On the other hand, there is a great man, Ayatollah Hossein Kazamani Boroujerdi, about whom I have written many times. The son of a famous ayatollah, Boroujerdi attracted a mass following when he advocated freedom of religion (and non-religion) and called for the traditional Shi'ite separation of mosque and state (FOOTNOTE: for those who deny the existence of "moderate Muslims," his example suggests you should do more study and think more deeply). When the regime arrested him several years ago, his followers blocked the roads taken by the security forces in a desperate attempt to save the ayatollah.

Boroujerdi has been treated atrociously in Evin, and his family and supporters have been warning for many months that his health was failing. Now they are telling us that he has been transferred to a cell that is typically used for prisoners about to be executed.

I can well imagine the frustration of the hollow men atop the Iranian regime. They've had Boroujerdi arrested and tortured, they keep hoping that he'll finally die. But he won’t -- his will to live is extraordinary. And unlike Jahanbegloo, he's remained defiant, and has even smuggled letters and, I am told, the manuscript of a devastating critique of the Islamic Republic, to the outside world.

I don't think the Rouhani/Khamenei regime, which has killed substantially more Iranians than Ahmadinejad in his prime, is going to execute Boroujerdi, any more than I think they will take any formal action against the arrested Green leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. I think the tyrants fear these men, who have inspired millions of Iranians to reject the regime and plan for its removal.