Who Will Govern Iran After the War?

As the U.S. and Israel continue to degrade the military infrastructure of the Islamic Republic, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and decimating the regime’s leadership, Iran’s fractured expatriate opposition faces a question it has debated for decades but never with such urgency: Who should govern the country next?

Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, commands the most visible support, with crowds chanting his name during street protests and a freshly unveiled policy platform to his credit. Once reluctant to contemplate a return to Iran, Pahlavi has become far more active in seeking the mantle of leadership, telling 60 Minutes that “millions of Iranians inside Iran and outside of Iran are calling my name.”