Iran Eyewitness: Watching the Supreme Leader's Mission in Qom (Azadi)

This is why the trip to Qom, Khamenei's first in more than a decade, is significant: this Supreme Leader is unprecedented in trying to obtain the highest clerical status through the use of mass media. Crowds are shown welcoming him, he gives a speech to a packed square, and he is exalted through the state's broadcasting and print outlets. 

But a true Grand Ayatollah does not establish his credentials through TV, newspapers, and computer screens. His legitimacy comes from reputation and the informal declarations of followers when they are away from the video cameras. A Grand Ayatollah cannot announce his authority; it is conferred upon him by the respect of peers and worshippers.

So Khamenei can pursue his campaign in Qom, which now enters its fourth day, with more and more publicity, but he cannot succeed unless there is a shift in his reception behind closed doors as well as on the television screens.

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