There have been many fascinating articles published over the last week that try to explain today’s situation in Iran through the prism of the country’s 1979 Revolution, and to better understand the situation they now face, you should read as many as you can get your hands on.

Unfortunately for the English reader, all the Kh names can get a little confusing. But it’s actually really simple. One was the Supreme Leader, one was the President, and one was the President who became the Supreme Leader. Get it? Good.

All kidding aside, know this: the key to the future of the country lies in the hands of another former President of Iran–and more importantly the current chairman of the Assembly of Experts–with an equally hard to pronounce name: Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani:

Looking past their fiery rhetoric and apparent determination to cling to power using all available means, Iran’s hardliners are not a confident bunch. While hardliners still believe they possess enough force to stifle popular protests, they are worried that they are losing a behind-the-scenes battle within Iran’s religious establishment.

A source familiar with the thinking of decision-makers in state agencies that have strong ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there is a sense among hardliners that a shoe is about to drop. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani — Iran’s savviest political operator and an arch-enemy of Ayatollah Khamenei’s — has kept out of the public spotlight since the rigged June 12 presidential election triggered the political crisis. The widespread belief is that Rafsanjani has been in the holy city of Qom, working to assemble a religious and political coalition to topple the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“There is great apprehension among people in the supreme leader’s [camp] about what Rafsanjani may pull,” said a source in Tehran who is familiar with hardliner thinking. “They [the supreme leader and his supporters] are much more concerned about Rafsanjani than the mass movement on the streets.”