BBC veteran John Simpson’s report on Iran (hat tip: Andrew Sullivan) includes this point:

But while the idealistic young people rally behind the slogan: “Death to the Dictator,” I am not fully convinced that a Rafsanjani Iran necessarily offers the more open form of government they are risking their lives for.

This after he has said that the current crisis could be as huge as the Islamic Revolution of 30 years ago. The enthusiasm, hope and anxiety many of us in America have felt witnessing the Mousavi protests, which Sullivan captures well, e.g. here, must be tempered with this understanding of how corrupt Rafsanjani is, as explained by Imam Zaid Shakir in our Phone Forum on Monday.