As the ayatollahs fight to the finish, pray for the Iranian demonstrators

As the protests continue, however, Mousavi might be propelled into a position he never sought: the Mikhail Gorbachev or FW de Klerk of Iran, a member of the ruling establishment who surprises even himself by deviating from the line to the point where the system falls apart

THIRTY years after the Khomeini revolution brought down the Shah and led the Islamic Republic to power, a new generation in Iran is now fomenting a shake-up whose full ramifications are not yet known.

The similarities appear stark, not just with 1979, but with 1953, when Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq, who had swept into power following a large-scale strike of workers in the oil industry, forced the young Shah to flee the country. Very soon, Mosaddeq was himself overthrown following riots that were organised by the CIA and British intelligence, and the Shah was restored to the Peacock Throne. Many Iranians, perfectly understandably, have never gotten over it.