On 27 April 2006, the Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo experienced what is coming to be commonplace for many Iranian intellectuals and political activists. In Tehran's Mehrabad airport, on his way to India, he heard his name being called out from the loudspeakers. He followed instructions and went to the security department of the airport where he found himself subject to the re-enactment of a frightening scenario.

When the son of Mohsen Rezai, the secretary of the Expediency Council and one of the main players in Iranian clerical politics, surfaced in Washington last year and asked for political asylum, it was obvious that the youth had had it with the paternalistic structure of the Iranian state. Recent events supported this view. A simple incident -- banning of a popular newspaper, not an uncommon event in Iran -- ignited the wrath of the youth. Six days of demonstrations and rebellion followed in more than a dozen cities. Lives were lost and many casualties occurred. Why did it happen now? (See photos of Iran).

The Iranian regime's treatment of the independent philosopher is a lesson in its new tactics for quelling dissent.

The Iranian intellectual Ramin Jahanbegloo, detained at Tehran airport on 27 April 2006 and held for more than four months in prison, was released on bail on 30 August. The authorities first escorted him to his home with a box of sweets (a customary Iranian celebration of a happy event), and he then visited the Iranian student news agency (Isna) for an "interview" where he explained the reason for his arrest.

WASHINGTON–The rushed support of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the disputed June election, and the announcement of his reelection the day after polls closed, has damaged the credibility of the velayat faghih (the rule of qualified jurist) beyond repair. The legitimacy of the regime, already in question by modern urbanites, now has become the target of daily attacks by the people who once were its ardent supporters.