Reuters — Huge antigovernment protests in Iran have galvanized exiled foes of the authorities, but despite their hatred of the ruling clerics, a bitter schism dating to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution still afflicts the leading opposition factions.

That split, between monarchists supporting Reza Pahlavi, son of the ousted shah, and a more organized leftist-Islamist group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, or People’s Mujahedeen of Iran), has played out online and even in angry arguments in street protests in Europe and North America.

How much either faction has support inside Iran, or might be able to shape events there in the future, is hard to gauge, though analysts and diplomats have for decades regarded both as being far more popular among emigres than inside the country.

Many other Iranians outside Iran are also deeply skeptical of both the monarchists and MEK, but have no organized opposition network comparable to those factions.

The lack of a universally accepted opposition movement or figurehead has complicated international approaches toward the deadly unrest sweeping Iran, with US President Donald Trump questioning Pahlavi’s support even as the US weighed airstrikes.

“What’s problematic is there has been no inclusive organization that has been built that can bring together Iranians of all walks of life: religious, ethnic, socioeconomic,” said Sanam Vakil, Middle East head at the Chatham House think tank in London.

During the past two weeks of violent unrest, videos in Iranian cities have shown some demonstrators chanting in support of the ousted monarchy and the late shah’s son, who has encouraged the protests.

His father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled into exile in 1979 and died a year later. He was a close Western ally who harked back to ancient Persian heritage in framing his rule as a national leader and........

© The Times of Israel