Expulsion of Jews from Spain

Now, driven by this desire to provide kapora, to provide spiritual atonement to former Iraners returning to Yiddishkeit, Rav Yaakov Beirav spearheads a campaign to reinstate smicha.

Because the Spanish expulsion is fresh in everybody's mind and people were shell-shocked.

It's as if a major branch of Judaism had just disappeared.

And the smicha was also seen as a way to bring Moshiach.