People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran
People's Mojahedin Organization سازمان مجاهدین خلق | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PMOI, MEK, MKO |
Leader | Maryam Rajavi[1] Massoud Rajavi[a] |
Secretary-General | Zahra Merrikhi |
Founders | Mohammad Hanifnejad[3] Saeid Mohsen Ali-Asghar Badi'zadegan Ahmad Rezaei |
Founded | 5 September 1965 |
Banned | 1981 (in Iran) |
Split from | Freedom Movement of Iran |
Headquarters |
|
Newspaper | Mojahed[5] |
Political wing | National Council of Resistance of Iran (1981–present) |
Military wing | National Liberation Army (1987–2003) |
Membership | 5,000 to 10,000 (DoD 2011 est.)[b] |
Ideology | See below |
Religion | Shia Islam |
Colours | Red |
Party flag | |
Website | |
www.mojahedin.org | |
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) (
The MEK was founded on 5 September 1965 by leftist Iranian students affiliated with the
Facing the subsequent repression of the MEK by the IRP,
Between 1997 and 2013, the MEK was on the lists of terrorist organizations of the US, Canada, EU, UK and Japan for various periods.[62] The MEK is designated as a terrorist organization by Iran and Iraq.[57] In 2008, the United Nations Committee against Torture labeled the group as involved in terrorist activities.[63] During its life in exile, MEK was initially financed by backers including Saddam Hussein,[64][65][66][67] and later a network of fake charities based in European countries.[68][69][70] Critics have described the group as "resembling a cult,"[71][72][73] while its backers describe the group as proponents of "a free and democratic Iran" that could become the next government there.[74]
History
Early years (1965–1971)
The Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) was founded in 1965 by a group of
During the 1970s, the MEK carried out a series of attacks against the Iranian and Western targets[29] and tried to kidnap the U.S. Ambassador to Iran Douglas MacArthur II in 1970.[83] Some sources attribute the attempted kidnap to other groups.[84][85][86] By August 1971, the MEK's Central Committee included Reza Rezai, Kazem Zolanvar, and Brahram Aram.[87] During August–September 1971, SAVAK managed to strike arrested and executed many members of MEK including its co-founders.[88]
Some surviving members restructured the group by replacing the central cadre with a three-man central committee. Each of the three central committee members led a separate branch of the organization.[89] Two of the original central committee members were replaced in 1972 and 1973, and the replacing members were in charge of leading the organization until the internal purge of 1975.[88]
Schism (1971–1978)
1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bahram Aram | ||||||
Reza Rezaeia | Taghi Shahram | |||||
Kazem Zolanvarb | Majid Sharif Vaghefi c
| |||||
a Killed in action by SAVAK in 1973 b Arrested in 1972, executed in 1975 c Killed by Marxist faction in 1975 purge |
By 1973, the members of the Marxist–Leninist MEK launched an "internal ideological struggle".[90] They asserted that "they had reached the conclusion that Marxism, not Islam, was the true revolutionary philosophy".[91] Members who did not convert to Marxism were expelled or reported to SAVAK.[90] This led to two rival Mojahedin, each with its own publication, its own organization, and its own activities.[92] The new group was known initially as the Mojahedin M.L. (Marxist–Leninist). A few months before the Iranian Revolution, the majority of the Marxist Mojahedin renamed themselves Peykar (Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class) in 1978.[93] 1971-1972 arrests and executions by the Shah's security services, also infighting within the organization "practically shattered the organization".[94] From 1973 to 1979, the Muslim MEK including Massoud Rajavi were mainly in prisons.[95] "Rajavi, upon release from prison during the revolution, had to rebuild the organization".[96][97]
The group conducted several assassinations of U.S. military personnel and civilians working in Iran during the 1970s.
1979 Iranian Revolution and subsequent power struggles
By early 1979, the MEK had organized themselves and recreated armed cells, especially in Tehran and helped overthrow the Pahlavi regime.[112] In January 1979, Massoud Rajavi was released from prison and rebuilt the MEK together with other members that had been imprisoned.[112][113] The group supported the revolution in its initial phases,[114] and became "a major force in Iranian politics" according to Ervand Abrahamian.[115] Although it soon entered into conflict with Khomeini,[113] and became a leading opposition to the new theocratic regime.[116] Its candidate for the head of the newly founded
The MEK further launched an unsuccessful campaign supporting total abolition of Iran's standing military, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, in order to prevent a coup d'état against the system. They also claimed credit for infiltration against the Nojeh coup plot.[117] The MEK was one of the supporters of the occupation of the American embassy in Tehran after the Iranian revolution although MEK has denied it.[118]
The MEK refused to participate in the
Electoral disenfranchisement and opposition activity (1980–1981)
As a result of the boycott, Khomeini subsequently refused to allow Massoud Rajavi and MEK members to run in the 1980 Iranian presidential election.[120][121] Khomeini declared that "those who had failed to endorse the Constitution could not be trusted to abide by that Constitution."[27] And the MEK was also unable to win a single seat in the 1980 Iranian legislative election.[122] Instead, Rajavi allied with Iran's new president, Abolhassan Banisadr, elected in January 1980,[112] and the group began clashing with the ruling Islamic Republican Party while avoiding direct and open criticism of Khomeini.[5] The MEK was in turn suppressed by Khomeini's revolutionary organizations.[123] On June 20, 1981, the MEK organized a demonstration against Khomeini with the aim of overthrowing the regime. Some 50 demonstrators were killed in the protests.[30][31][28] The MEK responded by declaring war against the
Hafte Tir bombing
This culminated in the
Two days after the incident Ruhollah Khomeini accused the MEK.[128] The MEK declared that this bombing was a "natural and necessary reaction to the regime's atrocities."[131] According to Kenneth Katzman, there is much speculation among academics and observers about who carried out the bombing.[43] According to the United States Department of State, the bombing was carried out by the MEK.[132] However, the MEK never claimed responsibility for the attack.[133] According to Ervand Abrahamian, Whatever the truth is, the Islamic Republic used this incident to fight the MEK.[131]Open conflict with the Islamic Republican Party
In July 1981, the MEK then formed the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) with the stated goal of uniting the opposition to the Iranian government under one umbrella organization.[134] Rajavi assumed the position of chairman of the organization.[135] On 30 August 1981, they
During the fall of 1981, the MEK was in charge of 65 percent of assassinations carried out in Iran[142] From 26 August 1981 to December 1982, the MEK orchestrated 336 attacks.[143] Likewise, between June 1981 and April 1982, approximately 3500 MEK members were killed.[144] In July 1982, 13 IRGC members and Mohammad Sadoughi were killed by MEK members.[31]
Exile and underground opposition activity (1982–1988)
In 1982, the Islamic Republic cracked down MEK operations within Iran.[105] On February 8 Mousa Khiabani, Rajavi's deputy and the MEK's field commander in Iran was killed following a three hour gunfight at a North Tehran safehouse.[145] Alongside him died his wife Azar Rezaei, Ashraf Rabiei, Rajavi's first wife and six others. Rajavi's son Mostafa survived and was later sent to Paris. [146][144] This event significantly consolidated Rajavi's leadership position since like him, Khiabani was one of the few surviving initial members who had undertaken the organizations original ideological training.[145] The majority of the MEK leadership and members fled to France, where it operated until 1985.[147] The organization gained a new life in exile, and continuing to conduct violent attacks in Iran.[17]
In 1983, the MEK started an alliance with Iraq following a meeting between Massoud Rajavi and Tariq Aziz.[148] In June 1986, France, then seeking to improve relations with Iran, expelled the MEK and the organization relocated to Iraq. MEK representatives contend that their organization had little alternative to moving to Iraq considering its aim of toppling the Iranian clerical government.[147] From 1982 to 1988, despite the mounting casualties on both sides, the lingering underground presence of the MEK in Iran remained operational and went on to perform an average of sixty operations per week, resulting in assassinations of important Khomeini deputies.[144] The MEK came to be considered Iran's "largest and most active Iranian exile organization",[149][150][115] and its publications were commonly circulated within the Iranian diaspora.[151]
Operations Shining sun, Forty Stars, and Mersad
In 1986, after French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac struck a deal with Tehran for the release of French hostages held prisoners by the Hezbollah in Lebanon, the MEK was forced to leave France and relocated to Iraq.[152] By 1987, most MEK leaders were based in Iraq, where the group remained until the 2003 US invasion. According to the US State Department, the MEK was mainly supported by Iraq during that period and was fighting on the Iraqi side in the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War.[153] In 1987 Masoud Rajavi declared the establishment of the "National Liberation Army of Iran" (NLA). Its objective was to serve as an infantry force that included different militant groups members of the NCRI. Through a broadcast on Baghdad radio, the MEK extended an invitation to all progressive-nationalist Iranian individuals to join the NLA in overthrowing the government of the Islamic Republic.[154]
On 27 March 1988, the NLA launched its first military offensive against the Islamic Republic's armed forces.
