Khamenei Has Claimed Iranian Nuclear Weapons Need for the Arrival of the 12th Imam

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran’s “supreme leader” Ayatollah Khamenei long ago wanted nuclear weapons to help the arrival of an Islamic leader known as the Imam Mahdi or 12th Imam and some wonder if that is his current view:

24 April 2012

In a pre-Super Bowl interview, President Obama urged Iranian leaders to renounce nuclear weapons, which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei did, labeling them a “grave sin.” But Khamenei’s fatwa against nukes was not new, just widely ignored by Official Washington…

Senior Obama administration officials have decided to cite the fatwa as an Iranian claim to be tested in negotiations, posing a new challenge to the news media to report accurately on the background to the issue. But the April 13 New York Times article by James Risen rehashed old arguments by Iran’s adversaries and even added some new ones…

Risen also cited unnamed “analysts” who argued that Khamenei’s recent statements that Iran had not and would not develop nuclear weapons were contradicted by remarks he had made last year “that it was a mistake for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya to give up his nuclear weapons program.”

But the quote from Khamenei complained that “this gentleman wrapped up all his nuclear facilities, packed them on a ship and delivered them to the West and said, ‘Take them!’” Khamenei then added, “Look where we are, and in what position they are now.” http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=51885

Joby Warrick of the Washington Post points out that Khamenei himself has justified the development of nuclear weapons in the past, calling them essential not only to preserve the regime but also highlighting their role in perhaps bringing about an apocalypse that would lead to the return of the 12^th, or “Missing” Imam:

According to an internal U.N. document, Khamenei embraced the concept of an Iranian nuclear bomb during a meeting of the country’s top leadership more than two decades ago, saying nuclear weapons were essential for preserving Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

The 2009 document, prepared for the International Atomic Energy Agency, is a collection of statements made by Iranian leaders about nuclear weapons, as gleaned from the nuclear watchdog’s intelligence sources. It cites an April 1984 meeting in which Khamenei allegedly endorsed a decision by then-leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to launch a secret nuclear weapons program.

“According to Ayatollah Khamenei, this was the only way to secure the very essence of the Islamic Revolution from the schemes of its enemies … and to prepare it for the emergence of Imam Mahdi,” states the IAEA document, which was obtained by the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonprofit group that analyzes nuclear weapons programs. In Shiite Islam, “Imam Mahdi” is the prophesied 12th Imam who will purge the world of evil in humanity’s last days

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/04/hillary_clinton_embraces_fake_fatwa.html#ixzz1szDxw5pH

What Ayatollah Khamenei’s personal view of nuclear weapons truly is can be debated, but few in Israel and elsewhere have a lot of trust in his words.

According to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the purpose of the Iranian revolution in the 1970s to present was to prepare the way for the arrival of this leader. Earlier this year, Ayatollah Khamenei told some of his best troops that the Imam Mahdi would be on their side in the event of a war involving Israel and/or the USA (see Iran’s Leader Preparing for ‘Armageddon’ and the Imam Mahdi).

Though a more significant Islamic power will rise up for a short while in the 21st century, this power will not not be Iranian and will not last (Daniel 11:40-43). Ayatollah Khamenei should consider more of what the Bible says as Iran is not the going to be the primary instrument to truly make that happen.

Yet, also ignoring certain portions of scripture, Iran’s current president has publicly stated that the purpose of the Iranian revolution was to prepare the way for an Islamic leader, the 12th Imam, also called the Imam Mahdi, to rise up (this was several years ago, but he still seems to believe it). This Imam Mahdi sounds a lot like the final King of the South that the Bible warns against (though the actual one that many Shi’ites expect from “suspended animation” is not likely to be that King, but a Mahdi belief will likely be a factor in getting the final King of the South). Last year, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that it was the Imam Mahdi who was behind the revolutions in the various Arab lands as well as other events in the world (see Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: World Order About to Collapse, Mahdi Behind it). He also was part of a video last year that indicated that Iran intended to relatively soon invade and takeover Jerusalem so that the Imam Mahdi would rise up. The video hinted that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was somehow prophesied within Islam as a particular leader that would do that (see Iran’s Ahmadinejad to Conquer Jerusalem?).

Various prophecies of the Mahdi state that he would return in an even numbered year, like the end 2012 (the Islamic calendar runs differently than the Roman calendar, we are currently in Islamic year 1433). The Mahdi is supposed to be recognized in an even numbered year, and since Ahmadinejad’s term ends in 2013 (Islamic year 1434 runs from November 15, 2012 to November 3, 2013), and he indicated he wanted to cause the Mahdi to arrive before he leaves office, he and others in Iran may cause enough chaos to try to cause this to happen soon. With Ayatollah Khamenei aging, it could be soon that Iran takes additional steps that outsiders will consider to be provocative (especially if certain public charges against its still President Ahmadinejad were, at least partially, staged to through the world off about Iran’s intentions).

Until the King of the South rises finally up, I would not be surprised if Iran, Hezbollah, and Syria get together to cause trouble (including possible war) with Israel as a means of hoping to provoke the rise of the Imam Mahdi, as well as to hope to get the Arab states to support the Iranian version of Shi’ite Islam (most of the Arab nations are mainly Sunni Islam). And while that latter item won’t happen as Iran seems to envision, it certainly may get the Arab states in more of a mood to cooperate closer (which, with the “Arab Spring” and the rise of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood is already beginning to happen–and a regional war involving Iran might accelerate the process).

Watch (Mark 13:37).

Some articles of related interest may include:

Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims?
Is There an Islamic Antichrist? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British-English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Will the Anglo-Nations be Divided? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people?
Barack Obama in Islamic Prophecy? There is actually a 17th century Shiite prophecy that some believe that Barack Obama will fulfill that will lead to a rising up of Islam.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2012, 2013, or 2014? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000?