While everyone and their uncle is carefully watching the minutia of the Iraqi conflict (I mean the Iraqi parliament??! pu-lease!), there is another very real situation brewing in the Middle East that could affect the price of oil and therefore the stock market and the economy in general. Today was the fourth day of peaceful student protests in Iran. Since they started they have gathered momentum. It started with just Tehran University and a few hundred students and has now spread to all the major cities and thousands of students. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20021112_1574.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2448085.stm While this recent situation may be smothered like the 1999 student protest (also started in Tehran University) it has the potential to spiral out of control very quickly.