Operation Forty Stars was launched on June 18, 1988. With 530 aircraft sorties and heavy use of nerve gas, they attacked to the Iranian forces in the area around Mehran, killing or wounding 3,500 and nearly destroying a Revolutionary Guard division. The forces captured the city and took positions in the heights near Mehran, coming close to wiping the whole Iranian Pasdaran division and taking most of its equipment.[156] While some sources claim that Iraq participated in the operation,[157] The MEK and Baghdad said Iraqi soldiers did not take part.[158][159]
Near the end of the Iran–Iraq War, a military force of 7,000 members of the MEK, armed and equipped by Saddam's Iraq and calling itself the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA) was founded.[160] On 26 July 1988, six days after Ayatollah Khomeini had announced his acceptance of the UN-brokered ceasefire resolution, the NLA advanced under heavy Iraqi air cover, crossing the Iranian border from Iraq.[161] It seized the Iranian town of
1988 execution of MEK prisoners
Following the MEK's
On 19 July 1988, the authorities isolated major prisons, having its courts of law go on an unscheduled holiday to prevent relatives from inquiring about those imprisoned,[167] and as Ervand Abrahamian notes, "thus began an act of violence unprecedented in Iranian history." Prisoners were asked if they were willing to denounce the MEK before cameras, help the IRI hunt down MEK members and name secret sympathizers. Those who gave unsatisfactory answers were promptly taken away and hanged.[167] Human rights groups say that the number of those executed remains uncertain, but "thousands of political dissidents were systematically subjected to enforced disappearance in Iranian detention facilities across the country",[166][168] with those executed charged with "moharebeh" or "waging war on God",[169] and of "disclosing state secrets" and threatening national security".[166]
Since the executions, Amnesty International has stated that "there has also been an ongoing campaign by the Islamic Republic to demonize victims, distort facts, and repress family survivors and human rights defenders."[170]
According to Professor Cheryl Bernard, the mass execution of political prisoners carried out by the Islamic Republic in 1981 caused the MEK to split into four groups: those that were arrested, imprisoned or executed, a group that went underground in Iran, another that left to Kurdistan and a final group that left to other countries abroad.[171] By the end of 1981, the principal refuge for many exiled members of the MEK had become France.[172]
Post-war Saddam era (1988–2003)
The Iranian government is believed to be concerned about MEK activities in Iran, and MEK supporters are a major target of Iran's internal security apparatus abroad[173][174] and it is said to be responsible for killing MEK members, Kazem Rajavi on 24 April 1990 and Mohammad-Hossein Naghdi, a NCRI representative on 6 March 1993.[173] In 1991 "In a sign of the group's appreciation for Saddam's generous hospitality and largesse", MEK assisted the Iraqi Republican Guard in suppressing nationwide uprisings of Shias, Kurds and Turkmens against Baathist regime.[175][57][58]
In April 1992, the MEK attacked 10 Iranian embassies including the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York using different weapons, taking hostages, and injuring Iranian ambassadors and embassy employees. There were dozens of arrests.[176][177] According to MEK representatives, the attacks were a way to protest the bombing of a MEK military base where several people had been killed and wounded.[177]
in June 1998 FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that he received "anonymous threats of disruption from Iranian exiles" for the 1998 FIFA World Cup match between Iran and the U.S. football teams at Stade de Gerland.[178] The MEK bought some 7,000 out of 42,000 tickets for the match between, in order to promote themselves with the political banners they smuggled. When the initial plan foiled with TV cameras of FIFA avoiding filming them, intelligence sources had been tipped off about a pitch invasion. To prevent an interruption in the match, extra security entered Stade Gerland.[179]
In 1999, after a 2 1⁄2-year investigation, Federal authorities arrested 29 individuals in Operation Eastern Approach,[180] of whom 15 were held on charges of helping MEK members illegally enter the United States.[181] The ringleader was pleaded guilty to providing phony documents to MEK members and violation of Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.[182][183] In 2002 the NCRI publicly called or the formation of a National Solidarity Front to help overthrow Islamic Republic of Iran.[184]
2003 French arrests
In June 2003, French police raided the MEK's properties, including its base in Auvers-sur-Oise, under the orders of anti-terrorist magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière, after suspicions that it was trying to shift its base of operations there. 160 suspected MEK members were then arrested, including Maryam Rajavi and her brother Saleh Rajavi.[185] After questioning, most of those detained were released, but 24 members, including Maryam Rajavi, were kept in detention.[186]
In response, 40 supporters began
U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican from Kansas and chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on South Asia, then accused the French of doing "the Iranian government's dirty work". Along with other members of Congress, he wrote a letter of protest to President Jacques Chirac, while longtime MEK supporters such as Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, criticized Maryam Radjavi's arrest.[190] A court later found that there were no grounds for terrorism or terrorism-related finance charges.[191] In 2014, prosecuting judges also dropped all charges of money laundering and fraud.[192]
Post-U.S. invasion of Iraq (2003–2016)
In May 2003, during the Iraq War, the Coalition forces bombed MEK bases and forced them to surrender.[193] This resulted in at least 50 deaths.[e][194] The US forces disarmed Camp Ashraf residents.[61] In the operation, the U.S. reportedly captured 6,000 MEK soldiers and over 2,000 pieces of military equipment, including 19 British-made Chieftain tanks.[195][196] Following the occupation the U.S. did not hand over MEK fighters to Iran.[197][198] The group's core members were for many years effectively confined to Camp Ashraf,[199] before later being relocated to a former U.S. military base, Camp Liberty, in Iraq.[200] Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney argued that the MEK should be used against Iran.[201][198] They were then placed under the guard of the
In June 2004, Donald Rumsfeld designated the MeK as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.[205][201][206] and signed a formal ceasefire agreement.[61] Since 2009, when the Iraqi government became openly hostile to MEK, the U.S. led efforts to get the group's members out of Iraq.[72] At the same time the MEK paid Western political influencers to lobby for its removal from the list of designated terrorist organizations.[201][207][208][209] After it was no longer designated as a terrorist group, the US was able to convince Albania to accept the remaining 2,700 members who were brought to Tirana between 2014 and 2016.[201][210][211][212]
Separate to events in Iraq, the organization launched a free-to-air satellite
Iraqi government's crackdown (2009–2012)
In 2009 American troops gave the Iraqi government responsibility of the MEK. Iraqi authorities, which were sympathetic to Iran, allowed Iran-linked militias to attack the MEK.
