Christopher Columbus prophecy

After doing a search on this i found that a thread had been started in 2006 however it only had eight posts, and i feel personally that this needs to be looked into further.

We all know the story about Christopher Columbus that we got taught in school, but perhaps there is more that we do not know. Perhaps the well documented, little acknowledged fact that the discovery of the new world was essential in order to fulfil an ancient prophecy.

When Columbus made his case to gain support from the vatican, at the centre of his manifesto was the prophecy about the land he would discover. A "new world" was to arise in the west and wage a final crusade against the arab powers in the middle east.

Christopher Columbus also wrote the book, "The book of prophecies" which contains many biblical and patristic passages, but does anyone really know why.

I think that this bears some significance when looked at in relation to the current situation between america and iran, or the west and the middle east.
One hundred new threads could be started on this fact, but i think we are all certain that at some point in the near future the Usa will most likely go to war with Iran, which will cause Russia and China to get involved on Irans side, most likely starting WW3.

So what do you guys think, did old Chrissy Columbus know this would happen even before we did, or is a more interesting theory that even before America had been officially discovered, there was already a plan hatched by the powers that be to wage a war on iran.