Remember Iran, it's nuke program, and that incentive package?

Iran said on Sunday it would stop considering international incentives aimed at ending its uranium enrichment program if the U.N. Security Council passes a resolution against its atomic work.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also warned a resolution against Iran would create what he called a deeper crisis in the Middle East, but he declined to be more specific.

Asefi said Iran could still reply to the incentives, if the Security Council held its fire.

"We still believe in talks and if Europeans can wait until August 22, they will get an answer to the package," he said.

And what exactly will that answer be? And why the 22nd? Quick, put on your over reaction glasses, and prepare yourself for Apocalypse Iran...

According to the Shiite Muslim tradition, of which Ahmadinejad is a strong follower, the 12th imam, or the so-called “hidden” Imam Mahdi, has miraculously been kept alive since his disappearance in 874 AD.

The revered Imam is set to return at a time of great global chaos, war and bloodshed, after which an era of Islamic justice will be ushered in.

Some believe that Imam Mahdi will be returning some time this August, also the time some military experts predict that Iran will be ready to construct its first nuclear weapon.

Also important to note is that fact that August 22 of the current year also corresponds with the Islamic date of Rajab 28. This day is the same day on which the great Saladin conquered and entered Jerusalem, further evidence of Ahmadinejad’s belief in the regional importance of the date chosen by him to report to the West.

Apparently, Ahmadinejad sees himself as an instrument to pave the way for the arrival of Imam Mahdi as well as an important successor to Saladin in terms of the liberation of Jerusalem. He has reportedly used public appearances on a number of occasions to make clear his confidence that he and other true believers can affect the apocalyptic timetable, urging Iranians to prepare to back him in the momentous endeavor at hand.

Wait, there's more...

Farid Ghadry, the president of the Reform Party of Syria, has offered a provocative explanation for this delay. He asserts that the Supreme National Security Council of Iran chose the August 22 date “for a very precise reason. August 21, 2006 (Rajab 27, 1427) is known in the Islamic calendar as the Night of the Sira’a and Miira’aj, the night Prophet Mohammed (saas) ascended to heaven from the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on a Bourak (Half animal, half man), while a great light lit-up the night sky, and visited Heaven and Hell also Beit al-Saada and Beit al-Shaqaa (House of Happiness and House of Misery) and then descended back to Mecca.…”

Certainly a nuclear attack on Jerusalem or even an all-out conventional assault against Israel by Iran would be consistent with Ahmadinejad’s oft-repeated denials of Israel’s right to exist and recent predictions that its demise was at hand. He hinted at the use of nuclear weapons in his phrasing when he said that Israel “pushed the button of its own destruction” by finally retaliating against Hizballah’s relentless rocket barrage from south Lebanon.

“Arrogant powers,” Ahmadinejad said, “have set up a base for themselves to threaten and plunder nations in the region. But today, the occupier regime” – that is, Israel – “whose philosophy is based on threats, massacre and invasion, has reached its finishing line.”

Will he attempt to make good on these threats this year on the anniversary of the Miraj, illuminating the night sky over Jerusalem? Will Western powers heed Farid Ghadry’s words and move to stop Iran before it is too late?

Meanwhile, in western culture...

Hotel heiress, master self-promoter and aspiring pop-music star Paris Hilton will issue her first album on Aug. 22, two weeks later than previously announced.

The self-titled set was made with the help of some of the hottest producers money can buy, including Scott Storch (50 Cent, Beyonce), Jonathan "J.R." Rotem (Rihanna) and Dr. Luke (Pink, Kelly Clarkson).

Doomed! We are all doomed!