On 28 July 2009, Iraqi security forces raided MEK headquarters at
In January 2010, Iranian authorities charged five MEK
In 2012, the MEK moved from Camp Ashraf to
Iran's nuclear programme
The MEK and the NCRI revealed the existence of Iran's nuclear program in a press conference held on 14 August 2002 in Washington, D.C. MEK representative Alireza Jafarzadeh stated that Iran is running two top-secret projects, one in the city of Natanz and another in a facility located in Arak, which was later confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.[232][233]
Journalists Seymour Hersh and Connie Bruck have written that the information was given to the MEK by Israel.[234] Among others, it was described by a senior IAEA official and a monarchist advisor to Reza Pahlavi, who said before MEK they were offered to reveal the information, but they refused because it would be seen negatively by the people of Iran.[235][236] Similar accounts could be found elsewhere by others, including comments made by US officials.[233]
On 18 November 2004, MEK representative Mohammad Mohaddessin used satellite images to state that a new facility existed in northeast Tehran named "Center for the Development of Advanced Defence Technology". This allegation by MEK and all their subsequent allegations were false.[233]
In 2010 the NCRI claimed to have uncovered a secret nuclear facility in Iran. These claims were dismissed by U.S. officials, who did not believe the facilities to be nuclear. In 2013, the NCRI again claimed to have discovered a secret underground nuclear site.[237]
In 2012, NBC News' Richard Engel and Robert Windrem published a report quoting U.S. officials, who spoke to
On 27 November 2020, Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated. Iranian Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, who heads the Supreme National Security Council, blamed Mujahideen-e-Khalq and Israel.[242]
Settlement in Albania (2016–present)
In 2016, the United States brokered a deal to relocate the MEK to Albania. About 3,000 members moved to Albania, and the U.S. donated $20 million to the U.N. refugee agency to help them resettle.[243] On 9 September 2016, more than 280 remaining MEK members were relocated to Albania.[212] Camp Ashraf 3 is located in Manëz, Durrës County, where they have been protested by the locals.[4]
Relationship during Trump presidency
In 2017, the year before
On 30 June 2018, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal lawyer, lectured an MEK gathering in Paris, calling for regime change in Tehran. John McCain and John Bolton have met the MEK's leader Maryam Rajavi or spoken at its rallies.[248][249]
During the Free Iran 2019 conference in Albania, Rudy Giuliani attended an MEK podium, where the former New York City mayor described the group as a "government-in-exile", saying it is a ready-to-go alternative to lead the country if the Iranian government falls.[72] Additionally, the Trump administration said it would not rule out the MEK as a viable replacement for the current Iranian regime.[250]
Islamic Republic of Iran operations against MEK inside Europe
On 30 June 2018
In October 2019, Albanian police discovered an Iranian paramilitary network that allegedly planned attacks against MEK members in Albania. Albania's police chief, Ardi Veliu, said that the Iran Revolutionary Guard's foreign wing operated an "active terrorist cell" that targeted members of the MEK. A police statement said that two Iranian security officials led the network from Tehran, and that it was allegedly linked to organised crime groups in Turkey. It also said that the network used a former MEK member to collect information in Albania. Valiu also said that a planned attack on the MEK by Iranian government agents was foiled in March.[259]
In 2020, newspaper De Standaard said evidence that Iranian intelligence and security was involved in the failed 2018 bomb plot against an MEK rally was mounting. In a note to the federal prosecutor's office, the State Security writes that "the attack was devised in the name and under the impetus of Iran", with the note also describing one of the case's suspects, Asadollah Asadi, as a MOIS agent. Amir Saadouni and Nasimeh Naami, who in 2018 were found with half a kilo of explosives and are also being charged in the case, admitted that they had been in contact with Asadollah Asadi.[260][252] In October 2020, the Iranian diplomat Asadollah Asadi charged in Belgium with planning to bomb a rally by the MEK "warned authorities of possible retaliation by unidentified groups if he is found guilty". Asadi would become the first Iranian diplomat to go on trial on charges of terrorism within the European Union.[261][262] In February 2021, Asadi and his accomplices were found guilty of attempted terrorism and Asadi was sentenced to 20 years in prison.[263]
In September 2022, Albania suffered a second cyber-attack, resulting in it cutting diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic and ordering Iranian embassy staff to leave.[256][264][265] According to the FBI and CISA, the cyberattacks were motivated by Albania's hosting of the MEK.[266]
Ideology
Before the revolution
According to Katzman, the MEK's early ideology is a matter of dispute. While scholars generally describe the MEK's ideology as an attempt to combine "Islam with revolutionary Marxism," today the organization claims that it has always emphasized Islam, and that Marxism and Islam are incompatible. Katzman writes that their ideology "espoused the creation of a classless society that would combat world imperialism, international Zionism, colonialism, exploitation, racism, and multinational corporations."[14] The MEK's ideological foundation was developed during the period of the Iran revolution. According to its official history, the MEK first defined itself as a group that wanted to establish a nationalist, democratic, revolutionary Muslim organization in favour of change in Iran.[267]
Historian Ervand Abrahamian observed that the MEK were "consciously influenced by Marxism, both
According to Abrahamian, it was the first Iranian organization to develop systematically a modern revolutionary interpretation of Islam that "differed sharply from both the old conservative Islam of the traditional clergy and the new populist version formulated in the 1970s by Ayatollah Khomeini and his disciples."[115] Abrahamian said that the MEK's early ideology constituted a "combination of Muslim themes; Shii notions of martyrdom; classical Marxist theories of class struggle and historical determinism; and neo-Marxist concepts of armed struggle, guerilla warfare and revolutionary heroism."[269] According to James Piazza, the MEK worked towards the creation by armed popular struggle of a society in which ethnic, gender, or class discrimination would be obliterated.[270]
Nasser Sadegh told military tribunals that although the MEK respected Marxism as a "progressive method of social analysis, they could not accept materialism, which was contrary to their Islamic ideology." The MEK eventually had a falling out with Marxist groups. According to Sepehr Zabir, "they soon became Enemy No. 1 of both pro-Soviet Marxist groups, the Tudeh and the Majority Fedayeen."[117]
The MEK's ideology of revolutionary Shi'ism is based on an interpretation of Islam so similar to that of Ali Shariati that "many concluded" they were inspired by him. According to Ervand Abrahamian, it is clear that "in later years" that Shariati and "his prolific works" had "indirectly helped the Mujahedin."[271]
In the group's "first major ideological work," Nahzat-i Husseini or Hussein's Movement, authored by one of the group's founders, Ahmad Reza'i, it was argued that Nezam-i Towhid (monotheistic order) sought by the prophet Muhammad, was a commonwealth fully united not only in its worship of one God but in a classless society that strives for the common good. "Shiism, particularly Hussein's historic act of martyrdom and resistance, has both a revolutionary message and a special place in our popular culture."[272]
As described by Abrahamian, one Mojahedin ideologist argued:
Reza'i further argued that the banner of revolt raised by the Shi'i
Imams, especially Ali, Hassan, and Hussein, was aimed against feudal landlords and exploiting merchant capitalists as well as against usurping Caliphs who betrayed the Nezam-i-Towhid. For Reza'i and the Mujahidin it was the duty of all Muslims to continue this struggle to create a 'classless society' and destroy all forms of capitalism, despotism, and imperialism. The Mojahedin summed up their attitude towards religion in these words: 'After years of extensive study into Islamic history and Shi'i ideology, our organization has reached the firm conclusion that Islam, especially Shi'ism, will play a major role in inspiring the masses to join the revolution. It will do so because Shi'ism, particularly Hussein's historic act of resistance, has both a revolutionary message and a special place in our popular culture.[273]
After the revolution
Massoud Rajavi supported the idea that the Shiite religion as compatible with pluralistic democracy.
In 2001, Kenneth Katzman wrote that the MEK had "tried to show itself as worthy of U.S. support on the basis of its commitment to values compatible with those of the United States – democracy, free market economics, protection of the rights of women and minorities, and peaceful relations with Iran's neighbors", but some analysts dispute that they are genuinely committed to what they state.
