People's Mujahedin of Iran

1980s

According to George E. Delury, in early 1980 the organization was thought to have 5,000 hard-core members and 50,000 supporters, with the Paykar faction capable of attracting 10,000 in university areas. In June 1980, at perhaps the height of their popularity, the Mojahedin attracted 150,000 sympathizers to a rally in Tehran.^[86] Pierre Razoux estimates MEK's maximum strength from 1981–1983 to 1987–1988, about 15,000 fighters with a few tanks and several dozen light artillery pieces, recoilless guns, machine guns, anti-tank missiles and SAM-7s.^[87] Jeffrey S. Dixon and Meredith Reid Sarkees estimate their prewar strength to be about 2,000, later peaking to 10,000.^[88]

Post-2000

The MEK was believed to have a 5,000–7,000-strong armed guerrilla group based in Iraq before the 2003 war, but a membership of between 3,000–5,000 is considered more likely.^[89] In 2005, the U.S. think-tank the Council on Foreign Relations stated that the MEK had 10,000 members, one-third to one-half of whom were fighters.^[90] According to a 2003 article by The New York Times, the MEK was composed of 5,000 fighters based in Iraq, many of them female.^[84] Reports by The Military Balance in 2003 and 2004, as well as BMI Research's 2008 report estimate MEK's armed wing strength 6,000–8,000 and its political wing around 3,000, thus a total 9,000–11,000 membership.^[91][92][93] A 2013 article in Foreign Policy claimed that there were some 2,900 members in Iraq.^[94] In 2011, United States Department of Defense estimated global membership of the organization between 5,000 and 13,500 persons scattered throughout Europe, North America, and Iraq. Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the MEK's 2016 gathering attracted "over 100,000 Iranian dissidents" in Paris.^[95]

Overview

It was founded on 5 September 1965 by leftist Iranian students affiliated with the Freedom Movement of Iran to oppose the Shah Pahlavi.^[96][3] The organization engaged in armed conflict with the Pahlavi dynasty in the 1970s and played an active role in the downfall of the Shah in 1979. The MEK was the first Iranian organization to develop systematically a modern revolutionary interpretation of Islam. Many foreign diplomats considered it to be by far the largest, the best disciplined, and the most heavily armed of all the opposition organizations.^[97]

By early 1979, the MEK had organized themselves and recreated armed cells, especially in Tehran. The MEK (together with other guerilla organizations) helped overthrow the Pahlavi regime. The correspondents for Le Monde reported that "In the course of two decisive and dramatic days, the guerilla organizations, both Marxist and non-Marxist, had managed to bring down the Pahlavi monarchy." Ayandegan, the independent mass-circulation daily, wrote that it had been predominantly the Feda'iyan and the MEK that had defeated the Imperial Guards. Kayhan, the mass-circulation evening paper, said that the MEK, the Feda'iyan and other left-wing guerillas had played the decisive role in the final battles of 11 February. The first person to speak at length on national television immediately after the revolution was the father of three killed members of MEK, Khalilollah Rezai. One of the first persons to address Iran on Radio Tehran was a MEK spokesman who congratulated the country for the revolution and hailed 'His highness Ayatollah Khomeini as a glorious fighter (mojahed)'. The MEK had managed to emerge from the underground onto the public arena. Although it would soon enter into conflict with Khomeini.^[20]

After the 1979 Iranian revolution that overthrew the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the People's Mujahedin of Iran refused to participate in the referendum to ratify the constitution where Ruhollah Khomeini had called upon “all good Muslims to vote ‘yes’.^[98] As a result, Khomeini subsequently refused Massoud Rajavi and PMOI members to run in the Iranian presidential election, 1980.^[99] Furthermore, despite the fact that the organization's top candidate received as much as 531,943 votes in Tehran electoral district and had a few candidates in the run-offs, it was unable to win a single seat in the 1980 Iranian legislative election. The PMOI accused Khomeini of “monopolizing power”, “hijacking the revolution”, “trampling over democratic rights”, and “plotting to set up a fascistic one-party dictatorship”.^[100]

On 20 June 1981, MEK organized a peaceful demonstration in Tehran. Khomeini’s Revolutionary Guards opened fire, which resulted in 50 deaths, 200 injured, and 1000 arrested.^[101]

