A senior Iranian cleric and regime insider, Ayatollah Mohammad Mehdi Mir-Baqeri, has sparked global concern after claiming the arrival of the Shiite messianic figure—the “12th Imam”—is imminent, while simultaneously justifying mass death in Gaza as a necessary step toward Islamic domination.
Mir-Baqeri, a hardline member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts—the powerful body that selects the Supreme Leader—is no fringe figure. He holds the formal title of Faqih, granting him authority to issue Islamic legal rulings. In Iran’s theocratic hierarchy, this places him just below the Supreme Leader himself, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds the position of Velayat-e Faqih, or “Guardian Jurist.”
While his name has circulated in the past as a potential successor to Khamenei, Mir-Baqeri recently withdrew his unofficial candidacy, with speculation that his move was intended to bolster the chances of Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba—a relatively more moderate figure by comparison.
But there is nothing moderate about Mir-Baqeri’s ideology. He is an ultraconservative Islamist whose rhetoric reflects the most apocalyptic tendencies of Iran’s ruling elite. Speaking recently about the war in Gaza, Mir-Baqeri stated chillingly:
Even if half of the world’s population dies to liberate Jerusalem, it is worth it. The deaths of 42,000 people in Gaza are insignificant in light of the greater goal. Death is not defeat—it is victory.”
His comments provide a window into the mindset of Iran’s radical Shiite leadership, which views current regional wars not as political disputes, but as divine stages in an end-times scenario. According to Shiite theology, the 12th Imam—a messianic figure believed to have disappeared over a thousand years ago—will return in a time of chaos to lead a global Islamic revolution. In this vision, Shiite Islam will be imposed worldwide, either by conversion or force.
Mir-Baqeri recently proclaimed that this moment is now at hand. “The arrival of the Mahdi is approaching,” he announced, sending waves through the Iranian public and alarm bells across the region.
While such declarations may seem esoteric to outside observers, in Iran’s theocratic regime they carry deadly consequences. The fusion of extremist theology with state power has long driven Iran’s aggressive foreign policy—from arming terror proxies across the Middle East to seeking nuclear capabilities. For hardliners like Mir-Baqeri, bloodshed is not a tragedy but a divine instrument.
His statement glorifying the mass deaths in Gaza as “victory” is not just a reflection of ideological extremism—it is an indictment of the entire Iranian-led axis of terror that has fueled war from Gaza to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. It also reinforces the threat Israel and the free world face: a regime guided not by rational statecraft, but by apocalyptic zeal.
Ayatollah Mohammad Mehdi Mir-Baqeri may not be the next Supreme Leader, but his words reflect the soul of the regime. With Iran escalating its attacks on Israel and actively preparing for wider war, the world cannot afford to ignore the theological fanaticism at the heart of Tehran’s ambitions. The real threat is not just missiles and militias—it’s the genocidal ideology driving them.