The MEK says it is seeking regime change in Iran through peaceful means with an aim to replace the clerical rule in Iran with a secular government.[279] It also claims to have disassociated itself from its former revolutionary ideology in favor of liberal democratic values, but they fail to "present any track record to substantiate a capability or intention to be democratic."[280]
The MEK says it supports a "secular democratic system," where their leader, Maryam Rajavi, calls for a "pluralist system", non-nuclear Iran, human rights and freedom of expression, separation of government and religion, and end to Sharia law.[281]
Ideological revolution and women's rights
During the transitional period, the MEK projected an image of a "forward looking, radical and progressive Islamic force." Throughout the revolution, the MEK played a major role in developing the "revolutionary Muslim woman," which was portrayed as "the living example of the new ideal of womanhood."[282] The MEK is "known for its female-led military units."[283] According to Ervand Abrahamian, the MEK "declared that God had created men and women to be equal in all things: in political and intellectual matters, as well as in legal, economic, and social issues."[284] According to Tohidi, in 1982, as the government in Tehran led an expansive effort to limit women's rights, the MEK adopted a female leadership. In 1987, the National Liberation Army (NLA), "saw female resistors commanding military operations from their former base at Camp Ashraf (in Diyala, Iraq) to Iran's westernmost provinces, where they engaged alongside the men in armed combat with Iran's regular and paramilitary forces."[285][286]
Shortly after the revolution, Rajavi married Ashraf Rabii, an MEK member regarded as "the symbol of revolutionary womanhood."[287] Rabii was killed by Iranian forces in 1982. On 27 January 1985, Massoud Rajavi appointed Maryam Azodanlu as his co-equal leader. The announcement, stated that this would give women equal say within the organization and thereby "would launch a great ideological revolution within Mojahedin, the Iranian public and the whole Muslim World."[288]
In 1985, Rajavi launched an "ideological revolution" banning marriage and enforced divorce on all members who were required to separate from their spouses.[31] Five weeks later, the MEK announced that its Politburo and Central Committee had asked Rajavi and Azondalu, who was already married, to marry one another to deepen and pave the way for the "ideological revolution." At the time Maryam Azodanlu was known only as the younger sister of a veteran member, and the wife of Mehdi Abrishamchi. According to the announcement, Maryam Azodanlu and Mehdi Abrishamchi had recently divorced in order to facilitate this 'great revolution.' According to Ervand Abrahamian "in the eyes of traditionalists, particularly among the bazaar middle class, the whole incident was indecent. It smacked of wife-swapping, especially when Abrishamchi announced his own marriage to Khiabani's younger sister. It involved women with young children and wives of close friends – a taboo in traditional Iranian culture;" something that further isolated the Mojahedin and also upset some members of the organization. Also according to Ervand Abrahamian, "the incident was equally outrageous in the eyes of the secularists, especially among the modern intelligentsia. It projected onto the public arena a matter that should have been treated as a private issue between two individuals."[288] Many criticized Maryam Azodanlu's giving up her own maiden name (something most Iranian women did not do and she herself had not done in her previous marriage). They would question whether this was in line with her claims of being a staunch feminist.[288]
Maryam Rajavi became increasingly important over feminism-colored politics. The emancipation of women is now depicted in Maryam Rajavi's writings "as both a policy end and a strategy toward revolutionizing Iran. Secularism, democracy, and women's rights are thus today's leading themes in the group's strategic communications. As for Maryam Rajavi's leadership, in 2017 it appears to be political and cultural; any remnants of a military force and interest in terrorist strategies have faded away."[289]
Cult of personality
The MEK has been described as a "cult" by governments and officials in Iran, the United States,
After a major defeat in 1990, MEK leadership ordered all couples to divorce and send away their children.[305][31] Members were then forbidden from re-marrying or having relationships and not allowed to see their children.[306][307][305] Critics often describe the MEK as the "cult of Rajavi,"[190][308] arguing that it revolves around the husband-and-wife duo, Maryam and Massoud Rajavi,[190][308] to whom members must give "near-religious devotion."[309] Members reportedly had to participate in regular "ideological cleansings."[310] According to RAND, members were lured in through "false promises of employment, land, aid in applying for asylum in Western countries" and then prevented from leaving.[309] Masoud Banisadr, a vocal former member, suggested that the MEK had become a cult in order to survive.[311][312]
Structure and organization
Organizations
Alongside its central organization, the PMOI has a political wing, the
The PMOI also historically maintained a dedicated armed wing known as the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA) that was established in 1987 to serve as an infantry force and coordinate the different militant groups members of the NCRI.
Through its history, the MEK has maintained several front organizations including the Association of Iranian Scholars and Professionals, the Association of Iranian Women, Iran Aid, the California Society for Democracy, the Iranian-American Community of Northern Virginia and the Union Against Fundamentalism.[318][319]
Membership
Before the Iran-Iraq war, the MEK was estimated to have about 2,000 members, peaking at 10,000 to 15,000 during the 1980s.
Fundraising
In 2004, a report by the US weapons inspector Charles Duelfer claimed that Saddam Hussein provided millions of dollars from the
In
In 1999, United States authorities arrested 29 individuals in Operation Eastern Approach,[180] of whom 15 were held on charges of helping MEK members illegally enter the US.[181] The ringleader pleaded guilty to providing phony documents to MEK members and violation of Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.[182][183]
The MEK also operated a UK-based charity, Iran Aid, which claimed to raise money for Iranian refugees. In 2001, the Charity Commission for England and Wales closed it down after finding no "verifiable links between the money donated by the British public [approximately £5 million annually] and charitable work in Iran."[69][280][325]
In December 2001, a joint FBI-
In 2003, General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) claimed that Netherlands charity that raises money for "children who suffer under the Iranian regime" (SIM (Dutch: Stichting Solidariteit met Iraanse Mensen)) was fundraising for the MEK. A spokesperson for the charity said that SIM was unrelated to the MEK and that these allegations were "lies from the Iranian regime."[168]
As RAND Corporation policy reported, MEK supporters seek donations at public places, often showing "gruesome pictures" of human rights victims in Iran and claiming to raise money for them but funneling it to MEK.[69] A 2004 report by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the organization is engaged "through a complex international money laundering operation that uses accounts in Turkey, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates."[326]
On 19 November 2004, two front organizations called the Iranian–American Community of Northern Virginia and the Union Against Fundamentalism organized demonstrations in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and transferred funds for the demonstration, some $9,000 to the account of a Texas MEK member. Congress and the bank in question were not aware that the demonstrators were actually providing material support to the MEK.[280]
Intelligence capabilities
During the years MEK was based in Iraq, it was closely associated with the intelligence service Mukhabarat (IIS),[327][328] and even had a dedicated department in the agency. Directorate 14 of the IIS worked with the MEK in joint operations while Directorate 18 was exclusively responsible for the MEK and issued the orders and tasks for their operations.[329][330] The MEK offered IIS with intelligence it gathered from Iran, interrogation and translation services.[331]
A 2008 report by the United States Army Intelligence Center, states that the MEK operates a HUMINT network within Iran, which is "clearly a MEK core strength." It has started a debate among intelligence experts that "whether western powers should leverage this capability to better inform their own intelligence picture of the Iranian regime's goals and intentions."[332] Rick Francona told Foreign Policy in 2005 that the MEK teams could work in conjunction with collection of intelligence and identifying agents. U.S. security officials maintain that the organization has a record of exaggerating or fabricating information, according to Newsweek. David Kay believes that "they're often wrong, but occasionally they give you something."[333]
American government sources told Newsweek in 2005 that the
The MEK is able to conduct "telephone intelligence" operations effectively, i.e. gathering intelligence through making phone calls to officials and government organizations in Iran.[335] According to Ariane Tabatabai, the MEK's "capabilities to conduct terrorist attacks may have decreased in recent years."[336]
Propaganda and social media
The MEK's first act of counter-propaganda was to release about 2014 Iranian prisoners of war within a period of 9 months. It started on 11 March 1986 when the NLA released 370 prisoners of war. They then released 170 prisoners of war in November 1987 that had been captured by the NLA. A third wave of 1300 prisoners of war were released in August 1988, with some joining the NLA ranks. During the last release, Massoud Rajavi promoted it this as an act of compassion by the NCRI, which was in contrast to the Islamic Republic's "cruel manner of treating" prisoners of war.
