A Must Read By Michael Ledeen

The storm ahead

"The Iranian tyrant, Ali Khamenei, told his cluster of top advisers two days ago that it was time to totally shut down the protests, and he ordered that any and all demonstrators, regardless of their status, be arrested (although there is no longer room for new prisoners in Tehran’s jails; they are now using sports arenas as holding areas). He further ordered that all satellite dishes be taken down (good luck with that one; there are probably millions of them in Tehran alone). He ordered that the crackdown be done at night, to avoid all those annoying videos. By Sunday night, hundreds of new arrests had been made, including the regime’s favorite targets: students, intellectuals, and journalists."

---

"So Khamenei is under pressure, and he is not well equipped to deal with it. He has a serious cancer, and takes opiates to mitigate the pain. People around him are whispering that his decisions are poorly reasoned and often impulsive, and some of those close to him, including his son, are apparently issuing orders in his name. This sort of rumor is devastating for the sort of personal rule upon which the Islamic Republic rests. We’ll see in the coming days if the Mousavi forces are able to maintain and increase the pressure, and how Khamenei and his henchmen respond.

---

"At the moment, there is evidence of some panic, as Iranian leaders are exporting their wealth."

---

"UPDATE II: The 3-day strike. Apparently the regime was so worried about the strike that they shut down most factories, businesses and offices. This is another sign of regime insecurity. And Mousavi today (Monday) received several distinguished visitors, including Khomeini’s grandson."

Yup. This is looking more and more like the end of the regime. And from one of the comments following Ledeen's article:

Mars Por Gohar

"Roozbeh Farahanipour, one of the leaders of the 1999 student uprising in Iran and other members and leaders of the Marze-Por-Gohar (MPG) Party are back in Iran in preparation of demonstrations for the July 9th anniversary; they have joined with thousands of other Iranian democracy activists and are already planning for rallies and demonstrations in spite of the ongoing crackdown of IRI forces and the statements of some IRI factions who are trying to confine the present movement within the tight Islamic and Constitutional limits, preventing cries for free elections and a democratic Iran being heard."

In the meantime Sarkozy stands firm with Britain while there is news of a French woman taken hostage.