Free Republic

The best way to understand Ahmadinejad's brand of Shitite eschatology (end-times theology) is to listen to Iranians describe it themselves. Amir Taheri is a European-based columnist who used to serve as the executive editor of "Kayhan", Iran's largest daily newspaper. In an April 2006 essay entitled "The frightening Truth of Why Iran Wants a Bomb," Taheri wrote that just before announcing to the world that Iran had "gatecrashed 'the nuclear club," President Ahmadinejad "disappeared for several hours" to have a secret meeting with the Islamis messiah, a figure known as the twelfth Imam or Mahdi. Taheri wrote, "According to Shia...