Qum-bayah
Looks like we may have more mullah-on-mullah crime to enjoy:
The most important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.
A statement by the group, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum, represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult — if not impossible.
“This crack in the clerical establishment, and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi, in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember, they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”
I’ll believe in regime change in Iran when I see it. And to paraphrase an old saying, no matter who you vote for, the clerics always win. But it’s hopeful, I’ll grant you.
As may be this:
In a September 2006 interview in these pages, Amir asserted that a majority of Iranians opposed their regime, yet were helpless in the face of the repression under which they were living. Amir quoted Iranians who told him that if they had someone to lead them in their struggle, “it would be possible to topple the regime very quickly.”
Much more along these lines in a lengthy interview with an Iranian emigre still in touch with the folks back home.
Just tell me who’s got the guns (and the intention to use them), and I’ll tell you who’s going to win.