"The clerics in charge have the support of only about a quarter of the population, and use the "conflict" with the UN to keep their base supporters enraged, and ready to use violence against the majority, if the majority should ever get restless. But most Iranians, no matter how unhappy they are with their current government, are not willing to fight a civil war to change it. The government takes advantage of that, by allowing most Iranians to do whatever they want, as long as they do not oppose the government, or make the government look bad (so no racy clothing on the women, no public consumption of alcohol and so on). President Ahmadinejad is partiicularly good at this, enacting "reforms" like allowing women to attend sporting events, while locking up more opposition journalists. This has gone on for nearly two decades, and the clerics hope it will go on indefinitely. But it won't. Most Iranians are unhappy with their religious dictatorship, and the anger grows daily. There are more and more violent incidents, usually with the governments organized thugs battling unhappy Iranians in the streets. [ I pray that W is doing a lot more than he appears to be behind the scenes to support the Iranian opposition. -ed. ] "