Iranian leaders seek to hasten the End of Days

Vivificat ^ | 15 November 2011 | TDJ

[Teófilo]

Brethren, Peace and Good to you in Jesus Christ. I was reading this opinion piece by Joel Rosenberg published in Fox News:

Why would Iran authorize a major terrorist operation on American soil? Skeptics say the much-discussed “foiled” Iranian plot makes no sense. We will know soon enough if the Feds have sufficient evidence related to this specific plot. But Iranian leaders may, in fact, have a motive to accelerate direct attacks on the U.S.: Shia Islamic eschatology, or "End Times" theology.

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are convinced that the End of Days has come. They believe the Shia messiah known as the “Twelfth Imam” or the “Mahdi” will appear soon to establish a global Islamic kingdom known as the caliphate.

What’s more, they believe the way to hasten the coming of the Twelfth Imam is to annihilate Israel (which they call the “Little Satan”), and the United States (which they call the “Great Satan”). We should not, therefore, be surprised that Iran is probing for weaknesses in American intelligence and homeland security.

Khamenei told Iranians in July 2010 that he personally met with the Twelfth Imam. He also claimed to be the personal representative of the Mahdi on earth, and said all Muslims must “obey him.” Meanwhile, Western intelligence agencies say he continues to work with Ahmadinejad and the Iranian military to develop nuclear warheads and the ballistic missiles to deliver them.

Read it all here.

According to Mr. Rosenberg on a blog post on his site, the U.N. report concludes there is “credible” evidence that:

1. Iran is systematically enriching nuclear fuel towards military applications.
2. Iran — since the late-1970s — has been building clandestine nuclear facilities to evade international detection.
3. Iran’s nuclear program no longer run by civilians but by the Ministry of Defense.
4. Iran is steadily developing nuclear warheads.
5. Iran is developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads against her enemies.
6. Iran has made preparations to test its first nuclear bomb.
7. Iran did not cease developing military applications for its nuclear program in 2003, as the CIA reported in its controversial National Intelligence Estimate in 2007, but rather accelerated its efforts to develop the Bomb.

A New York Times editorial page also  concluded that “the report is chillingly comprehensive. It says that Iran created computer models of nuclear explosions, conducted experiments on nuclear triggers and did advanced research on a warhead that could be delivered by a medium-range missile. What gives the report particular credibility is its meticulous sourcing. The agency’s director, Yukiya Amano, built a case on more than a thousand pages of documents, the assistance of more than 10 agency member states and interviews with ‘a number of individuals who were involved in relevant activities in Iran.’”

Analysis. First, a caveat: Mr. Rosenberg is a pre-Millennial Evangelical Christian with his own eschatological agenda, with which I don’t agree either. Having said that, this opinion piece is valid, as far as I’m concerned, and specially problematic. From my viewpoint I must insist that the Iranian regime lies, misleads, and obfuscates about the true purpose, size, and location of its nuclear program and that it in fact is pursuing nuclear weapons, despite their numerous disclaimers.

The reason why the Iranian regime must not be trusted lies on its own religious principles:  this is called taqiyya which in the Iranian view of Shi’a Islam may be called "dissimulation" which is use of word or actions tending to mislead one's opponents. (Source). The consequences of this theological stance translates into instant mistrust for non-Islamic dialogue partners in the international arena. In fact, I believe that a lot of the anger held by Iranian leaders derives from the West’s reluctance to bite. How can we pursue an honest dialogue with the regime when the core of its religious-political ideology embraces the concept of strategic dishonesty?

The fact that the regime wants to trigger its version of Cosmic War is also troublesome, for in their view, “God” justifies their means for their ends. This should concerns us all, for I foresee a regional conflagration is and when the regime decides to attack Israel with nuclear or radiological weapons, one that may engulf regional US partners and that may lead to the extinction not only of the Iranian regime, but also of Persian civilization. This may happen if in their apocalyptic calculus, the ayatollahs and their minions conclude that they have little to lose and everything to gain to trigger the coming of their “twelfth imam.”

Behold, then, how a false religion can inform a culture and a civilization to commit mass-murder and ultimately, suicide, these would force “God” to act.

• Read also: How Iran persecutes its oldest religion at CNN.

[Teófilo]

Blunders. Typos. Mine.

[knarf]

"Blunders. Typos. Mine."

Perhaps, but the truth is for every man.

Islam is sworn and determined to take and occupy the planet.

Woe unto them that heed not the warning.

[Biggirl]

Because Islam has its origins in one source, the devil.