[ATX 1985]

Until the Iranian people arm themselves, it’ll just be another exercise in martyrdom.

I read a great article in the Weekly Standard about the Iranian protests and the role of Islam. It is remarkable how different the Shi'ite Persians are from the Arab Sunnis who are much more rigid and dogmatic. In Khomeini's case, Islam works against him because unlike Marxism and Socialism, Islam transcends mankind's aspirations. Therefore Muslims in Iran have a sense of Justice, and that sense is written in scripture that cannot be changed by the mullahs. When Khomeini arrests senior clerics, it hurts his regime's credibility. The regime looks weak when instead of subtle micromanagement of society, they have to use henchmen like the Basij and Revolutionary Guard to quell an dissent. The Iranian people can be driven by martyrs. It is no surprise that Mousavi is still alive. The regime already has Neda on the minds of the Iranian people, they have to be very careful because if they kill another beautiful young girl from the right family there could be hell to pay. The article said one of the keys to toppling the regime is the low level Basij being more of a part of the movement as they see their family members killed and jailed.

[nuconvert]

I think you first need to differentiate between Khomeini and Khamenei. The former is dead, the latter unfortunately is not.

Next, IRI is a unique religious theocracy : Khomeinist. This is what it has been for 30 yrs and senior clerics have been arrested throughout that period, as well as use of IRGC & basij to control the people - nothing new to the Iranians.
It isn’t shiite as shia in other parts of the world and hasn’t been for it’s 30yrs of existence.

Yes, if basij & IRGC turn against the regime, they are done for.