March 5, 2026

FIRST ON FOX: For many, the war with Iran — and the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — might seem like the climactic end to a long, brutal reign of terror by the theological clerics who have run the country since 1979.

But a Fox News Digital investigation reveals that, for certain hardline Shiite ideologues, including in the U.S., this is not an ending but a prophetic showdown that will usher in the arrival of the “Mahdi,” a messiah, according to Islamic eschatology, or the theology of end times.

 

A Fox News Digital investigation reveals that for some hardline Shiite ideologues, particularly within the U.S., the conflict with Iran and the potential killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is less an end and more a prophetic trigger heralding the arrival of the Mahdi, a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology destined to fight an apocalyptic battle against the Dajjal, whom many of these groups equate with President Donald Trump. This belief fuels fervent prayers and calls for divine destruction of nonbelievers, as illustrated by an imam in northern Virginia who implored Allah for victory prior to the Mahdi’s arrival, highlighting the deep intertwining of religious prophecy, geopolitical conflict, and fervent anti-Western sentiment amid escalating tensions and protests funded by pro-China interests.

Leave a Reply