Your Volgi saw this story about the clerical establishment in Qom’s (the “q,” by the way, sounds a lot like a French or German uvular “r’) condemning the Khamene’i/Ahmadinejad faction in the sham election and thought, “Damn, that is a pretty serious blow to anyone who considers the velâyet-e fâqih a legitimate form of government, as when the clerics who are ostensibly legitimate members of the class entrusted with rule start questioning the government’s legitimacy…res ipse loquitur. Here’s the lead:

An important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.

The Œc. Vol. decided not to blog on it, however, until he saw something from Reuel Gerecht, who is pretty much the best guy going when it comes to Iranian clerical politics. Well, here is RMG in the Standard, and he not only agrees with the Volgi but goes a bit farther:

Stanford’s always-insightful Abbas Milani is probably guilty of understatement when he remarked that Qom’s declaration is “the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic.” This is likely a monumental blow to Ali Khamenei’s position as Supreme Leader. It’s no secret that Qom, the most important center of Islamic learning in Iran, has never been friendly territory for Khamenei.…

Khamenei just cannot escape from the religious roots of his political office, the vilayat-e faqih. He is, to put it politely, a standing joke as a faqih, a religious scholar…

Qom’s clerics know all too well how unpopular theocracy has become in the country. This popular distaste–and that isn’t too strong a word–with clerical rule amplifies many clerics’ long-standing anxiety about the philosophical rectitude of the whole enterprise that Khomeini set up.…

In the West, what’s particularly distressing is that the Obama White House still seems to have little idea of the magnitude and nature of what is transpiring inside Iran.…

President Obama will get a chance to change course…. Ali Khamenei has demolished President Obama’s Iran policy in only five months. As a “student of history,” the president may yet grow to appreciate the favor.

At this point, even if Obama does nothing—or even if he callowly tries to prop up Khamene’i as a negotiating partner—it may turn out not to matter. The Iranians, clerics and populace alike, may be taking the dissolution and replacement of the “Islamic Republic” into their own hands. إن شاء الله

Picture: Grand Ayatollah & Marja‘ Ali al-Sistani, the most prominent politically quietist Twelver Shi‘ite cleric.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.