Iran's clerical rule is being read as a stage on the way to splitting religion from government, which would be bad news for the ruling clerics and good news for Iranians who want a normal state.

• The 1979 revolution was bound to happen, whoever pushed it along, and outside meddling only shaped the timing.
• The real driver is 1,400 years of pressure inside Islam finally reaching the point where religion has to give up political power.
• Europe went through the same thing: after centuries of religious wars, Christianity was pushed out of government and became a private matter.
• That is where the idea of separation of church and state came from, and it was adopted because the alternative was endless bloodshed.
• Khomeini, Khamenei and the current fight in Iran are small pieces of a much longer story.

Outlook: Expect continued pressure on clerical rule in Iran, with religion slowly losing its grip on the state rather than collapsing overnight.