Ayatollah's gift of the gab

As reported in today's Guardian newspaper and other media, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last night dismissed protests as the work of "tension seekers". He has produced a pretty nifty and memorable phrase here, no mean feat in the age of the media soundbite. If he was seeking attention, it worked. But what was he signalling with this labelling; will things deteriorate to the point where a religious edict will materialise?

Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism