If there had been any doubt that the regime in Iran would eventually break down all opposition, today’s disturbing news tell a different story. The more or less silenced leaders of the ‘Green Movement’, Messrs Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, may in fact be on the run. Mousavi’s wife, Zarah Rahnavard, may have been arrested. His nephew has been shot dead.

State dependent presstv has zeroed in on those which have been out on the streets on Tasu’a and Ashura protesting against the government and those who haven’t dared on these holiest days in the Iranian calendar. An alleged relationship to the terror organization of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) is a dangerous sign of an attempt to escalate the situation further.

The Islamic theocracy raises its ugly head. The revolutionary guards and the clique around Ali Khamenei have nothing to lose. They have to avoid a civil war. They will brutally crack down any opposition.