Weeks after the disputed elections, the fiery pro-democracy protests in Iran are almost off. However, arrests continue on more than 400 journalists and 40 politicians. The infamous militia of the Revolutionary Guards who are in charge of the dirty work are barely visible on the streets of Tehran, Isfahan, Kerman, Shiraz, and Tabriz. They have been replaced by soldiers, but the raids continue.

Iran is said to have actually witnessed a ‘coup.’ The ayatollahs of theocratic Iran seem to have ceased to exist in terms of controlling the country. A new elite has sprung, composed of military officers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and a small group of religious radicals. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been weaving a dense network that controls key security agencies, the most important media, and the bureaucracy.

The president of Iraq has changed over 10,000 personnel in his administration, over the few years that he has been in power. He has overhauled the civilian and military secret services, the ministries of Interior and Justice, the national broadcasting network, as well as the 30 governors of the country.

Mir Hussein Musavi, the main opposition candidate, is firm in his whistleblowing of what happened on June 12, but has promised to seek permission for further protests. Ahmadinejad promises revenge on pro-democracy states.

Frustration, despair and discontent of millions of Iranians -13 million by government estimates – are really the outpouring of the collective desire for democracy and nationalism.

It took an election, fraught with fraud, to reveal to the world the underpinnings of Iranian society. By what we have witnessed in those few days before the foreign media shutdown, it seems that Iran is a volcano about to erupt.

Via Telegraph.co.uk