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REVOLUTIONS OCCUR when those above cannot rule in the old way and those below will not be ruled in the old way, according to Lenin. His remark about the Russian revolution is worth recalling after Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s warning that continuing divisions will lead to the collapse of the country’s ruling elite. He spoke after calls by one former president for a referendum on the government’s legitimacy, which another described as in crisis after it has lost the trust of millions of Iranians.

This continuing fallout from last month’s disputed presidential election results reveals that it has created an unprecedented gulf between supporters of the victorious Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Mr Khamenei’s decision as supreme leader to back Mr Ahmadinejad so forthrightly has opened up these divisions. They show no sign of diminishing despite the arrest of thousands of Mr Mousavi’s supporters, who he has demanded be released forthwith. The call by Mohammad Khatami for a referendum and the frank statement about the loss of political trust by Hashemi Rafsanjani show that the facade of unity carefully constructed by Iran’s clerical and security rulers over the last two decades has disintegrated.