At other times, it reads as the grandiose doctrine of a man who believes he is a revolutionary and the last hope to save what he deems to be a police department so corrupt that murder was the sole way to stop the rot.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The Guardian Council, the appointed 12-man body that vets candidates and elections, summarily disqualifies anyone seen as insufficiently devoted to the doctrine.

ECONOMIST: A debate rages about the nature of clerical rule