The disturbances, and the crisis they expressed, have left much unsettled business, and many unanswered questions. For one thing, there is an unresolved political rift that is a standing challenge to the ascendant hardliners and the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Two of the three defeated candidates, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have kept up their outspoken defiance, repeating their demand for fresh elections and rejecting the legitimacy of any government headed by Mr Ahmadinejad. They are openly supported by the two-term former President, Mohammad Khatami, whose reformist platform won him landslide victories in 1997 and 2001. While they and their millions of supporters may be powerless to confront the system’s instruments of enforcement, their declarations raise issues that go to the heart of the Islamic Republic, its identity and values, and the legitimacy of those now running it. These men are not outsiders. With justice, they call themselves and their associates – many of whom have been arrested – “sons of the revolution”.
