Ahmadinejad: Nukes will summon the Messiah

Is this the end of Western civilization?

Iran’s ultimate role in End Times history, says Ahmadinejad , is to provoke a nuclear holocaust and pave the way for al-Mahdi to re-establish Islam to "its original, purest message, reveal the obscure secrets of the Holy Quran and make Iran’s Shi’ite brand of Islam the worldwide religion." With the Mahdi's return, “the whole world will be brought into submission,” writes Amir Moezzi. “Powers of inequality and obliviousness will be all eliminated, the earth will be inflated with justice and wisdom, and mortality revitalized by knowledge.” But, says Ahmadinejad, America is preventing al-Mahdi’s return.

Is this the end of Western civilization?

In his annual speeches to the UN, Iran’s president regularly lectures the world’s diplomats about the Mahdi. The international press each year ridicules his declarations to the Security Council that the world must follow Iran's lead in paving the way for the Shi’ite messiah, who will “dry the roots of all injustice in the world” and obliterate all other religions.

Blocking al-Mahdi’s return, declares Ahmadinejad, is not only America, the “Great Satan,” but also Israel, which Ahmadinejad describes as a “fake regime” that “must be wiped off the map.” Such news media as the New York Times struggle to take his rantings to the UN seriously.