Can Iran Survive?

Can the Islamic Republic of Iran survive increasing civil unrest over last Friday's abortion of a presidential election?

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the Supreme Leader of Iran, has embraced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of the election, even though there seems to be many irregularities in the voting process. Since mass protests have taken to the streets of the nation's capital, Tehran, Khamenei has promised that the government will look into the election results more closely. It may be too late for that to appease the masses.

I was reading a discussion on CNN about the future of Iran's theocracy. It may come down to one simple fact: will the Supreme Leader void the election results to save himself? Even though, Ahmadinejad is the president of the country, he is subordinate to Khamenei, who, for all intensive purposes, holds the real power in Iran.

Also, members of the foreign media have been forbidden to attend protests, which includes reporting on them. The government is working, too, to limit access to the Internet throughout the country.