Allied with President Abolhassan Banisadr, the group clashed with the ruling Islamic Republican Party while avoiding direct and open criticism of Khomeini until June 1981, when they declared war against the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran and initiated a number of bombings and assassinations targeting the clerical leadership.^[6]

The organization gained a new life in exile, founding the National Council of Resistance of Iran and continuing to conduct violent attacks in Iran. In 1983, they sided with Saddam Hussein against the Iranian Armed Forces in the Iran–Iraq War, a decision that was viewed as treason by the vast majority of Iranians and which destroyed the MEK's appeal in its homeland.^[102] In 1988, a fatwa by Khomeini led to the executions of political prisoners, including many MEK members.^[103]

The group says it renounced violence in 2001.^[104] However, the MEK has been accused by numerous commentators of being financed, trained, and armed by Israel to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists and educators.^[105]

While the MEK's leadership has resided in Paris, the group's core members were for many years confined to Camp Ashraf in Iraq, particularly after the MEK and U.S. forces signed a cease-fire agreement of "mutual understanding and coordination" in 2003.^[106] The group was later relocated to former U.S. military base Camp Liberty in Iraq^[107] and eventually to Albania.^[108]

In 2002 the MEK revealed the existence of Iran's nuclear program. They have since made various claims about the programme, not all of which have been accurate.^[109][110]

Many MEK sympathizers and middle-level organizers were detained and executed after June 1981.^[111] The MEK claims that over 100,000 of its members have been killed and 150,000 imprisoned by the regime.^[112] There have also been documented cases concerning the Iranian government mounting campaigns aimed at eradicating MEK members and their influence, including assassinations abroad. Notably, in 1990, Professor Kazem Rajavi (brother of Massoud Raavi and human rights activist), was assassinated in Geneva. The Swiss government named thirteen Iranian officials, with ‘special mission’ stamped into their passports, as participants in the assassination.^[113] According to Kenneth Katzman, the MEK is “a major target of Iran’s international security apparatus and its campaign in assassinating opponents abroad.”^[114]

Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. has charted US and European diplomacy with Tehran with 'deliverables' involving the MEK as follows:^[115]

Before the Revolution (1965–1979)

Hanifnejad (left) and Badizadegan (right), two of the founders of the organization

"The political phase" (1979–1981)

MEK's message dating 18 November 1979, calls Khomeini "father" and the US the "Great Satan"

The group supported the revolution in its initial phases.^[142] MEK launched an unsuccessful campaign supporting total abolition of Iran's standing military, 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.^[143]

It participated in the referendum held in March 1979.^[142] Its candidate for the head of the newly founded council of experts was Masoud Rajavi in the election of August 1979.^[142] However, he lost the election.^[142] The group also supported for the occupation the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979.^[142]

Later the People's Mujahedin of Iran refused to participate in the referendum to ratify the constitution where Ruhollah Khomeini had called upon "all good Muslims to vote 'yes'."^[55] As a result, Khomeini subsequently refused Massoud Rajavi and PMOI members to run in the Iranian presidential election, 1980.^[144] By the middle of the year 1980, clerics close to Khomeini were openly referring to the MEK as "monafeghin", "kafer", and "elteqatigari". The MEK, instead accused Khomeini of "monopolizing power", "hijacking the revolution", "trampling over democratic right", and "plotting to set up a fascistic one-party dictatorship".^[145]

According to MEK narrative, in February 1980, concentrated attacks by Hezbollahi members began on their meeting places, bookstores, and newsstands of Mujahideen and other leftists, driving the left underground in Iran. MEK claims that Hundreds of their supporters and members were killed from 1979 to 1981, and some 3,000 were arrested. Ultimately, according to the same narrative, the organization called for a massive half-a-million-strong demonstration under the banner of Islam on June 20, 1981, to protest Iran's new leadership, which was also attacked. Following the June 20 protests, Massoud Rajavi formed the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Tehran.^[146]

In the immediate aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the MEK was suppressed by Khomeini's revolutionary organizations and harassed by the Hezbollahi, who attacked meeting places, bookstores, and kiosks of the Mujahideen.^[147] Toward the end of 1981, several PMOI members and supporters went into exile. Their principal refuge was in France.^[148]

