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PARIS: The Iran war was cast as a catalyst for the Islamic republic’s collapse, but months of fighting failed to dislodge its leadership and left its opponents out in the cold.
President Donald Trump said in launching the war on Feb 28 that it would pave the way for Iranians to rise up, having pledged support to anti-government protests that peaked in January and were the most serious challenge to the Islamic republic in years.
The fractured opposition movements outside Iran clambered to position themselves as successors to the ruling system when the war began with the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
But Tehran exited the war intact, with opposition groups outside the country more divided than ever and dissidents in Iran facing a new wave of repression, experts and rights groups say.
