A Nuclear Iran: The Case for Action

Preparations for the End

With this backgrounder on the tenets of Shia Islam’s eschatology under consideration, one might be inclined to dismiss this as information for information’s sake, but the reality is far different. The truth of the situation remains that the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran not only believes in the notion of the end times and the return of the Mahdi, but in fact, believes these events are imminent. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s faith in the proximity of the end times is quite evident, and as a result, American policymakers should be particularly concerned over Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons. In fact, Mr. Ahmadinejad appears to be actively making preparations for the Mahdi’s return and may be acting in a manner aimed towards speeding up the process.

President Ahmadinejad has a long list of accomplishments that should raise the eyebrows of any concerned onlooker. According to an article published in The Telegraph, a British newspaper, an early action of Ahmadinejad’s was to provide about £10 million to a mosque in Jamkaran, Iran.¹⁰ Pilgrims come to the mosque in order to drop letters down a well for the Mahdi’s reply or intercession. This well is also said to be the method through which the Mahdi will mark his reappearance to the world and a site to which the faithful gather every Tuesday night.  Furthermore, rumors abound that Ahmadinejad, in his previous post as mayor of Tehran, ordered the city council to make the necessary changes to the city in order to prepare a suitable route for the Mahdi’s return.¹¹ Another rumor, though denied by the government, solidly demonstrates the guiding principle of Ahmadinejad’s rule. According to this rumor, Ahmadinejad and his cabinet composed a letter dedicating their aim to work for the return of the Mahdi and had it sent to Jamkaran.¹²

However, Ahmadinejad’s belief in the return of the Mahdi has gone beyond these mere internal measures. In the first speech of his term before the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, President Ahmadinejad made clear his belief in the Mahdi before the world’s diplomats and leaders. At the conclusion of his remarks, he stated: “O mighty Lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace.”¹³ In what was a clear reference to his belief in the imminent return of the Mahdi, Ahmadinejad announced his mode of thinking in front of a world audience. After that speech, a pirated video began to circulate among Iranians. In the tape Ahmadinejad is meeting with Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, a senior conservative cleric. The president mentions he was informed by an unnamed individual that a light was covering him as he delivered the previously mentioned speech. The president states: “He said when you began with the words ‘in the name of God,’ I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]… I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink.”¹⁴ In light of this rather outstanding statement, one must wonder what is truly motivating Ahmadinejad and if he would attribute this occurrence to divine intervention.

Of course, this could all be dismissed as empty rhetoric, but in Ahmadinejad’s case, he seems to truly believe what he says. In a November 2005 speech, he declared that the main goal of the Islamic Revolution is to prepare for the reappearance of the Mahdi.¹⁵ In light of what has been previously mentioned, it should be obvious that Iran’s president holds a firm belief in the return of the Mahdi, and is acting in a manner that suggests he believes the return of the Mahdi is imminent. In fact, Ahmadinejad said as much when he stated at a 2005 meeting that the current situation “presaged the coming of the Hidden Imam, who would appear within the next two years.”¹⁶ With the apocalyptic nature of the Mahdi’s reappearance in mind, the possession of nuclear weapons by a regime whose president holds such a view is disturbing. Whether Ahmadinejad believes that he can prompt the return of the Mahdi through the instigation of a regional war, perhaps one that might see the use of nuclear weapons, is unknowable, but this is not a prospect on which we should wait around for the answer.