Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has spoken publicly for the first time about with his country's disputed presidential election results.

His comments followed massive street protests against the poll outcome, which showed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incument president, winning with 66 per cent of the vote.

Analysts gave their opinions to Al Jazeera on the speech made during Friday prayers at Tehran University.

Even after a week of protests disputing incumbent President Ahmadinejad's landslide victory in the Iranian election, the EU still keeps a low diplomatic profile. Several newspapers across the continent are suggesting that this might have something to do with European economic interests in the Islamic republic.

But it basically spells the end of the Iranian theocracy. Civilised democratic change working within thoecratic limits has been rejected and so sooner or later, and definitely within the time period of the next election, there will be another uprising. Only that one will be as bloody and dangerous as the toppling of the shah.

keep to the Fen Causeway

I will say that if the govt. succeeds in crushing this rebellion it will be very violent and only temporariliy successful.  I expect there are many within the clerical, military and parlimantary establishment there who see this the same way.

There is definitely a way to move forward here and the whole thing seems balanced on a pivot at this moment.  On which side will weight come down?