According to Kenneth Katzman, the MEK is able to mobilize its exile supporters in demonstration and fundraising campaigns. The organization attempts to publicize regime abuses and curb foreign governments' relations with Tehran. To do so, it frequently conducts anti-regime marches and demonstrations in those countries.[60]
A 1986 U.S. State Department letter to KSCI-TV described "MEK propaganda" as being in line with the following: "[T]he Iranian government is bad, the PMOI is against the Iranian government, the Iranian government represses the PMOI, therefore, the PMOI and its leader Rajavi are good and worth of support."[342] According to Masoud Kazemzadeh, the MEK has also used propaganda against defectors of the organization.[343]
Al Jazeera reported on an alleged Twitter-based MEK campaign. According to Exeter University lecturer Marc Owen Jones, accounts tweeting #FreeIran and #Iran_Regime_Change "were created within about a four-month window," suggesting bot activity.[344]
In an article published by The Intercept on 9 June 2019, two former MEK members claimed that "Heshmat Alavi" is not a real person, and that the articles published under that name were actually written by a team of people at the political wing of MEK. Alavi contributed to several media outlets including Forbes, The Diplomat, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Federalist and the English edition of Al Arabiya's website. According to The Intercept, one of Alavi's articles published by Forbes was used by the White House to justify Donald Trump Administration's sanctions against Iran.[345] Since the article's publication, Twitter has suspended the "Heshmat Alavi" account, and the writings in the name of "Heshmat Alavi" were removed from The Diplomat and Forbes' website.[345] A website purported to be a personal blog of "Heshmat Alavi" published a post with counterclaims saying that their Twitter account had been suspended.[345][346]
Terrorist designation
Assignment of designation
The countries and organizations below have officially listed MEK as a terrorist organization:
Currently listed by | Iran | Designated by the current government[347] since 1981, also during Pahlavi dynasty[348] until 1979 |
Iraq | Designated by the post-2003 government[230][349] | |
Formerly listed by | United States | Designated on 8 July 1997, delisted on 28 September 2012[350] |
United Kingdom | Designated on 28 March 2001,[350] delisted on 24 June 2008[350] | |
European Union | Designated in May 2002,[350] delisted on 26 January 2009[350] | |
Japan | Designated on 5 July 2002,[351] delisted on 24 March 2013[352] | |
Canada | Designated on 24 May 2005,[353] delisted on 20 December 2012[354] | |
Other designations | Australia | Not designated as terrorist but added to the 'Consolidated List' subject to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 on 21 December 2001[355] |
United Nations | The group was described as "involved in terrorist activities" by the United Nations Committee against Torture in 2008[63]
|
In 1997, the United States put the MEK on the
In 2004, the United States also considered the group as "noncombatants" and "protected persons" under the Geneva Conventions.[357] In 2002, the European Union, pressured by Washington, added MEK to its terrorist list.[358] In 2009, the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied the MEK its request to be delisted,[359] and MEK leaders then began a lobbying campaign to be removed from the list by promoting the group as a viable opposition to the clerical regime in Iran.[31]
The MEK after the US invasion of Iraq tried to remove the group from the U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations and consequently turning it into a legitimate actor.[360][25]
During 2011, lobbying firms DLA Piper, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and DiGenova & Toensing were paid almost $1,5 million to lobby for delisting the MEK in the US.[361]
In 2012,
Removal of designation
The United Kingdom lifted the MEK's designation as a terrorist group in June 2008,[363] followed by the Council of the European Union on 26 January 2009.[364][365] It was also lifted in the United States following a decision by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton[200] on 21 September 2012 and lastly in Canada on 20 December 2012.[354]
The Council of the European Union removed the group's terrorist designation following the Court of Justice of the European Union's 2008 censure of France for failing to disclose new alleged evidence of the MEK's terrorism threat.[364] The EU courts declared that the listing was unlawful because of "serious procedural failures" and lack of evidence connecting the MEK with terrorist activities.[366] Delisting allowed MEK to pursue tens of millions of dollars in frozen assets[365] and lobby in Europe for more funds. It also removed the terrorist label from MEK members at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.[367]
On 28 September 2012, the U.S. State Department formally removed MEK from its official list of terrorist organizations, beating a 1 October deadline in an MEK lawsuit.[200][368] Secretary of State Clinton said in a statement that the decision was made because the MEK had renounced violence and had cooperated in closing their Iraqi paramilitary base.[369] It was reported that MEK was removed from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations after intensive lobbying by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.[116] An official denied that lobbying by well-known figures influenced the decision.[369][370] Some former U.S. officials vehemently reject the new status and believe the MEK has not changed its ways.[371]
The MEK advocated to remove itself from the list of
In May 2018, Daniel Benjamin who held office as the Coordinator for Counterterrorism between 2009 and 2012, told The New York Times that the MEK offered him money in exchange for his support.[377]
Ervand Abrahamian, Shaul Bakhash, Juan Cole and Gary Sick among others, published "Joint Experts' Statement on the Mujahedin-e Khalq" on Financial Times voicing their concerns regarding MEK delisting.[378] The National Iranian American Council denounced the decision, stating it "opens the door to Congressional funding of the M.E.K. to conduct terrorist attacks in Iran" and "makes war with Iran far more likely."[200] Iran state television also condemned the delisting of the group, saying that the U.S. considers MEK to be "good terrorists because the U.S. is using them against Iran."[379]
The campaign to delist the MEK in the European Union counted with Spanish MEP Alejo Vidal-Quadras as one of its lobbyists. Vox, the far-right party he founded, later received funding by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The party received almost €1 million between December 2013 and April 2014.[380]
Foreign relations
While dealing with anti-regime clergy in 1974, the MEK became close with secular Left groups in and outside Iran. These included the confederation of Iranian Students, The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, and the People's Front for the Liberation of Oman, among others.[382] The MEK sent five trained members into South Yemen to fight in the Dhofar Rebellion against Omani and Iranian forces.[383]
On 7 January 1986, the MEK leaders sent a twelve-page letter to the "comrades" of
Israel's foreign intelligence agency Mossad maintains connections with the MEK, dating back to the 1990s.[385] Until 2001, the MEK received support from the Taliban.[386] The MEK was also among the opposition groups receiving support from Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia.[387]
In April 2012, journalist Seymour Hersh reported that the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command had trained MEK operatives at a secret site in Nevada from 2005 to 2009. According to Hersh, MEK members were trained in intercepting communications, cryptography, weaponry and small unit tactics at the Nevada site up until President Barack Obama took office in 2009.[362]
Hyeran Jo, associate professor of
Position on the Israel–Palestinian conflict
Initially, the MEK used to criticize the
The MEK's Central Cadre established contact with the Palestinie Liberation Organization (PLO), by sending emissaries to Paris, Dubai, and Qatar to meet PLO officials.[393] On 3 August 1972, they bombed the Jordanian embassy as a means to avenge King Hussein's unleashing his troops on the PLO in 1970.[394]
Relations with the United States
In the late 1970s, the intelligentsia as a class in Iran was distinctly nationalistic and anti-imperialistic. The MEK had impeccable nationalistic credentials, calling for the nationalization of foreign companies and economic independence from the capitalist world, and praising writers such as Al-e Ahmad, Saedi and Shariati for being "anti-imperialist".[395] Rajavi in his presidential campaign after revolution used to warn against what he called the "imperialist danger."[119] The matter was so fundamental to MEK that it criticized the Iranian government on that basis, accusing the Islamic Republic of "capitulation to imperialism" and being disloyal to democracy that according to Rajavi was the only means to "safeguard from American imperialism."[396]
After exile, the MEK sought the support of prominent politicians, academics and human rights lawyers. Rajavi tried to reach as broad a Western public as possible by giving frequent interviews to Western newspapers. In these interviews, Rajavi toned down the issues of imperialism, foreign policy, and social revolution. Instead, he stressed the themes of democracy, political liberties, political pluralism, human rights, respect for 'personal property,' the plight of political prisoners, and the need to end the senseless war.[397]
In January 1993, President-elect Clinton wrote a private letter to the Massoud Rajavi, in which he set out his support for the organization.
