Exiled Iranians say regime's grip on power "weakening day by day," and they're ready to build a new future
CBSN
Erbil, Iraq — Israel has been hammering Iran's nuclear and military sites for a week. To reach their targets, Israeli warplanes must cover about 1,000 miles, traversing as many as three countries, including Iraq, which sits right on Iran's western border. For decades, Iranian groups opposed to the Islamic Republic's theocratic rulers have organized in exile across the border in Iraq, including ethnic Kurdish factions that have become well organized, and armed.
Kawsar Fattahi is a leader in one of the opposition parties that's been outlawed in Iran and labelled a terrorist organization by the authorities in Tehran.
"The regime is weakening day by day," she told CBS News. Fattahi believes the government led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could collapse under the pressure of the Israeli assault. If it does, she said it would be just deserts for the Islamic hardliners who have ruled the nation with an iron fist for almost half a century.
