The key events that preceed the return of the Lord Jesus to earth revolve around that of the national of Israel. Firstly, that the Jewish people are to be gathered from all the corners of the world into which they have travelled and return to Irsael. Secondly that the nation of Israel was to be re-born, this happened in 1948. To read about where in the Bible it mentions the people of Israel, the Jews returning to their homeland, please read Ezekiel 37. Since then, the most pronounced issue that will occur preceeding the return of the Lord Jesus will be that of mounting world pressure against the nation of Irsael. This tends to be the greatest sign pointing toward the Lord's return. The Scriptures say that the time just preceeding the return of the Lord will be when: "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke.21:24-27

Since Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005, he has caused outrage in the West with his provocative statements about Israel. Here is a sampling of his more memorable words.
Oct. 2006 "The Zionist regime is counterfeit and illegitimate and cannot survive."
May 2006 Israel is "a regime based on evil that cannot continue and one day will vanish."
April 2006 "The Zionist regime is an injustice and by its very nature a permanent threat. Whether you like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation. The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."
April 2006 "We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live. Open the doors (of Europe) and let the Jews go back to their own countries."
Dec. 2005 "They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred... If you have burned the Jews, why don't you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to Israel... Why should the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime?"
Oct. 2005 "Israel must be wiped off the map... The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world."