Is the Mahdi Returning?

A while back, I noted the speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations. From that speech, three and a half years ago, I noted something in particular:

And look at his final sentence fragment: "A wish which I expect will be realized in the near future." Ahmadinejad expects the return of the Mahdi in "the near future." This is chilling. The Hojjatieh believe the Mahdi will return only when the world contains enough oppression, misery, tyranny, and sorrow to warrant his coming. As a result, they believe in spreading evil and creating chaos as their way to hasten his return. (See The Two Trees of Jihadism.)

Fast forward to the past seven days. Last Friday, it was reported that:

In his fiery style, Ahmadinejad, showed his messianic beliefs on Friday, saying the world was witnessing a revolution managed by Imam Mehdi, the 12^th Shiite imam who disappeared as a five-year-old in the 10th century and who Shiites believe would return on the judgement day.

"The final move has begun. We are in the middle of a world revolution managed by this dear (12^th Imam). A great awakening is unfolding. One can witness the hand of Imam in managing it," said Ahmadinejad.

This follows Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei telling his associates "the Hidden [12^th] Imam had appeared to him and promised to arrive during his term as Supreme Leader." (Khamenei — so far — is only saying this in private, apparently because of the criticism Ahmadinejad received for similar statements.) Khamenei is also reported to have told associates he has been made spokesman for the Mahdi. Given the belief structure noted above, this suggests Iran is planning to start a war. Soon.