As Mukasey mentioned in The New York Times, in 2011 he had received $15,000 to $20,000 to present a lecture about "MEK-related events," as well as what he listed as "a foreign agent lobbying pro bono for MEK's political arm."[401]
Some politicians have declared receiving payment for supporting the MEK, but others support the group without payment.[402][54][403]
Human rights record
In 2006, Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki told the MEK it had to leave Iraq, but the MEK responded that the "request violated their status under the Geneva Convention." Al-Maliki and the Iraqi Ministry of Justice maintained that the MEK had committed human rights abuses in the early 1990s when it aided Saddam Hussain's campaign against the Shia uprising.[404] According to Time magazine, the MEK has denied aiding Saddam in quashing Kurdish and Shia rebellions.[405]
In May 2005,
Former American military officers who had aided in guarding the MEK camp in Iraq gave differing accounts. Those suggested by MEK said its members had been free to leave the camp and that they had not found any prison or torture facilities. Captain Woodside who was not one of those who MEK suggested, said that US officers did not have regular access to camp buildings, or to group members and that it was difficult for members to leave.
Intelligence campaigns against the MEK
The Shah's regime waged a propaganda campaign against the MEK, accusing them "of carrying out subversive acts at the behest of their foreign patrons" and claiming that "the shoot-outs and bombings caused heavy casualties among bystanders and innocent civilians, especially women and children". It also obtained "public confessions" that accused former colleagues of crimes including sexual promiscuity. The regime claimed that the MEK were "unbelievers masquerading as Muslims", and used the Quranic term "monafeqin" (hypocrites) to describe them.[413]
The Islamic Republican Party later used many of the same tactics, labelling the MEK "Marxist hypocrites and Western-contaminated 'electics', and as 'counter-revolutionary terrorists' collaborating with the Iraqi Ba'thists and the imperialists".[413] After the
Even into the 2000s, the MEK has remained a major target of Iran's internal security apparatus.[416] Since 2001, several reports by Dutch, German and US intelligence services have noted the ongoing efforts by the Iran's Ministry of Intelligence to "track down and identify those who are in contact with opposition groups abroad", including the MEK.[417][418] German and US intelligence have noted that Iranian intelligence was directly financing a misinformation campaign and trying to recruit active or former members of opposition groups, sometimes through "threats to use force against them or their families living in Iran".[417][419][420]
In 2018, U.S. District Court charged two alleged Iran agents of "conducting covert surveillance of Israeli and Jewish facilities in the United States and collecting intelligence on Americans linked to a political organization that wants to see the current Iranian government overthrown". During the court process, it was revealed that the two alleged agents of Iran had mostly gathered information concerning activities involving the MEK.[421] The two men pleaded guilty in November 2019 to several charges including conspiracy and "acting as an undeclared agent of the Iranian government". The Justice Department said that one of the men arrived in the US to gather "intelligence information" about the MEK (as well as Israeli and Jewish entities). The other admitted to taking photographs at a 2017 MEK rally in order to profile attendees.[422][423]
In January 2020 Iranian-American Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar was sentenced by a U.S. court to 38 months in prison for conducting surveillance on American MEK members.[424] In September 2020 The New York Times published a report where researchers alleged that opponents of the Iranian regime had been targets of a cyber attack by Iranian hackers through a variety of infiltration techniques. MEK was reportedly among the most prominent targets of the attacks.[425]
Targeting of MEK members outside Iran
From 1989 to 1993, the Islamic Republic of Iran carried out numerous assassinations of MEK members. Between March and June 1990, three MEK members were assassinated in Turkey. On 24 February 1990, Dr Kazem Rajavi (a National Council member) was assassinated in Geneva. In January 1993, an MEK member was murdered in Baghdad.[53]
On 23 September 1991, an attempt was carried out to assassinate Massoud Rajavi in Baghdad. In August 1992, a MEK member was kidnapped and brought to Iran. In September 1992, MEK offices in Baghdad were broken into. In January 1993, a MEK bus was bombed without casualties. Towards the end of 1993, anonymous gunmen attacked Air France offices and the French embassy in Iran after France allowed Maryam Rajavi and 200 MEK members to enter France.[53]
In March 1993, the
The Iranian regime is also believed to be responsible for killing NCR representative in 1993, and Massoud Rajavi's brother in 1990. The MEK claims that in 1996 a shipment of Iranian mortars was intended for use by Iranian agents against Maryam Rajavi.[416] In May 1994, Islamic Republic agents assassinated two MEK members in Iraq. In May 1995, five MEK members were assassinated in Iraq. In 1996, two MEK members were murdered in Turkey (including NCRI member Zahra Rajabi); in the same year two MEK members were killed in Pakistan and another one in Iraq.[53][427][428][429]
Perception
Inside Iran
After the
Inside Iran, the strength of the MEK is uncertain since many of its supporters have been executed, tortured, or jailed.[431][53] Karim Sadjadpour believes the MEK is a "fringe group with mysterious benefactors" with a negligible amount of supporters in Iran.[401] Kenneth Katzman wrote in 2001 that the MEK is "Iran's most active opposition group".[19] A 2009 report published by the Brookings Institution notes that the organization appears to be undemocratic and lacking popularity but maintains an operational presence in Iran, acting as a proxy against Tehran.[432] The group has been described as Iran's main political opposition group.[433][434]
The Iranian government consistently refers to the organization with this derogatory name
While Khomeini and the MEK had allied against the Shah, Khomeini "disliked the MEK's philosophy, which combined Marxist theories of social evolution and class struggle with a view of Shiite Islam that suggested Shiite clerics had misinterpreted Islam and had been collaborators with the ruling class",
By other Iranian opposition parties
The group kept a friendly relationship with the only other major Iranian
Due to its anti-
Iran's deposed president Abolhassan Banisadr ended his alliance with the group in 1984, denouncing its stance during the Iran–Iraq War.[437]
The National Resistance Movement of Iran (NAMIR), led by Shapour Bakhtiar, never maintained a friendly relationship with the MEK. In July 1981, NAMIR rejected any notion of cooperation between the two organizations and publicly condemned them in a communiqué issued following the meeting between Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz and Rajavi in January 1983 as well as the "Holy and Revolutionary" nature of Rajavis in April 1984.[439]
In the media
The MEK has been featured in several documentaries, including A Cult That Would Be an Army: Cult of the Chameleon (2007),[440] The Strange World of the People's Mujahedin (2012)[441][442] and Midday Adventures (2017).[443]
See also
- Guerrilla groups of Iran
- Order of battle during the Iran–Iraq War
- Organizations of the Iranian Revolution
- Trial of Hamid Nouri
- List of cults of personality
- List of people assassinated by the People's Mujahedin of Iran
- List of works about the People's Mujahedin of Iran
Notes
- ^ Since 27 January 1985, they are "Co-equal Leader",[1] however, Massoud Rajavi disappeared in 2003 and leadership of the group has de facto passed to his wife Maryam Rajavi.[2]
- ^ a b Available estimates of MEK membership in the 2000s are:
- According to a 2003 article by The New York Times, 5,000 fighters based in Iraq.[190]
- In 2011, United States Department of Defense estimated global membership of the organization between 5,000 and 10,000 members, with 3,400 of them being at Camp Ashraf.[322][96]
- A 2013 article in Foreign Policy claimed that there were some 2,900 members in Iraq.[323]
- ^ The most common denominations in English sources are People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) and Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO).[6] Some sources have used literal translations such as People's Struggler's[7][8][9] or People's Holy Warriors.[10][11][12] The group had no name until February 1972.[13]
- ^ Khomeini declared that "those who had failed to endorse the Constitution could not be trusted to abide by that Constitution."[27]
- ^ It was later revealed that the U.S. bombings were part of an agreement between the Iranian government and Washington.[194]
- ^ Available estimates of historical MEK membership are:
References
- ^ a b c O'Hern 2012, p. 208.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-6311-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85043-198-5.
