The low point in discussing the clerical regime is that the Bush administration hasn't yet developed a coherent strategy for confronting and defeating mollahs.

Upon the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led Friday prayers at Tehran University. His sermon would carry the weight of an American State of the Union address. With time, Khomeini and his successor Ali Khamenei designated a substitute prayer leader from amongst the regime hierarchy.

Ahmadinejad and his supporters may look simple, but they have used the most subtle methods to undermine the authority of the clergy.

The Khalajis represent the fathers and sons and mothers and daughters of Iran.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 2005 election and the consolidation of power of the hard-line Principalist faction in the most recent parliamentary elections have altered the Iranian political landscape. In addition, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is wielding its influence more boldly outside of its traditional military role--increasingly in domestic political...

The failure of pro-democracy forces to mount an effective show of force on the June 12 anniversary of the bloody repression of protests against last year's stolen election shows how well Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has augmented its power throughout the last year.

For almost a third of a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has confounded American presidents. It has taken hostages, conducted terrorism, undermined the Middle East peace process, and worked unrelentingly to become a nuclear power and develop missiles with global reach.

The real revolution in Iran--a silent coup by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps--has gone unnoticed.