W hen Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , the charismatic leader of Iran’s Islamic revolution, died in 1989, hundreds of thousands of mourners packed the streets, fearful of what might happen next. Nowadays the mood is very different. For more than six months Iranians have been demonstrating en masse, chanting death to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the founder’s ailing successor as supreme leader. Yet no one knows who might fill his shoes when he goes—or whether the Middle East’s last theocracy will actually survive.
伊朗伊斯兰革命的魅力领袖阿亚图拉·鲁霍拉·霍梅尼（Ayatolh Ruhollah Khomeini）于1989年去世，成千上万的送葬者挤满了街头，担心接下来会发生什么。如今，心情截然不同。六个多月以来，伊朗人一直在展示大批，并向创始人生病的继任者Ayatollah Ali Khamenei高呼死亡。然而，没有人知道他走的时候谁会填补他的鞋子，或者中东的最后一个神权政治是否会真正生存。
