The leaders of two prominent Iranian opposition factions have urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down and spare more bloodshed, in the wake of unprecedented American attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, AFP reports.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution, and Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the outlawed People’s Mujahedin (MEK), which is outlawed in Iran, said in separate statements that Khamenei must quit after over a week of fighting between Iran and Israel.

“Now Khamenei must go,” said Rajavi, saying that Khamenei’s “unpatriotic project” had now “all gone up in smoke”. “No to appeasement, no to war and yes to regime change — changing the religious dictatorship by the Iranian people and the Iranian resistance,” she said.

Pahlavi, who is the figurehead for supporters of the ousted Iranian monarchy, said, “The only sure way to achieve peace is for this regime to now end”.

“As Khamenei considers how to respond from his underground bunker, I say to him: For the sake of the Iranian people, respond by stepping down,” he said.

A combination photo of Iranian opposition figures Reza Pahlavi and Maryam Rajavi. — Reuters/Faebook/Maryam Rajavi
A combination photo of Iranian opposition figures Reza Pahlavi and Maryam Rajavi. — Reuters/Faebook/Maryam Rajavi

Opinion

Editorial

Growth to stability
Updated 29 Apr, 2026

Growth to stability

THE State Bank’s decision to raise its key policy rate by 100 basis points to 11.5pc signals a shift in priorities...
Constitutional order
29 Apr, 2026

Constitutional order

FOLLOWING the passage of the 26th and 27th Amendments, in 2024 and 2025 respectively, jurists and members of the...
Protecting childhood
29 Apr, 2026

Protecting childhood

AN important victory for child protection was secured on Monday with the Punjab Assembly’s passage of the Child...
Unlearnt lessons
Updated 28 Apr, 2026

Unlearnt lessons

THE US is undoubtedly the world’s top military and economic power at this time. Yet as the Iran quagmire has ...
Solar vision?
28 Apr, 2026

Solar vision?

THE recent imposition of certain regulatory requirements for small-scale solar systems, followed by the reversal of...
Breaking malaria’s grip
28 Apr, 2026

Breaking malaria’s grip

FOR the first time in decades, defeating malaria in our lifetime is possible, according to WHO. Yet in Pakistan,...