By early 1981, Iranian authorities then closed down MEK offices, outlawed their newspapers, prohibited their demonstrations, and issued arrest warrants for the MEK leaders, forcing the organization go underground once again.^[145]

Armed conflict with the Islamic Republic government (1981–1988)

Protests against the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini (20 June 1981)

By the middle of the year 1980, clerics close to Khomeini were openly referring to the MEK as "monafeghin", "kafer", and "elteqatigari". The MEK, instead accused Khomeini of "monopolizing power", "hijacking the revolution", "trampling over democratic right", and "plotting to set up a fascistic one-party dictatorship".^[145]

In February 1980 concentrated attacks by hezbollahi pro-Khomeini militia began on the meeting places, bookstores and newsstands of Mujahideen and other leftists^[150] driving the Left underground in Iran. Hundreds of MEK supporters and members were killed from 1979 to 1981, and some 3,000 were arrested.^[151]

On 30 August a bomb was detonated killing the elected President Rajai and Premier Mohammad Javad Bahonar. A secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and active member of the Mujahedin, Massoud Keshmiri, was identified as the perpetrator.^[152] The reaction to both bombings was intense with many arrests and executions of Mujahedin and other leftist groups, but "assassinations of leading officials and active supporters of the government by the Mujahedin were to continue for the next year or two."^[153]

Following the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980, MEK called Saddam Hussein an "aggressor" and a "dictator".^[154]

In 1981, the MEK 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. The MEK says that in the past 25 years, the NCRI has evolved into a 540-member parliament-in-exile, with a specific platform that emphasizes free elections, gender equality and equal rights for ethnic and religious minorities. The MEK claims that it also advocates a free-market economy and supports peace in the Middle East. However, the FBI claims that the NCRI "is not a separate organization, but is instead, and has been, an integral part of the [MEK] at all relevant times" and that the NCRI is "the political branch" of the MEK, rather than vice versa. Although the MEK is today the main organization of the NCRI, the latter previously hosted other organizations, such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.^[30]

Many MEK sympathizers or middle-level organizers were detained and executed after June 1981. The MEK claims that over 100,000 of its members have been killed and 150,000 imprisoned by the regime, but there is no way to independently confirm these figures.^[155]

In 1982, the Islamic Republic cracked down MEK operations within Iran. This pre-emptive measure on the part of the regime provoked the MEK into escalating its paramilitary programs as a form of opposition.^[156]

According to Katzman, the Iranian regime is concerned about MEK activities and are a major target of Iran's internal security apparatus and its campaign as assassinating opponents abroad. The Iranian regime is 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.^[157]

Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield describes this period in an article in The National Interest Magazine "when confronted with growing resistance in the spring of 1981 to the restrictive new order that culminated in massive pro-democracy demonstrations across the country invoked by MEK leader Massoud Rajavi on June 20, Khomeini's reign was secured at gunpoint with brute force, driving Iran's first and only freely elected president, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, underground and into permanent exile. This fateful episode was described by Ervand Abrahamian as a "reign of terror"; Marvin Zonis called it "a campaign of mass slaughter."^[158]

Eventually, the majority of the MEK leadership and members fled to France, where it operated until 1985. 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.^[159]

Operation Eternal Light and 1988 executions

Further information: Operation Mersad and 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners

Rajavi shaking hands with Saddam Hussein

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. Investigative journalist Dominique Lorentz has related the 1986 capture of French hostages to an alleged blackmail of France by Tehran concerning the nuclear program.^[160]

The MEK transferred its headquarters to Iraq. Near the end of the 1980–88 war between Iraq and Iran, 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), went into action. On July 26, 1988, six days after the 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. It seized and razed to the ground the Iranian town of Islamabad-e Gharb. As it advanced further into Iran, Iraq ceased its air support and Iranian forces cut off NLA supply lines and counterattacked under cover of fighter planes and helicopter gunships. On July 29 the NLA announced a voluntary withdrawal back to Iraq. The MEK claims it lost 1,400 dead or missing and the Islamic Republic sustained 55,000 casualties (either IRGC, Basij forces, or the army). The Islamic Republic claims to have killed 4,500 NLA during the operation.^[161] The operation was called Foroughe Javidan (Eternal Light) by the MEK and the counterattack Operation Mersad by the Iranian forces.