- ^ a b "Durrës locals protest MEK members' burial in local cemetery", Tirana Times, 9 May 2018, retrieved 15 June 2018
- ^ a b c Zabih 1988, p. 250.
- ^ "Mujahedin-E Khalq Organization (MEK Or MKO)". encyclopedia.com.
- ^ Saikal, Amin. The Rise and Fall of the Shah. Princeton University Press. p. xxii.
- ^ Emery, Christian (2013). US Foreign Policy and the Iranian Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 60.
- ^ Sazegara, Mohsen; Stephan, Maria J. Civilian Jihad. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 188.
- ^ Hambly, Gavin R. G. The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 7. Cambridge University Press. p. 284.
- ABC-CLIO. p. 208.
- ^ Abedin, Mahan (2019). Iran Resurgent: The Rise and Rise of the Shia State. C. Hurst & Co. p. 60.
- ^ Vahabzadeh 2010, p. 100, 167–168.
- ^ a b Katzman 2001, p. 99.
- ^ Katzman 2001, p. 2.
- ^ a b Abrahamian 1989, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b Cohen 2009, p. 23.
- ^ Cimment 2011, pp. 276, 859. "The strength of the movement inside Iran is uncertain [...] MEK is the largest and most active Iranian dissident group; its membership includes several thousand well-armed and highly disciplined fighters."
- ^ a b c Katzman 2001, p. 97.
- ^ Rozenberg, Joshua (23 October 2008). "Ban on Iran opposition should be lifted, says EU court". The Daily Telegraph.
Iran's main opposition group
- ^ Campbell, Matthew (22 August 2021). "The People's Mujahidin: the Iranian dissidents seeking regime change in Tehran". The Times.
the biggest and most resilient Iranian opposition group
- ^ a b For the diminishing popularity of the Mojahedin in Iran, see:
- "Iranian dissidents in Iraq: Where will they all go?". The Economist. 11 April 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
In return, the PMOI made attacks on Iran itself, which is why Iranians of all stripes tend to regard the group as traitors.
- Ostovar, Afshon (2016). Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Oxford University Press. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-1-305-63377-3,, Reuters, retrieved 20 July 2017,
The group is not popular in Iran because of its alliance with Saddam Hussein and Iran–Iraq war.
- Cohen 2009, p. 174. "there was a decrease in the Iranian people's support for the Mojahedin since it had joined since it had joined and cooperated with their worst enemy - Iraq - during the long years of the war"
- Torbati, Yeganeh (16 January 2017), "Former U.S. officials urge Trump to talk with Iranian MEK group", Reuters
The MEK's supporters present the group as a viable alternative to Iran's theocracy, though analysts say it is unpopular among Iranians for its past alignment with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and attacks on Iranian soldiers and civilians.
- "Iranian dissidents in Iraq: Where will they all go?". The Economist. 11 April 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-61069-286-1.
- France24. Archived from the originalon 25 May 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7022-4956-3.
- ^ a b Katzman 2001, p. 100.
- ^ a b Abrahamian 1989, p. 198. "The Mojahedin also refused to participate in the referendum held in December to ratify the Constitution drafted by the Assembly of Experts [...] Once the Constitution had been ratified, the Mojahedin tried to field Rajavi as their presidential candidate [...] Khomeini promptly responded by barring Rajavi from the election by declaring that those who had failed to endorse the Constitution could not be trusted to abide by that Constitution."
- ^ a b c Katzman 2001, p. 101. "Khomeini refused to allow Masud Rajavi to run in January 1980 presidential elections because the PMOI had boycotted a referendum on the Islamic republican constitution."
- ^ a b c Goulka et al. 2009, p. 2.
- ^ a b Abrahamian 1989, p. 206-207,219. "by the fateful day of 20 June, the Mojahedin - together with Bani-Sadr - were exhorting the masses to repeat their 'heroic revolution of 1978-9'...The success of 1978-9 had not been duplicated. Having failed to bring down the regime, Bani-Sadr and Rajavi fled to Paris where they tried to minimize their defeat by claiming that the true intention of 20 June had not been so much to overthrow the whole regime."
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Merat, Arron (9 November 2018). "Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MEK". The Guardian. theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
On 20 June 1981, the MEK organised a mass protest of half a million people in Tehran, with the aim of triggering a second revolution… 50 demonstrators were killed, with 200 wounded. Banisadr was removed from office...
- ISBN 978-0-313-32485-7.on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
the MEK leaders found that they had no role in the new regime…In response, supporters launched a terror campaign against Khomeini's regime. On June 28, 1981, two bombs killed 74 members of the Khomeini Islamic Republic Party (IRP) at a party conference in Tehran.
- Pedde, Nicola. "ROLE AND EVOLUTION OF THE MOJAHEDIN E-KA". ojs.uniroma1. Archived from the original
These attacks led to a brutal crackdown on all dissidents. Throughout 1981 a mini - civil war existed between the Khomeini regime and the MEK . By the end of 1982, most MEK operatives in Iran had been eradicated . By the time, most MEK leaders left Iran for refugee in France.
On August 30, 1981, a bomb exploded in the Tehran office of Iranian prime minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. The blast killed Bahonar, as well as President Mohammad-Ali Rajai...Survivors described the explosion occurring when one victim opened a briefcase, brought into the office by Massoud Kashmiri, a state security official. Subsequent investigation revealed that Kashmiri was an agent of the leftist People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK)
The organizations' ties with Iraq (mainly Rajavi's meeting with Tariq Aziz in January 1983) were exploited to demonstrate the organizations betrayal due to its willingness to join forces with Iran's enemies on the outside.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and the exiled leader of an Iranian leftist group met for four hours today and said afterward that the war between their countries should brought to an end. The conversations between Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz of Iraq and Massoud Rajavi, leader of the People's Mojahedin, an organization that includes a guerrilla wing active in Iran, were described by Mr. Rajavi as the first of their kind. He said the exchange of views had been "an important political turning point on the regional level and for the world in relation to the Iran-Iraq War"
Despite the mortal blow inflicted on the organization, the Iranian regime continued to regard the Mujahidin as a real threat, and therefore continued to persecute its followers and damage their public image. The organizations' ties with Iraq (mainly Rajavi's meeting with Tariq Aziz in January 1983) were exploited to demonstrate the organizations betrayal due to its willingness to join forces with Iran's enemies on the outside.
...by then sheltered in camps in Iraq, fought against Iran alongside the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein...
- Jehl, Douglas; Gordon, Michael R. (29 April 2003). "American Forces Reach Cease-Fire With Terror Group". The New York Times.
- "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2004, U.S. Department of State" (PDF). 2009-2017.state.gov. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
The MEK has been involved in terrorist activities and is therefore a less legitimate replacement for the current regime.
But critics question that commitment given the cult of personality built around MEK's leader, Maryam Rjavi.
