After five months of a movement that shook the Iranian regime, the opposition formations in Iran and abroad are struggling to build the unity that they have always lacked.
Since the 1979 revolution, opponents of the regime of the Shiite Islamic Republic have clashed as much with each other as with the organs of power in Tehran. But a consensus is now sought when it comes to converting the demonstrations into a political alternative.
Demonstrations have been rare for a few weeks, but some opponents say they will start again at the slightest spark. The crisis arose from the death in custody of the Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, arrested for violation of the very strict dress code imposed on Iranian women, giving rise to protest actions against the regime.
“What we need is a broadly inclusive united front of forces for democracy,” New York University researcher Arash Azizi told AFP.
Georgetown University in Washington on February 10 hosted a conference bringing together exiled opposition figures who had not spoken to each other until recently. Among them, Masih Alinejad, who militates against the hijab, Hamed Esmeailion, the spokesperson for the relatives of the victims of the crash of the Ukrainian plane shot down by Iran in 2020, and Reza Pahlavi, whose father was the overthrown shah in 1979.
“No competition”
Reza Pahlavi has regularly assured not to aim for the restoration of the monarchy but to wish to work for a secular democratic system. “Today there is no competition between us, we are not trying to take control of the direction of the movement,” he insisted during the meeting.
Mr. Pahlavi is accused of not having distanced himself enough from paternal authoritarianism, of lacking transparency on the family fortune and of remaining inactive in the face of the aggressiveness of the monarchists on social networks. But his position in the face of the demonstrations has earned him the esteem of the movement and the attacks of media linked to the regime in Iran.
“Pahlavi is obviously divisive for some like most political figures in Iran,” notes Mr. Azizi. “But he is the best-known face of the opposition today and he has crystallized the most visible and best-organized support, in and outside the country.”
Stakeholders in Washington – joined online by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and actress Golshifteh Farahani – have been working on an opposition charter and are seeking to set up a transitional council to prepare for elections.
“Now is not the time to throw each other at each other’s throats,” sums up Shirin Ebadi, attributing to the disunity of the movement the longevity of a regime in place for 44 years.
The International Security Conference in Munich next weekend did not invite Iranian officials, but members of civil society. The plans of exiled activists, however, carry little weight without taking into account the demands of protesters in Iran, who are calling for regime change.
A new Constitution
Among them are figures such as lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, director Jafar Panahi and freedom of expression advocate Hossein Ronaghi, all recently released from prison, as well as Fatemeh Sepheri, a more conservative opposition figure. religious.
Simultaneously, Mir Hossein Mousavi, a prime minister in the 1980s, recently called for “fundamental changes in Iran”, via a new constitution and elections.
But nothing, for the time being, testifies to a weakening of the power of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And some opposition factions remain outside this nascent coalition, which keeps the People’s Mujahideen (MEK) at bay, already active against the monarchy and claiming an important support network in Iran.
The charter being drafted will have to resolve a thousand difficulties before it can be presented to foreign officials and convince the Iranian ethnic minorities while protecting the territorial integrity of Iran.
“If a force must unite us, it is to demystify the idea that we are so divided that we are unable to work together for democracy”, summarized the actress Nazanin Boniadi.
The reign of the last shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also marked by torture, executions and the imprisonment of opponents, weighs down the atmosphere: tensions emerged on social networks when Parviz Sabeti, a member of SAVAK (the police shah’s secret), showed up at an opposition meeting in Los Angeles last weekend.
Since September, Tehran has executed four people and arrested thousands more as part of its crackdown on the movement. “The demonstrations have somewhat died down, but that does not mean that the people are no longer angry,” said CNN Ms. Sotoudeh.