Among the Shiites (specifically the Twelvers, who are the majority in Iran), there is a fundamental concept — the hidden twelfth Imam Mahdi. According to their lore, a thousand years ago, he did not die but went into “Occultation” (Ghaybah), to one day return, establish global justice, and create a worldwide caliphate.
They even have their own version of Santa Claus’s mailbox — a well in the Jamkaran Mosque, near the holy city of Qom. For centuries, simple Iranians have been throwing notes in there (called “arizah”): for the cow to recover, for the neighbor not to fight over the boundary, for the health of children. The note needs to be written in a special format, and to ensure it reaches the bottom address, it’s wrapped in a lump of clay or tied to a stone. Just ordinary folk folklore.
But then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comes to power. And here begins something that turns analysts in Western intelligence gray. Under him, the Jamkaran Mosque turned into an extension of the presidential administration.
In 2005, at the first meeting of his cabinet, Ahmadinejad made all ministers sign an official “pledge of allegiance” to Mahdi. The document was ceremoniously taken to Qom and dropped into that very well. Meetings of Iran’s Cabinet were held with consideration of the bottom of this pit. They seriously left an empty chair at the head of the table for the millennia-old ghost — in case Mahdi suddenly emerged from the well, took his seat, and also checked the housing ministry’s report. Allegedly, copies of the state budget projects were dropped there for approval.
But the delusion went beyond the cabinets. Ahmadinejad allocated hundreds of millions of dollars from the real state budget (oil money!), to build a giant highway from Tehran to the Jamkaran Mosque with new interchanges and hotels. Do you know why? It was officially stated: so that when Mahdi comes out of Occultation, there wouldn’t be a traffic jam, and his motorcade, along with millions of pilgrims, could reach the capital without problems. They were literally building road logistics for the apocalypse.
Now imagine the degree of astonishment of the Israeli command. There you sit in the IDF General Staff or in the Pentagon. You have game theory, the concept of mutual assured destruction, a precise balance of power. You’re used to dealing with rational bastards who want power, money, and a peaceful retirement in London.
And here before you is a country on the verge of creating a nuclear bomb. And its leadership literally throws the state budget into a well, builds highways for a ghost, and deliberately provokes global war. Why? Because, according to their doctrine, the return of Mahdi should begin exactly after a great world carnage with “infidels.”
For them, potential strikes on neighboring countries — from Turkey and Cyprus to Azerbaijan — are not a geopolitical failure. It’s the very sacred Karbala. The historical battle in which their saints were martyred. They deliberately embrace martyrdom to hasten Mahdi’s return. Chaos is not a side effect of their policy; it’s its main goal.
According to the logic of this madness, it’s quite likely that somewhere in the safe of each IRGC missile division commander, there are “red packets” with targets. In case communication is lost, and the ayatollahs and top command are nullified by a preemptive strike. And when communication completely fails, this commander will open the packet, where there will be an order: target all heretics (Sunnis) and, of course, infidels (Israel and US bases), to ignite the final war.
And imagine this. You are an Israeli general with two higher educations. And you need to build a strategy against someone ready to burn the world in nuclear fire just to make the messiah return from the well faster.
This is why Israel and the US are not playing diplomacy with them now but are simply dismantling infrastructure with 14-ton bombs and B-52s. Because when someone with access to a ballistic missile launch button writes letters in a well — that’s no longer geopolitics, ladies and gentlemen. It’s psychiatry with a nuclear reactor.
