airstrikes, regime change, and regional alliances.

As CEO of Ambassador Services International, Berger argues that his work now places him in rooms and conversations most people never see. Those claims are difficult to independently verify from the outside, but they help explain the confidence with which he narrates a rapidly evolving Iran story—and why his public remarks draw both interest and scrutiny.

At a Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast event at Mar-a-Lago on January 13, as uncertainty surrounded an escalating crisis in Iran, Berger told the audience he believed the moment carried a divine mandate. He read aloud messages he attributed to President Trump, including the slogan “Make Iran Great Again.” He also claimed that casualty numbers were far higher than what Iranian state media acknowledged.

“Freedom is God’s idea. It’s not man’s idea,” he said, framing liberty as something embedded in human nature and history rather than a modern political invention. “We did not invent freedom. We discovered it.”

Later in the program, Berger read a letter from Reza Pahlavi, who had been slated to speak at the event but, Berger said, was called to Washington as news events shifted. Pahlavi thanked participants for their solidarity and asked for prayers for the Iranian people. “Iran needs you and your voice right now more than any other time,” the letter said.

In a recorded message, Pahlavi described what he said was an intensifying crackdown and recounted the story of an injured young protester who insisted on returning to the streets. He expressed hope that President Trump would “do his part” to prevent further casualties and said Iranians seek peaceful relations with Israel and their neighbors.

After the event, Berger sat down with The Media Line to explain what he says he is hearing from inside political circles—and what he believes should happen next in Iran. The conversation below has been edited for length and clarity.

Felice Friedson: You’re deeply involved in politics, and I’m trying to understand. Let’s just take a moment and just talk a little bit about what you do.

Steve Berger: So, I’ve been a pastor for 36 years, and about four years ago now, five years ago, I guess, God started opening doors for me with local and then national and international leaders. And so my calling in life now is to teach our elected officials the ways of God.

Felice Friedson: There are many things happening in the world, and a lot of them are centered in the Middle East. And when President Trump came in, it wasn’t about foreign policy. When President Trump came into his second term, it wasn’t going to be about foreign policy, and yet it is so much about foreign policy.

What do you think drives him each day when he has to look at what’s happening around the world that really does come back to the United States?

Steve Berger: I think what drives the president is, and I think this surprises a lot of people, is his desire for peace, and specifically peace through strength. He understands the common-sense approach that the best thing for the world is for there to be a strong America, and he’s committed to that. And it seems like it’s a common-sense approach that the world has somehow forgotten, that America can be trusted with a lot of power, because historically we’ve used our power for good things, not perfectly, but generally speaking.

And so the president, I believe, is driven by peace through strength.

Felice Friedson: The exiled crown prince was supposed to be in Palm Beach at Mar-a-Lago, and the news events changed everything. He was called to Washington. You had moments with him to discuss what’s on his mind.

We see thousands, could be 20,000, could be 30,000. We really do not know the numbers of how many people have been killed. What does he feel needs to be done right now that the president should be responding to at this moment?

Steve Berger: There needs to be very strategic and surgical airstrikes on the IRGC. Their drone factories need to be taken out, their missile factories, and their satellite factories need to be taken out. Obviously, we don’t want any casualties of innocent civilians, but the IRGC needs to be given an absolutely fatal blow.

Felice Friedson: The fallout. And people sometimes don’t look at what happens the day after. There’s this feeling amongst many that Reza Pahlavi is going to come into a kingdom, and to others, that’s farther from the truth.

What does he say? What did he say to you?

Steve Berger: He said publicly and privately both that his plan is to help facilitate a 100-day transition plan. After that point, the people will decide who they want to be their leader and what kind of government they want, a democratic monarchy, a republic. I don’t want to say he’s going to let them decide.

He wants them to decide. It isn’t his place to let them do anything. He’s coming in much more humble than that, and I have tremendous respect.

He is the heir to the throne. He’s the rightful, legal heir to the throne, and he’s not demanding his own way. That should tell the entire world what kind of man, what kind of humility he walks in, and why he can be a great unifier in Iran.

Felice Friedson: There’s so much partisan politics on the Hill. Do you see any change at all when it comes to this issue of seeing so many people slaughtered, so many people that are wounded, people that could be hung tomorrow?

Steve Berger: Yeah, I can tell you in the last few days, just in talking to my contacts, that there is an increased level of interest and concern, concern for the hurting and the wounded, the grieving, but an increase in a desire to see 92 million Iranians set free by these strategic surgical strikes.

Felice Friedson: Sanctions have been on and off. How long do you think sanctions are going to have to hold to have an impact?

Steve Berger: That’s probably beyond my economic pay grade. I can say, you know, the president just announced now anybody who’s doing business with Iran is going to be hit with an extra 25% tariff. And so with sanctions and tariffs rising and all that, they’re trying non-kinetic ways even to get the regime to fall.

They’re trying peaceful means, and if they have to use physical, forceful means, then they’re going to try to be as surgical again and strategic as possible. We don’t want to see the death of innocent people.

Felice Friedson: We cannot leave out Saudi Arabia, nor some of the other Gulf countries. And it’s extremely important to realize, you know, Turkey has their weight here. Russia, everybody’s eyeing what’s going to happen for their own interests.

What do you think is going to happen? Just as Pastor Berger.

Steve Berger: Yeah, I think what’s going to happen is, as the US increases its pressure, that we’re going to see a free Iran arise. I think we’ll see the crown prince take his rightful place. I think we’ll see peace and stability in the region that we haven’t seen for 47 years.

And it’s going to be a great day, not just for Iran, the region, but the entire world. I’m very, very hopeful. I think we’re going to see something of biblical proportions happen.