Following the operation, a large number of prisoners from the MEK, and a lesser number from other leftist opposition groups were executed. The number of those executed remains a point of contention, with the numbers ranging between 1,400 and 30,000. The executions ordered by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and carried out by several high-ranking members of Iran's current government.^[162]

According to The Economist, "Iranians of all stripes tend to regard the group as traitors" for its alliance with Saddam during the Iran–Iraq War.^[163] Massoud Rajavi personally identified Iranian military targets for Iraq to attack, an act the New York Times describes as betrayal.^[164][68]

Post-war Saddam era (1988–2003)

In the following years the MEK conducted several high-profile assassinations of political and military figures inside Iran, including Asadollah Lajevardi, the former warden of the Evin prison, in 1998, and deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff Brigadier General Ali Sayyad Shirazi, who was assassinated on the doorsteps of his house on April 10, 1999.^[165]

In April 1992, the MEK attacked 10 embassies, including the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York. Some of the attackers were armed with knives, firebombs, metal bars, sticks, and other weapons. In the various attacks, they took hostages, burned cars and buildings, and injured multiple Iranian ambassadors and embassy employees. There were additional injuries, including to police, in other locations. The MEK also caused major property damage. There were dozens of arrests.^[166]

The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) cracked down on MEK activity, carrying out what a US Federal Research Division, Library of Congress Report referred to as "psychological warfare."^[167]

According to Katzman, many analysts believe that the MEK lacks sufficient strength or support to seriously challenge the Iranian government's grip on power; however the government is concerned about MEK activities such that the latter are a major target of Iran's internal security apparatus and its campaign of assassinating opponents abroad. The Iranian government is believed to be responsible for killing MEK members, Kazem Rajavi on 24 April 1990 and Mohammad-Hossein Naghdi, a NCRI representative on 6 March 1993.

According to the United States Department of State and the Foreign Affairs group of the Parliament of Australia, MEK, sheltered in Iraq by Saddam Hussein, assisted the Republican Guard in brutally suppressing the 1991 nationwide uprisings against Baathist regime.^[47][71] Maryam Rajavi has been reported by former MEK members as having said, "Take the Kurds under your tanks, and save your bullets for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards."^[168]

Post-US invasion of Iraq (2003–2016)

During the Iraq War, the coalition forces bombed MEK bases and forced them to surrender in May 2003.^[173] U.S. troops later posted guards at its bases.^[174] The U.S. military also protected and gave logistical support to the MEK as U.S. officials viewed the group as a high value source of intelligence on Iran.^[175]

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, MEK camps were bombed by the U.S., resulting in at least 50 deaths. It was later revealed that the U.S. bombings were part of an agreement between the Iranian government and Washington. In the agreement Tehran offered to oust some al-Qaeda suspects if the U.S. came down on the MEK.^[176]

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.^[177][178] The MEK compound outside Fallujah became known as Camp Fallujah and sits adjacent to the other major base in Fallujah, Forward Operating Base Dreamland. Captured MEK members were kept at Camp Ashraf, about 100 kilometers west of the Iranian border and 60 kilometers north of Baghdad.^[179]

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared MEK personnel in Ashraf protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. They were placed under the guard of the U.S. Military. Defectors from this group are housed separately in a refugee camp within Camp Ashraf, and protected by U.S. Army military police (2003–current), U.S. Marines (2005–07), and the Bulgarian Army (2006–current).^[180]

On 19 August 2003, MEK bombed the United Nations compound in Iraq, prompting UN withdrawal from the country.^[30]

In 2010, Iranian authorities sentenced to death five members of the MEK who were arrested during 2009 Iranian presidential election protests .^[181]

In July 2010, the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal issued an arrest warrant for 39 MEK members, including Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, for crimes against humanity committed while suppressing the 1991 uprisings in Iraq.^[182]

Settlement in Albania (2016–present)

