[Ynet News] Yaakov Lappin - Speaking to Ynet News, Professor Raymond Tanter, one of the authors of the forthcoming book What Makes Iran Tick, which explores the Shiite Islamist ideology of Iran, said there was no questioning the belief of Iran's leaders in the coming of the Mahdi. Tanter, President of the Washington-based Iran Policy Committee, said: "The Iranian leadership, particularly Ahmadinejad, welcome the apocalyptic vision of the return of the hidden Imam....After a period of great destruction, once the forces of evil are defeated, the so-called twelfth Imam is supposed to reign over a period of great prosperity." "When Ahmadinejad was mayor of Tehran, he set up an urban renewal program that would make it easier to facilitate the Mahdi's return. He created passageways and roadways that would allow the Mahdi to return triumphantly." "Ahmadinejad was called the man of a thousand bullets. Because he would give the last bullet for someone who has been tortured, and primarily executed by firing squad. Ahmadinejad's role was to put the last bullet in, in case the person was still squirming," Tanter said. "No conceivable positive or negative incentives will influence the leadership of the clerics and the Revolutionary Guards from acquiring nuclear weapons. They need nuclear weapons in order to facilitate the ideological precepts of the return of the Mahdi."
2006-11-17 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive