Filling Iran's power vacuum if Khamenei is overthrown

Alex Croft looks at the groups waiting in the wings, from the Mujahideen through monarchists to the protest movements

- Alex Croft

When Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the IDF would strike Iran last week, he made no secret of his long-running ambition to wipe out Tehran's authoritarian regime.

Addressing the Iranian people, he said: "I believe that the day of your liberation is near; and when that happens, the great friendship between our two ancient peoples will flourish once again."

Days later, his call for regime change was echoed by US president Donald Trump, who has refused to rule out America joining the conflict. On Wednesday, Mr Trump demanded "unconditional surrender" from Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and claimed that the US could assassinate him if and when it chooses to.

The Ayatollah hit back on Wednesday, warning of "serious, irreparable consequences" if the US were to directly assist Israel in its bombing campaign. A direct strike on the supreme leader would mark a dramatic escalation, and there is no obvious successor were the regime to fall.

Here, The Independent looks at the different groups that form Iran's fragmented opposition and who could vie for the Iranian leadership in the event of a power vacuum.

The People's Mujahideen Organisation

The remnants of the once-powerful leftist militant group, which bombed the Shah's government and US targets in the 1970s, still wield a degree of influence in Iran and now advocate for the overthrow of the Iranian government.