Interesting you say that. Few yrs ago, there was another FReeper from Poland who said exactly the same thing.
A big difference is the mullahcracy is even worse, because communism was/is a 'man-made' doctrine or ideology. The mullahs use a much higher authority, a set of laws (sharia) and more importantly the Quran (which according to them is immutable) to impose their totalitarian religious dictatorship.
What ‘moderates’? Do they mean a group chopping heads over too short skirts or another one crucifying over eating meal with left hand? Or maybe a third group which hangs people over emo hairdo and listening to pop music? At least we have choice, isn’t it?:)
Personally, and for the record, I'm completely against Islam, any Islamic influences and any and all mullahs.
I didn't write this article, though my understanding is that one must put what is said in the article in context. The context being "separation of religion and state" (secular). As an example, Boroujerdi (an Iranian mullah himself) was (and is if he is still alive) entirely against the religious dictatorship in Iran. He was a "secular" cleric. When he opposed the regime mullahs, they arrested him, threw him in prison, tortured him, denied him his medication, and I don't know if he is still alive.
In addition, even within the mullahs regime, there are 'reformists' (some call them moderates). In foreign policy, they can absolutely not be 'moderates', because foreign policy is dictated by the Supreme leader at the very top. However, on social issues a 'reformist' president such as Khatami did push (some limited) ideas through. During his presidency, the women were given more freedom in terms of hejab, for instance. His aid Saeed Hajjarian tried to make some changes on social issues, aiming for a more liberal stance. He was shot by a hardline basiji and ended up in hospital with serious injuries.
Once again, I'm against all mullahs or any religious dictatorship particularly Islamic one. But, the main point is that so long as the Velayat-e Faghih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists) i.e. Khomeinist Doctrine and in fact 'invention', continues to be the basic foundation or even part of the Constitution of Iran, even those 'reformist' (aka moderate) mullahs within the current regime will have extremely limited voice, and will not be able to action much of their so-called 'moderate' ideas.
What is the ‘color’ of the majority opposition to mullahs? Are there any Kemalist-likes?