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These are the broadest protests since the 1979 revolution. Ahmadinejad and Khamenei face a crisis of authority

Reports over the ­weekend that as many as 110 Iranian ­reformist politicians had been ­arrested late at night have given further ­credence to suggestions that more is afoot than simple ­election manipulation, and that the "landslide" election ­victory of the country's incumbent president, Mahmoud ­Ahmadinejad, is a means to a broader end.

Indeed, a question from a hardline journalist at yesterday's press conference provided further evidence of a deeper agenda being pursued by Ahmadinejad with the apparent full support of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The question addressed the letter sent last...