Analysis - Iran dissidents elated, wary on sanctions push

[dipsydoodle]

(Reuters) - From Los Angeles to Paris to Tehran, disparate opposition groups with little in common but an aversion to Iran's clerical leaders are struggling to extract political gains from an escalation in Western sanctions.

Numerous dissidents have hailed Western agreement on tougher measures to compel the Islamic Republic to rein in its nuclear programme, but translating the upbeat mood into renewed opposition activity will not be easy, Iran experts say.

Internally, opposition forces are at a low ebb following the bloody suppression of a loose reformist street protest movement they mounted in 2009.

Iran's factionalised clerical authorities may be riven by their own disputes, but the security apparatus has a tight grip on domestic dissent and its leaders are under house arrest.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/09/uk-iran-opposition-analysis-idUKTRE8081UU20120109

[leveymg]

1. The more we push, the more the internal opposition gets squeezed. This isn't about democracy,

it's about several things, but democracy in Iran is just another cover story.