In 2013, the United States pushed to MEK to relocate to Albania, but the organization rejected the offer.^[199] The MEK eventually accepted to move about 3,000 members to Albania, and the U.S. donated $20 million to the U.N. refugee agency to help them resettle.^[200] On 9 September 2016, the more than 280 MEK members remaining were relocated to Albania.^[108] In May 2018, MSNBC aired never-before-seen footage of the MEK's secret base in Albania, described as a "massive military-style complex".^[201] The installation is located in Manëz, Durrës County, where they have been protested by the locals.^[202]

In 2017, the year before John Bolton became President Trump's National Security Adviser, he addressed members of the MEK and said that they would celebrate in Tehran before 2019.^[203]

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." ^[210]

According to Ervand 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."^[211] According to James Piazza, MEK worked towards the creation, by armed popular struggle, of a society in which ethnic, gender, or class discrimination would be obliterated.^[212]

According to Ervan Abrahamian, it 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."^[213] The MEK, however, claim that this misrepresents their ideology in that Marxism and Islam are incompatible, and that the MEK has always emphasized Islam.(Katzman p. 99)

The MEK's ideology of revolutionary Shiaism is based on an interpretation of Islam so similar to that of Ali Shariati that "many concluded" they were inspired by him. According to historian Ervand Abrahamian, it is clear that "in later years" that Shariati and "his prolific works" had "indirectly helped the Mujahedin."^[214]

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."^[124]

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 Mujahidin 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.^[215]

After the revolution

The MEK claims to have disassociated itself from its former revolutionary ideology in favor of liberal democratic values, however they fail to "present any track record to substantiate a capability or intention to be democratic".^[60] According to Kenneth Katzman, the organization publicly espouses principles that include "democracy, human rights protections, free market economics, and Middle East peace", however, some analysts dispute that are genuinely committed to what they state.^[210] A 2009 U.S. Department of State annual report states that their ideology is a blend of Marxism, Islamism and feminism.^[216]

View on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In the beginning, MEK used to criticize the Pahlavi dynasty for allying with Israel and Apartheid South Africa,^[217] calling them racist states and demanding cancellation of all political and economic agreements with them.^[218] MEK opposed Israeli–Palestinian peace process^[219] and was anti-Zionist.^[154]

The Central Cadre established contact with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), by sending emissaries to Paris, Dubai, and Qatar to meet PLO officials. In one occasion, seven leading members of MEK spent several months in the PLO camps in Jordan and Lebanon.^[220] On 3 August 1972, they bombed the Jordanian embassy as a means to revenge King Hussein's unleashing his troops on the PLO in 1970.^[221]

After their exile, the MEK changed into an 'ally' of Israel in pursuit of its ideological opportunism.^[154][222]

MEK leader Maryam Rajavi publicly met with the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas on 30 July 2016 in Paris, France.^[223]

View on the United States

Before their exile, the MEK preached "anti-imperialism" both before and after revolution. The Mojahedin Organization praised writers such as Al-e Ahmad, Saedi and Shariati for being "anti-imperialist".^[224] Rajavi in his presidential campaign after revolution used to warn against what he called the "imperialist danger".^[225] 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".^[226] However, after exile, Rajavi toned down the issues of imperialism, social revolution, and classless society. Instead he stressed on human rights and respect for "personal property",^[227] as opposed to "private property", which capitalists consider to be identical to "personal property" while Marxists do not.

Following the September 11 attacks, the organization publicly condemned the event but its members at the camps reportedly rejoiced and called it "God's revenge on America".^[228]

The 'ideological revolution' and the issue of women's rights

On 27 January 1985, 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'. At the time Maryam Azodanlu was known as only 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'. As a result, the marriage further isolated the Mojahedin and also upset some members of the organization. This was mainly because, the middle class would look at this marriage as an indecent act which to them resembled wife-swapping. (especially when Abrishamchi declared his own marriage to Musa Khiabani's younger sister). The fact that it involved women with young children and the wives of close friends was considered a taboo in traditional Iranian culture. The effect of this incident on secularists and modern intelligentsia was equally outrageous as it dragged a private matter into the public arena. 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.^[229]

