Yeah, they do. Many millions of reasons... called bullets. Let's also not forget taht the real power, here lies with the Mullahs.

Well, that's in dispute. The real power always lies with those that have guns, and these are not mullahs. In fact, a lot of people argue that Ahmadinejad attempted a coup in order to take the power from the clerics, and it is Mousavi (and Rafsanjani) who's trying to protect the interest of the mullahs.

The Iranian starting point is the 1906 Constitution, which made Iran the first Constitutional Republic in Asia. Iranians are proud of this history. Reclaiming it for themselves would be world changing.

Bless your heart Michael, you're channelling Lockean contract theory.

Good to know I still retained some of that book.

the people were easily led astray and would henceforth be controlled by the Koran, the Hadith and the religious experts.

Ah yes, but when the majority of the population stop's believing that the Mullahs are following Allah, but rather following their own desires, they no longer have the mandate of heaven as it were.

And I'm not sure how many of the guns the theocracy actually holds.

The legitimacy of the Mullahs rests with Allah, not the people. The Islamic Constitution was framed around the principle that democracy (the 1906 Constitution being rejected) had failed. It had failed because the people were easily led astray and would henceforth be controlled by the Koran, the Hadith and the religious experts.

Failing that, there is the matter of guns.

Yeah, they do. Many millions of reasons... called bullets.

I'm not sure that qualifies as accepting their authority. But semantics aside, yes the population can be made to follow the government though the use of force, though I'm not sure the Iranian government has sufficient control to intimidate a majority.

Let's also not forget taht the real power, here lies with the Mullahs.

But that's what's in the balance here. If the Mullahs decided to have their pick over the will of the people, then these protests go directly to the authority of the theocracy. If the population believes that the Mullahs hold their own private interests over those of the public, they will reject their authority.

If the majority of the public doubts the legality of the government, they have no reason to accept it's authority.

Yeah, they do. Many millions of reasons... called bullets. Let's also not forget taht the real power, here lies with the Mullahs.

IIRC the 2005 elections were disputed and even the Iranian Ministry admitted there were "irregularities." Didn't change anything though.

What were the options? Right now only one side believes that the election was illegitimate, if you over turn it you will have one side believing the election process is illegitimate, and the other side believing the oversight process is illegitimate.

If the majority of the public doubts the legality of the government, they have no reason to accept it's authority. You have to pretend that the results were a valid representation of the will of the people, otherwise you chance anarchy and civil war.