The LA Times has a piece by Ramin Jahanbegloo on the present situation in Iran:
The current conflicts between pro-reform and pro-Ahmadinejad groups after the reelection of Ahmadinejad represent a political struggle between the republican essence of Iran and its clerical oligarchy. The republican gesture pays attention almost exclusively to the legitimacy of the public space, but the clerical establishment refuses to grant any legitimacy to the judgment of the public space.
At moments like this, it should not be forgotten that each time democracy is intimated, silenced and postponed for another day by a show of force in a country like Iran, it is a loss of credibility for those in charge and a crisis of legitimacy for the entire political system.