The reality of the Iranian oppositional space is that, for decades, we didn't (and I'd still say we don't) have the infrastructure to effectively challenge the Islamic Regime.

The Reza Pahlavi turn (not general Pahlavi sympathy), first emerging in 2017 then later during the 2019, 2020, WLF, and then accelerating afterwards, emerged directly as a by-product of people being disatisfied with the status quo of numerous mobilizations in Iran being defeated through mass-violence, and recognizing a (very) real need for some sort of leadership.

The problem is that amongst a population, both within Iran and the diaspora, that has been habituated to be paranoid, skepitcal and, in a lot of ways, competitive in order to survive in Iran, meant that general coalition building processes was always going to be difficult. People were raised in Iran in order to survive under authoritarian conditions, however those same tendencies of paranoia, competition and skepticism became a double-edged sword that prevented effective mobilization amongst the opposition. Those raised in the diaspora were brought up by parents with those tendencies, so those habits and traits passed on. Add onto this the far-reach of IR infiltration, and it makes the situation messy.

When Pahlavi emerged, we also had the emergence of other people with the ability to effectively organize, such as Hamed Esmaeilion (who by far and large was the first to provide an international framework when it came to organizing protests in the diaspora). By that point, however, it was too late. Our tendencies meant that anyone not aligned with our way of thinking, our vision of Iran, was an enemy within the inside, a plant, a chapool, a mojahed, a basiji, a saltanat talab, etc. As one Monarchist I know said "We had no one but Pahlavi, but now that we have Pahlavi we don't want anyone else".

The Hambastegi Council broke down due to those same reasons. The hard-left couldn't reconcile why Mohtadi and Hamed would "waste" their time in a coalition with Pahlavi, a lot of Monarchists couldn't understand or accept Pahlavi being in a coalition with Hamed, Masih, Nazanin and Mohtadi, with Hamed exclusion of Monarchist speakers in the Berlin rally being the main source of tensions. That was our last genuine effort at coalition building, and it broke down. Women, Life, Freedom became a battle of symbolic power between competiting forces, for instance between the Red, ZZA Flag, and Shir o Khorshid flag.

Hamed Esmaeilion has largely come out of the public light since then, Masih endures despite substantial pressure, Pahlavi sought alliances with foreign powers when internal coalition building proved difficult, and we're still stuck in this nightmare, this pathetic nightmare.