26-06-2025
Amid Attacks, Iran's Exiled Opposition Remained Divided. Who Are They?
After 12 days of devastating Israeli attacks, the stability of Iran's government is a subject of intense debate. And some in Israel and the United States have pressed not just for the destruction of Iran's nuclear program but also for 'regime change.'
Overthrowing the government in Iran has been a goal of some in the Iranian diaspora too, ever since the 1979 revolution that disposed the shah and replaced the monarchy with a theocratic Islamic Republic. The war has amplified a range of voices in the opposition abroad, which has a history of infighting as well as organized online harassment of journalists, academics and others that has escalated at times into threats of physical violence.
Here are a few of the overseas voices opposed to the Islamic Republic — and how they have responded to the conflict.
Decentralized activist groups
Iranians in the diaspora who oppose the Islamic Republic include exiled leftists, nationalists, secular democrats, former prisoners, journalists, human rights advocates and artists.
This loose network lacks organizational structure, according to Taghi Rahmani, a prominent dissident who lives in Paris. But he said it has been effective in calling attention to human rights abuses in Iran with protests around the world, and voicing the demands of ordinary Iranians seeking change.
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