During this period the threat from militant organizations in Iran was high. An attack on a military outpost in the village of Siahkal, by a radical Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group named Fadaiyan-e Khalq (Martyrs for the Masses), on 8 February 1971, ushered in a new phase of opposition to the Shah's regime. Moreover, and alarmingly for the security services, the group made it one of their principal objectives to disrupt the Celebrations. Around the time of the festivities, US Ambassador Douglas Macarthur was almost kidnapped by gunmen who ambushed his limousine, and a plan to kidnap the British ambassador, Peter Ramsbotham, was also uncovered. More attempted kidnappings prompted an increase in security, as the Dutch ambassador explained in a report in early October... SAVAK later claimed that sixty members of the Iranian Liberation Organization were charged with plotting to carry out kidnappings during the Celebrations.
Referred to in the Iranian press as the "Iranian People's Strugglers", and later known as Peykar, this group led by Tagui Shahram, Vahid Arakhteh and Bahram Aram was one o several underground groups waging a covert war against the Shah's secret police, SAVAK. Afrakhteh, who later confessed to the killings of Americans, was executed
Ten terrorists were sentenced to death... The condemned terrorists were Vahid Afrakhteh... The terroirsts were charged with the murders of Brigadier-general Reza Zandipur, United States Colonels Hawkins, Paul Shaffer and ack Turner, the U.S. Embassy's translator Hassan Hossnan
- Katzman 2001, p. 100: According to eyewitnesses and PMOI documents, including its official paper Mojahed, the PMOI supported the November 4, 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and reportedly argued against the early release of the hostages [...] The PMOI claims it could not have supported the hostage taking because the regime used the hostage crises as [an] excuse to eliminate its internal opponents, including the PMOI. The hostage crisis brought down the government of the Islamic Republic's first Prime Minister, Mehdi Bazargan, and the clerics quickly worked to monopolize power and institute clerical rule in line with Khomeini's ideology.
- Abrahamian 1989, p. 196: The Mojahedin initially gave full support to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line who had taken over the US embassy
- Cohen 2009: the organization's activities in overthrowing the Shah, its public support regarding the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran...
- Clark 2016, pp. 66–67: Following the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, the MEK participated physically at the site by assisting in defending it from attack. The MEK also offered strong political support for the hostage-taking action.
- Mahan, Abedin (5 May 2005). "Mojahedin-e-Khalq: Saddam's Iranian Allies". Terrorism Monitor. 1 (8). The Jamestown Foundation.
despite its persistent and sophisticated denials today, the Mojahedin fully supported the seizure of the U.S. embassy in November 1979.
- Boon, Kristen (2012). Global Stability and U.S. National Security. Oxford University Press. p. 317.
According to past State Department reports, supported the November 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, although the group claims that it is the regime that alleged this support in order to discredit the group in the West
On June 18 the Iraqi army launched an offensive against the Mehran salient on the central front, working in close coordination with Massoud Rajavi's People's Mujahidin.
On 26 July the NLA, advancing under heavy Iraqi air cover, seized Karand and Islamabad-e Gharb on the Baghdad-Tehran highway.
- Wills, Siobhán (2010). "The Obligations Due to Former 'Protected Persons' in Conflicts that have Ceased to be International: The People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran". Journal of Conflict and Security Law. 15 (1): 117–139. .
- Said, Wadie (2015). Crimes of Terror: The Legal and Political Implications of Federal Terrorism Prosecutions. ISBN 978-0199969494. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
in 2004 obtained 'protected person' status under the Fourth Geneva Convention for all PMOI members at Camp Ashraf based on the U.S. investigators' conclusions that none was a combatant or had committed a crime under any U.S. laws; disbanded its military units and disarmed the Pmoi members at Ashraf, all of whom signed a document rejecting violence and terror
The MEK, which is based in Paris, remains unpopular in Iran because of its support for the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during the Iran–Iraq war.
Most observers of Iranian politics say the MeK has minimal support in Iran and is widely hated for its use of violence and close links to Israeli intelligence.
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...the MKO kept up its opposition and its violent attacks, but dwindled over time to take on the character of a paramilitary cult, largely subordinated to the interests of the Baathist regime in Iraq.
However, they have little support inside Iran, where they're seen as traitors for taking refuge in an enemy state and are often referred to as the cult of Rajavi, coined after the leaders of the movement, Mariam and Massoud Rajavi.
to survive, MEK...had no choice but to complete its transformation into an extreme, violent and destructive cult, employing the most destructive methods of mind control and 'brainwashing'.
Maximum strength (from 1981–1983 to 1987–1988): 15,000 fighters, with a few tanks and several dozen light artillery pieces, recoilless guns, machine guns, antitank missiles, and SAM-7s.
It fostered anti-Iranian activities through the Mujahidin-i Khalq and provided financial support for Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Palestine Liberation Front and the Arab Liberation Front.
D14, believed to be the largest directorate, was charged with the joint operations with the Iranian opposition forces of the Mujahidi Khalq (MKO), whose cross-border guerrilla operations varied directly with the overall state of relations with Tehran. The MEK also had its own dedicated department in the Mukhabarat, D18.
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The MEK directs a worldwide campaign against the Iranian government that stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorist violence.
When the democratic and progressive members of the opposition made the smallest criticisms of Rajavi, the whole PMOI propaganda machinery would commence vicious personal attacks against them and spread false rumors that they were collaborating with the fundamentalist regime's Ministry of Intelligence.
The MEK, dedicated to overthrowing Iran's Islamic regime and considered a terrorist group by Iran ...
the three civilian victims were killed by members of the same self-styled "Islamic Marxist" anti-Government terrorist group that was officially blamed for the assassination of two American colonels in Teheran last year
But when the US military formally transferred control of Camp Ashraf back to the Iraqi government on Jan. 1, the MEK's fate suddenly became an issue. The group is a source of contention for Iran and the US, Iraq's two biggest allies, who are increasingly vying for influence as Baghdad's post–Saddam Hussein Shi'ite government asserts its independence. All three countries label the MEK a terrorist organization.
Mr. Rendell, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he had given seven or eight speeches since July calling for the M.E.K. to be taken off the terrorist list and estimated that he had been paid a total of $150,000 or $160,000. Mr. Rendell said he had been told that his fees came from Iranian-American supporters of the M.E.K., not from the group itself.
Hamilton, a former chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee who headed the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Center for 12 years until last fall, told IPS that he had also been paid "a substantial amount" to appear on a panel Feb. 19 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
The amusing thing is that the MEK will try to buy pretty much anyone, you know. I was approached to do events in support of the MEK. I know a number of other former government officials who found them truly detestable also were approached. You know, it's really something to have someone on the phone offering you 15,000$ of 20,000$ to appear at a panel discussion because that doesn't happen for former diplomats every day.
- Irujo, José María; Gil, Joaquín (28 January 2020). "Iranian exile group paid salaries for two leaders of Spain's far-right Vox". El País.
- Meneses, Rosa (24 January 2019). "Los financiadores iraníes de Vox son ex terroristas rehabilitados a golpe de talonario". El Mundo (in Spanish).
- Iriarte, Daniel (15 January 2019). "Una secta militar confinada en Albania: quiénes son los iraníes que financiaron a Vox". El Confidencial (in Spanish).
- Jannessari, Sohail; Loucaides, Darren (27 April 2019). "Spain's Vox Party Hates Muslims—Except the Ones Who Fund It". Foreign Policy.
- Herrera, Elena (14 January 2019). "Alejo Vidal-Quadras: "Abascal conocía el apoyo económico de opositores iraníes a Vox y le parecía bien"". eldiario.es (in Spanish).
The American military campaign in Afghanistan has terminated the Taliban support to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK). This group enjoyed support from the Islamic Republic's enemies including Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Taliban in Afghanistan.
The group itself also appears to be undemocratic and enjoys little popularity in Iran itself. It has no political base in the country, although it appears to have an operational presence.
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External links
- Official website
- Media related to People's Mujahedin of Iran at Wikimedia Commons
- Quotations related to People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran at Wikiquote