This has tremendous Biblical implications for those of us who are dispensationalists.
(But I do agree w/ you. It could turn the entire ME into an Islamic cauldron, and give Russia and Iran an extremely strong footing.)
>>This has tremendous Biblical implications for those of us who are dispensationalists.<<
It most certainly does. It would set up the power base and sense of security for a strike against Israel. Especially because Israel will be Sunni and Iran is the only large Shiite country. Lots of tension.
That's like saying "Gravity has tremendous implications for those of us who are Physicists"; as if it doesn't impact anyone else.
Frankly, it doesn't matter what sort if "ist" you are, what sort of "ism" you adhere to, or what brand of "anity" you believe in; the progression will be the same for everyone.
We are already seeing an acceleration of conversions around the world. That growth will continue. Leading missions organizations have hard, boots-on-the-ground data that solidly supports completing The Great Commision WITHIN the lifetime of adults now living. Quite possibly far sooner; even as little as a decade.
To combat that burgeoning swell in the ranks of the redeemed, Satan will finally play his trump card and we will meet "the man of sin." Concurrently, as noted in the Thessalonian passage, there will be a sundden, and monumental "falling away"; a departure from the faith on the part of many. These two events are given equal stature in the text, and will be equally notable on the world stage when they play out.
Ultimately, there will be a series of global disasters of increasingly intense scope and magnitude, which will culminate in the seventh trumpet of Revelation (elsehwere referred to as "the last trumpet"), at which point dominion of all nations transfers to Christ Jesus, the dead in Christ rise to meet Him, those alive and remaining follow immediately, all to glorification, and a world on the very brink of total destruction witnesses the great, and terrible Day of The LORD.
Different streams of thought notwithstanding, there will be only ONE reality.
With that in mind, whether you agree with the timeline I've laid our, or not, remember this sober note from II Thessalonians 2:12: The ones who perish are those who do not believe the Truth. Beyond the obvious application of perishing because of failure to believe the gospel, I think there's also a warning there about failing to allow our beliefs about what we think is going to happen to be modified by the real-time working of God right in front of our eyes. IOW, I think there's a real danger that people could be so offended at God over how the end times actually work out, that they turn away, and so perish. SO, TO YOU AND TO ME AS WELL: believe what you will as to the particular sequence and nature of end time events, but don't cling to your ideas so tightly that you refuse to change your mind if God does it different than you think He will.