Cartoon by Mana Neyestani

Son of Iran's ex-Shah: regime is 'splintering'

Middle East Monitor: Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the toppled Shah of Iran, said the Iranian regime is "splintering" and this will become more visible once Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's authority diminishes.

"There are already many splinters within what we call the tent of the leader," Pahlavi told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, adding that there is also a "rift" that affects the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

According to US-based Pahlavi, Khamenei has been "desperately" trying to promote his son; Mojtaba Khamenei, to succeed him.

He pointed to the need to use these internal "aspirations" to change the constitution.

Unlike in previous years, the Iranian government was not invited to Munich this year as a result of its crackdown on protesters, but also due to its support for Russia in the war in Ukraine. Instead, opponents to the Iranian government were invited, while anti-government rallies took place in Munich.

Pahlavi has lived in exile for nearly four decades, since his father was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Iranian regime has been rocked by unprecedented protests since September following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

In early February, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi called for reforms.

Mousavi suggested holding a "free and fair referendum on whether or not a new constitution should be drafted," considering that the current power structure "unsustainable".