According to Iranian-Armenian historian Ervand Abrahamian, "the Mojahedin, despite contrary claims did not give women equal representation within their own hierarchy. The book of martyrs indicates that women formed 15 percent of the organization's rank-and-file, but only 9 percent of its leadership. To rectify this, the Mojahedin posthumously revealed some of the rank and file women martyrs especially those related to prominent figures, into leadership positions."^[230]

According to Country Reports on Terrorism, in 1990 the second phase of the 'ideological revolution' was announced during which all married members were ordered to divorce and remain celibate, undertaking a vow of "eternal divorce", with the exception of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. Shortly thereafter, all children (about 800)^[154] were separated from their parents and sent abroad to be adopted by members of the group in Europe or North America.^[154][231]

In 1994, "self-divorce" was declared as the further phase of the 'ideological revolution'. During this process all members were forced to surrender their individuality to the organization and change into "ant-like human beings", i.e. following orders by their instinct.^[154]

State-sponsorship

Non-state actors

The MEK found their best friends among secular left-wing groups.^[247]

Its members were trained and armed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah,^[33] with whom they "fought side by side in Jordan during the events of Black September".^[32]

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO) and South Yemen's Marxist state also provided the MEK with radio stations and printing presses.^[247] The MEK sent five trained members into South Yemen to fight in the Dhofar Rebellion against Omani and Iranian forces.^[248]

Media activity

The organization owns a free-to-air satellite television network named Vision of Freedom (Sima-ye-Azadi), launched in 2003 in England.^[270] It previously operated Vision of Resistance analogue television in Iraq in the 1990s, accessible in western provinces of Iran.^[271] They also had a radio station, Radio Iran Zamin, that was closed down in June 1998.^[272]

In order to buy legitimacy, MEK sometimes combines the features of the leaflet and the extended interview with purchasing usually full page, thus expensive ad space for their propaganda in major-circulation newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Washington Times. Harmon and Bowdish describe the advertisements as "well-designed" and "distinctive".^[272]

Allegations of Crowd renting

MEK demonstrators carrying Lion and Sun flags and those of 'National Liberation Army of Iran'

According to Kenneth R. Timmerman, the group regularly organizes rent-a-crowd protests worldwide and hires hecklers.^[275] Zaid Jilani and Paul R. Pillar have also cited similar observations.^[276]

In 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty published diaries of a Kyrgyz student based in Prague who was recruited to travel to Paris for a MEK rally, in which most of the "protesters" were like her.^[277] Michael Rubin has described the story as indicative of a lack of support for the MEK.^[278]

The Guardian reported that around half of the some 4,000 attendees of MEK's 2018 gathering were "bored-looking" Poles, Czechs, Slovakians, Germans and Syrians refugees, many of whom "snoozed under trees during speeches". The non-Iranians who were bussed in to the event, responded to a campaign on Facebook that promised a travel to Paris for a mere €25, food and accommodation.^[279]

However, according to Cheryl Benard et al, despite impressiveness of the group's financial and logistical abilities, such mobilizations are unlikely and implausible because all demonstrators cannot be bought in exchange for exhausting rallies and public figures attending may face "vituperation" for supporting the group.^[280]

Allegations of Indoctrination

Upon entry into the group, new members are indoctrinated in ideology and a revisionist history of Iran. All members are required to participate in weekly "ideologic cleansings".^[281] Members who defected from the MEK and some experts say that these Mao-style self-criticism sessions are intended to enforce control over sex and marriage in the organization as a total institution.^[216]

Paid advocacy

MEK is known for its long-term lobbying effort, especially in the United States,^[2] where it competes against the National Iranian American Council.^[282] It spent heavily to remove itself from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, having paid high-profile officials upwards of $50,000 for each appearance to give speeches calling for delisting.^[282] DiGenova & Toensing and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld are among the advocacy groups paid by the organization.^[283] The actual sum paid is vague, but the total could be in the millions of dollars.^[284][285] The propaganda campaign used for delisting the MEK as an FTO has been described as "unique" among similar organizations.^[260]

