Al Jazeera English - Middle East - What next for Iran?

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - What next for Iran?: "'............ Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for the UK's Independent newspaper, does not see the protest as a sign that the Iranian people are unhappy with their existing regime, but rather that they want to see the legitimate person in power.

'.....................

'Mousavi himself believes in the system of the supreme leader. No one wants this to turn into a western nation,' Fisk said.

'.........People should not think that the republic is being contested by the people. ............
'They don't want the Shah back, they don't want to be run by Westerners. This is not a battle over the system of the supreme leader or the Islamic Republic.'"



This is a good point but I wonder if the SL understands Khomenini's ideas? He considered the model in Iran a modernization of the Prophet's form of government in Medina.

Similar ideas, though not implemented as an official government, motivate the Muslim Brotherhood. A failure of the Islamic Republic model might create a vacuum amongst the Muslim brotherhood as well. As of today the only examples of something to fill that vacuum is the limited self government of Hamas and Hdezbollah. These differ markedly form the Khomeini model in two ways .. 1. The religious leaders do not have a direct role in governance and 2. The Brotherhood and Hezbollah are Arab more than Muslim movements.