Assad and Ahmadinejad under intense pressure

Desperate people do desperate things

Pro-Iranian officers in Syria's ruling clique plot coup against Assad
"until now Assad has restricted incoming Iranian aid to ammunition and anti-riot equipment – fresh supplies of which Iranian military aircraft landed in Damascus in the last 24 hours. But he denied landing permission to another Iranian flight which carried 200 members of Revolutionary Guard special units trained to break up demonstrations in urban areas. That plane returned to Tehran."

Iran Power Struggles Pits Clerics Against Ahmadinejad
Regarding apocalypticism, one recent episode that sparked much controversy was the countrywide distribution of millions of DVDs titled "Zohour Nazdic Ast" (Reappearance Is Imminent) in reference to the Mahdi or "Hidden Imam" who will usher in the Islamic Day of Judgment. Produced by the pro-Ahmadinejad institute Mobasheran-e Mahdi, the DVD claims that the president, Khamenei, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah are the prophesied commanders who fight the "enemy" for seventy-two months before the Mahdi reappears.