History has shown us, time and again, that revolution often occurs when authoritarian regimes take the obedience of their subjects for granted, and do as they wish as they naively ignore growing discontent, only to then discover that they have pushed the people to breaking point. History may just have repeated itself in Iran.
In scenes reminiscent of the popular uprisings that precipitated the collapse of the Soviet bloc in the late 1980s - and, indeed, Iran's own revolution in 1979 - Iran has seen a political explosion since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was inconceivably declared the landslide victor in last weekend's presidential election.
Iran's population - which over the years has got ever younger, more educated and, via modern technology, all too aware of what is going on in the outside world - had until now been placated by a limited 'pro-revolutionary' democracy. Many were discontent, even angry, but at least they felt they had a voice.
But when it became clear that this particular election was a mere facade designed to return the incumbent president to power, it proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
As people have taken to the streets, as in Eastern Europe in 1989, attempts by the government to stop news and pictures reaching the people have backfired, only reinforcing the view that the state is desperate to hide the truth from its own populace.
Desperate to re-establish order, the powerful Guardian Council announced a partial recount, a quite remarkable U-turn. Never in the history of the Islamic Republic has the state been forced, by the pure weight of public opinion, into making such a concession.
Followers of the main opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, now feel so bullish that they have rejected the proposal and are instead demanding a complete re-run of the election.