Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling for students to rise up and purge academics and professors who don't follow fundamendalist orthodoxy. Even the language is similar (at least, in translation), with Ahmadinejad serving as head of something called "The Council of Cultural Revolution":

"Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with students.

The president complained that reforms in the country's universities were difficult to accomplish and that the educational system had been affected by secularism for the last 150 years. But, he added: "Such a change has begun."

It was not clear whether Ahmadinejad intended to take immediate specific measures, or was just urging the students to rally.

Ahmadinejad, in his role as head of the country's Council of Cultural Revolution, would have the authority to make such changes himself. But his comments seemed designed to encourage hard-line students to begin a pressure campaign on their own, thus putting a squeeze on universities.

"This is the beginning of a so-called cultural revolution. Ahmadinejad and his allies plan to sweep their opponents from the universities," said Saeed Al-e Agha, a Tehran University professor. "They want to rule the brains of youth there."

"Ahmadinejad wants to settle scores with the most important center of critics and opposition and close the door to any opponent before municipal elections in late November," said Kouhyar Goodarzi, a human rights activist. "But his move may prompt a new round of student unrest."

Iran is not China, Ahmadinejad is a long way from Mao, and it doesn't seem likely that they are headed for a Chinese-style national paroxysm. And Iran has been through something similar already during the '79 revolution. Still, it can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.