The men running Iran are not just politicians, they are apocalyptic true believers!

If you want to understand why Iran behaves the way it does — why they are not deterred by normal calculations of loss, why death doesn't frighten them the way it should — this is exactly you need to hear.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 general Islam but "𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐢𝐬𝐦" — a specific, radical, apocalyptic cult ideology that has seized control of the Iranian state and functions less like a branch of a world religion and more like a death cult with nuclear ambitions.

Here is what Twelvers actually believe. The twelfth imam — the Mahdi — went into occultation, meaning divine hiding, in 874 AD. Twelvers believe he will return at the end of times to establish a global Islamic caliphate. And here is the part that should stop you cold: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧. They are not trying to avoid apocalypse. They are trying to 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭.

This is why normal deterrence logic breaks down with the Iranian regime. A government that believes global destabilization is theologically required and cosmically rewarded does not respond to threats of destruction the way a rational state actor does. Destruction may be, in their framework, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭.

A Biblical pattern that gives this ancient context — from Nimrod building Babel in defiance of God in the land of Shinar, which is Mesopotamia, which is modern Iraq and Iran, through the succession of empires that rose from that same geographic and spiritual crucible in opposition to the God of Israel. You do not have to be a Christian or accept every element of the theological framework to recognize what we are identifying: 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫.

What makes Twelverism uniquely dangerous — and why it qualifies as a cult rather than a legitimate expression of faith — is the eliminationist requirement baked into its eschatology. The Mahdi's return and the establishment of the final caliphate requires the subjugation or elimination of those who do not submit. It is not a theology of coexistence. It is a theology of 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 — and the Iranian regime has been the state apparatus of that theology since 1979.

This is why the mullahs welcomed chaos in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. This is why they funded Hezbollah, armed Hamas, and seeded terror cells across Europe and the Americas. This is why Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader, has not moderated his rhetoric by a single decibel even as his factories burn and his missile stockpile drains.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. Catastrophe is not a failure condition. It is a prophetic milestone. Most people — including most in the media and most in Washington — are not taking this seriously enough. You cannot negotiate in good faith with a government that views negotiation as a temporary tactical pause on the road to apocalypse. You cannot deter with the threat of death a leadership class that has theologically reframed death as victory.

The only answer to Twelver eschatology in power is the removal of that power. Not containment. Not negotiation. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐥.Which is exactly what is happening right now.