Last month, on the 32nd anniversary of the overthrow of the Shah Iranian President Ahmadinejad spoke of a New Middle East spurred by the by the Egyptian revolution and hastened by the 12th Imam. This new Middle East would be free of the United States and Israel, as he warned Egyptians to be watchful of America’s “friendly face.”
“We will soon see a new Middle East materialising without America and the Zionist regime and there will be no room for world arrogance (the West) in it,” Ahmadinejad told the cheering crowds who gathered despite the cold and cloudy weather.
“They (the United States) have adopted a friendly face and saying ‘we are friends of people of North Africa and Arab countries’, but be watchful and united. You will be victorious,” he said.
Then Ahmadinejad brought up his messianic beliefs saying the world was witnessing a revolution managed by Imam Mehdi, the 12th Shiite Imam who disappeared down a well as a five-year-old in the 10th century and who Shiites believe would return on the judgment day when the world is covered with blood and chaos
“The final move has begun. We are in the middle of a world revolution managed by this dear (12th Imam). A great awakening is unfolding. One can witness the hand of Imam in managing it,” said Ahmadinejad.….
“Come and take away the Zionist regime which is the source of all crimes… take it away and liberate the region. Free the region and give it to the people and take this regime, which is the child of Satan (the United States), out.”
Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei practice the Hojjatieh’s interpretation of Shiism. This type of Islam has a very messianic and apocalyptic view of the world. It predicts a period of universal chaos before the return of the Mahdi (the 12th imam, also known as the hidden imam, a Muslim version of the Messiah). This version of Islam is so radical that even the leader of the revolution against the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini banned its practice in 1983.
Ahmadinejad has claimed that it is the role of his government to bring about the return of the 12th Imam. On August 29, 2007, Ahmadinejad said,
“The Iranian nation and the Islamic Revolution have a pivotal role in preparing the ground for the coming of the Hidden Imam… We must rapidly develop Iran in order to create the [right] conditions for his coming, and we must also help the rest of the world’s nations [to prepare for his return], in order to precipitate this great event…
Taubmann reports that Ahmadinejad believes he personally has been chosen by Allah to hasten the return of this Muslim messiah. The way to achieve this goal for the Iranian president is the occurrence of a nuclear Holocaust. And this is why it is so vital for Ahmadinejad that Iran acquires a nuclear weapon.
The video below is a documentary from Iran (its in Farsi with subtitles). According to the video it was created by the Ulema, the Iranian Muslim scholars who hold much power.
The video is teaching that the coming of the 12th Imam is very near, that Iran, with the help of Hassan Nasrallah the leader of Hezballah will lead the way, Israel (specifically Jerusalem) will be the first target. It ties in today’s mid east events to the radical Hojjatieh interpretation of Shiism.
I find this video very frightening, not because I am a follower of the Hojjatieh interpretation of Islam (they didn’t teach that in Hebrew School), but because the leaders of Iran believe it.
The first rule of negotiation is to understand the wants and needs of the opposite side. If the United States truly wants to convince Iran to give up its nuclear program through negotiation, it must first cast aside political correctness to learn and understand what the Iranian government’s real goals Until our government understands this Iranian belief, we will never be able to deal with them through peaceful needs.
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