An expert of Mahdawiyat Hujjatul Islam Rahim Kargar said in his Talegram channel:
As mentioned above, even Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.) himself is waiting for Allah’s permission for his appearance. This means that no one knows the time of the appearance of the Imam. We have clear ahâdîth stating that those who speak about the time when the Imam will make his appearance are to be declared as liars. In the letter mentioned earlier, Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.) wrote, “As for the appearance of deliverance [by me], it’s mentioning is with Almighty Allâh and those who fix the time are liars.”
However, there are many ahâdîth which describe the signs before the appearance of Imam al-Mahdi. One of these is about the capital place of his governance:
An uprising will take place by a Hasani sayyid in Iran. He will form a just Islamic government and call people towards Islam. He will be in Kufa when the news of Imam al-Mahdi’s appearance in Mecca will spread world-wide. The Hasani sayyid will come to Mecca and pledge allegiance to Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.).
Three hundred and thirteen people will pledge allegiance to him, and then he will move towards Medina. From Medina, al-Mahdi will proceed to Kufa, Iraq. After that Prophet ‘Isa will descend in Damascus and join Imam al-Mahdi.
The headquarters of Imam al-Mahdi will be Kufa from where he will rule over the whole world. During the Imam’s reign, the blessings of Allâh will be abundant; there will be no poverty; peace and security will be the rule of the day.
He said that More dark was the face of Koofa at the time of Ashoor and more brighten it would be at the time of Imam Mahdi's reappearance for Koofa at this time is discussed and appreciated much in holy narrations.