The National Council of Iran (NCI; fa, شورای ملی ایران, Šurā-ye melli-e Īrān), officially the National Council of Iran for Free Elections, is a loosely based umbrella group of the exiled

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

to Iran's Islamic Republic government. According to ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', it serves as Reza Pahlavi's

government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...

in order to reclaim the former throne after overthrowing the current government. It has also been described as an organization that profiles him as "the new

president of Iran The president of Iran ( fa, رئیس‌جمهور ایران, Rayis Jomhur-e Irān) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The president is the second highest-ranking official of Iran after the Supreme Leader. The president ...

". The "self-styled" National Council claims to have gathered "tens of thousands of pro-democracy proponents from both inside and outside Iran." It also claims to represent religious and ethnic minorities. According to Kenneth Katzman, the group which was established with over 30 groups has "suffered defections and its activity level appears minimal".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iran National Council Political organizations based in France Political organizations based in the United States Political organizations based in Canada Governments in exile Political party alliances in Iran 2013 establishments in France Banned political parties in Iran Monarchist organizations Monarchist parties in Iran Secularism in Iran Iran–United States relations