Why Did The Mullahs Panic?

A reader writes:

Why did the clergy panic? Because they saw something much larger than just Mousavi being elected. They saw the beginnings of a wave that would sweep them out of power.  This started with Khatami. and it won't stop today just because they declared a fraudulent winner.  Mousavi would have been the crowbar with which to pry open the tangled nest of corruption that came into power soon after the 1979 revolution.  There is enough pent-up anger in Iran's youth to fuel a complete wipeout of the regime.  If the thugs were so utterly ham-fisted in their attempt to usurp power, they surely will commit scores of idiotic errors in the days to come.  I cannot imagine Rafsanjani staying quiet for much longer; the theocracy is about to break wide open.  Resistance will take many forms, and now will not stop until the mullahs are permanently out of power.  Iran is headed for civil war.

The situation is still too murky for me to agree or disagree with this. I sure hope my reader is right.