Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad surprised not only many Westerners but also many Iranians when, during his first speech at the United Nations, he prayed for the hasty return of the Hidden Imam, the Mahdi, Shi‘i Islam s messianic figure.[1]
As Iran s nuclear program has developed, the Bush administration appeared to draw a red line: a nuclear weapons-capable Islamic Republic would be unacceptable. On August 8, 2004, for example, then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice told NBC News
There is every reason to believe that the Islamic Republic s days are numbered. The current government, lorded over by the religious supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamene i, and his Guardian Council of aging mullahs, who can overrule any policy change by