Iranian exile factions vie for US leaders’ blessing to lead Iran

Maga world figures throw weight behind Maryam Rajavi, MEK’s leader, and Reza Pahlavi, the son of last Shah of Iran As a US battle group steamed to the Gulf in November 2002, competing Iraqi exiles, some championed by American insiders, jockeyed for position in the hopes of taking charge once George W Bush toppled Saddam Hussein. Bloomberg dubbed them “Iraq’s unruly opposition”. The most notorious Iraqi exile, failed former banker Ahmad Chalabi, boasted to his neoconservative allies that his return to Baghdad would be welcomed by cheering throngs.