What Tomorrow Could Bring

Mousavi has decided to duck a confrontation at Friday prayers and is prepping for a Saturday rally:

While what Khamenei says tomorrow matters, how the crowds behave could have greater consequences. We know that Mousavi has been debating about how to respond. Mousavi initially wanted his people to ring the university and shout so that Khamenei could hear them. Mehdi Karrubi, his ally and fellow unsuccessful presidential election candidate, wants his people to attend and wear black. Then Mousavi changed his mind and told his people not to attend. He knows that this could lead to violence, which will discourage some of his supporters from demonstrating and dissuade others from joining him. In addition, the regime will accuse him of politicizing Friday prayers (which is the regime's prerogative). Many of Mousavi's supporters are highly conservative people who believe in the fundamental value of the Islamic Republic, but do not care for Ahmadinejad and his antics. Having them with him strengthens his hand. Losing them will marginalize him. He has now decided to hold his next march on Saturday, and he will be joined by former President Mohammad Khatami.

It appears that the idea that Mousavi will not be at Friday prayers may have been deliberate disinformation from the regime. We'll see soon enough.