People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran
Political party in Iran / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) (Persian: سازمان مجاهدین خلق ایران, romanized: Sâzmân-ye Mojâhedin-ye Khalğ-ye Irân),[lower-alpha 3] is an Iranian dissident organization that was previously armed but has now transitioned primarily into a political advocacy group. Its headquarters are currently in Albania. The group's ideology is rooted in "Islam with revolutionary Marxism",[14] but after the Iranian Revolution became about overthrowing the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and installing its own government.[15][16][17] At one point the MEK was Iran's "largest and most active armed dissident group",[18] and it is still sometimes presented by Western political backers as a major Iranian opposition group,[19][20][21] but it is also deeply unpopular today within Iran, largely due to its siding with Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War.[22]
People's Mojahedin Organization سازمان مجاهدین خلق | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PMOI, MEK, MKO |
Leader | Maryam Rajavi[1] Massoud Rajavi[lower-alpha 1] |
Secretary-General | Zahra Merrikhi |
Founders | Mohammad Hanifnejad[3] Saeid Mohsen Ali-Asghar Badi'zadegan Ahmad Rezaei |
Founded | 5 September 1965; 58 years ago (1965-09-05) |
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.)[lower-alpha 2] |
Ideology | See below |
Political position | Far-Left |
Religion | Shia Islam |
Colours | Red |
Party flag | |
Website | |
www.mojahedin.org | |
The MEK was founded on 5 September 1965 by leftist Iranian students affiliated with the Freedom Movement of Iran to oppose the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[3][23] The organization contributed to overthrowing the Shah during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. It subsequently pursued the establishment of a democracy in Iran, particularly gaining support from Iran's middle class intelligentsia.[24][25][26] The MEK boycotted the 1979 constitutional referendum, which led to Khomeini barring MEK leader Massoud Rajavi from the 1980 presidential election.[lower-alpha 4][28][29] On 20 June 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] On 28 June, the MEK was implicated in the blowing up of the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) in the Hafte Tir bombing, killing 74 officials and party members.[32][33][34][35][36]
Facing the subsequent repression of the MEK by the IRP, Rajavi fled to Paris.[37][38][39] During the exile, the underground network that remained in Iran continued to plan and carry out attacks[40][41] and it allegedly conducted the August 1981 bombing that killed Iran's president and prime minister, Rajai and Bahonar.[42][43][41] In 1983, the MEK began meeting with Iraqi officials.[44][45][46][47] In 1986, France expelled the MEK at the request of Iran,[48][49] forcing it to relocate to Camp Ashraf in Iraq. During the Iran-Iraq War, the MEK then sided with Iraq, taking part in Operation Forty Stars,[50][51][52][53] Operation Mersad,[54][55] and the suppression of the 1991 uprisings in Iraq.[56][57][58] Following Operation Mersad, Iranian officials ordered the mass execution of prisoners said to support the MEK.[59] As part of the group's ongoing underground and overseas activities, it was an early source for claims about the nuclear program of Iran.[60] In 2003, the MEK's military wing signed a ceasefire agreement with the U.S. and was disarmed at Camp Ashraf.[61]
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]