According to investigative work by Scott Petersonsome prominent US officials from both political parties have received substantial sums of cash to give speeches in favor of MEK.^{[285][286][287][288]} Among them, Rendell who admitted himself being paid to speak in support of the MEK^[289] and Hamilton who said he was paid to "appear on a panel Feb. 19 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington."^[290] In February 2015, The Intercept published that Bob Menendez, John McCain, Judy Chu, Dana Rohrabacher and Robert Torricelli received campaign contributions from MEK supporters.^[291]

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, as they try "to buy pretty much anyone".^[292]

French case

In 2003, French judiciary charged twenty-four members of the group including Maryam Rajavi for "associating with wrongdoers in relation with a terrorist undertaking", lifting the probes in 2006 except for nine members still investigated for possible money laundering. All charges including money laundering were dropped in 2014.^[302]

Germany

In Germany, a sham charity was used by the MEK to support "asylum seekers and refugees" but the money went to MEK. Another front organization collected funds for "children whose parents had been killed in Iran" in sealed and stamped boxes placed in city centers, each taking DM 600–700 a day with 30 to 40 people used in each city for the operation. In 1988, the Nuremberg MEK front organization was uncovered by police, and the tactic was exposed. Initially, The Greens supported these organizations while it was unaware of their purpose.^[303]

In December 2001, a joint FBI-Cologne police operation discovered what a 2004 report calls "a complex fraud scheme involving children and social benefits", involving the sister of Maryam Rajavi.^[301] The High Court ruled to close several MEK compounds after investigations revealed that the organization fraudulently collected between $5 million and $10 million in social welfare benefits for children of its members sent to Europe.^[30]

The Netherlands

MEK operated a sham charity in the Netherlands, called "Society for Solidarity with the Iranian People" (Dutch: Stichting Solidariteit met Iraanse Mensen) or simply SIM. In 1992, Wageningen police officers briefly arrested two SIM money-collectors for aggressive behavior. In 1993, SIM unsuccessfully tried to obtain license from the Central Bureau for Fundraising (CBF).^[304] In 2003, General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) revealed that SIM was in fact fundraising for the MEK, and its bank accounts were frozen.^[305]

United Kingdom

It operated a UK-based sham charity, namely "Iran Aid", which "claimed to raise money for Iranian refugees persecuted by the Islamic regime" and was later revealed to be a front for its military wing.^[60][284] In 2001, Charity Commission for England and Wales closed it down^[306] after finding no "verifiable links between the money donated by the British public [approximately £5 million annually] and charitable work in Iran."^[30]

United States

In an investigation known as "Operation Eastern Money",^[307] seven MEK members were detained by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for funnelling more than $1 million to the organization through another sham charity, "Committee for Human Rights in Iran".^[30][308] They were later charged in a 59-count indictment with "providing and conspiring to provide material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization".^[60]

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, DC 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.^[60]

Timeline of assassinations

• August 1972: Tehran's chief of police assassinated.^[30]
• June 1973: Assassination of U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lewis L. Hawkins.^[30]
• March 1975: General Zandipour,^[320] a warden assassinated at the Anti-sabotage Joint Committee prison.^[30]
• 5 May 1975: Part of a purge, central cadre member Majid Sharif Vaghefi was shot dead by fellow MEK members and his body was burnt in order not to be identified.^[320]
• 21 May 1975: Assassinations of two U.S. Army officers, Col. Paul Shaffer and Lt. Col. Jack Turner,^[321] as well as an Imperial Iranian Air Force officer.^[30]
• 3 July 1975: Iranian employee at Embassy of the United States, Tehran was killed.^[30]
• 28 August 1976: Three U.S. civilian contractors of Rockwell International named Robert R. Krongrad, William C. Cottrell, Jr., and Donald G. Smith^[30] assassinated by four gunmen on their way to Doshan Tappeh Air Base to work on Project IBEX.^[321]
• 23 December 1978: American citizen Paul E. Grimm and Iranian Malek Boroujerdi, both working for the Iranian Oilfield Services Company (IOSC) were killed in Khuzestan.^[322]
• 28 July 1980: MEK killed Musa Shaib, a leading member of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party in Lebanon, Beirut, Lebanon in using automatic firearm.^[323]
• 11 September 1980: Ayatollah Asadollah Madani, representative of the Supreme Leader in East Azerbaijan at the time, was assassinated in Tabriz during Friday prayers.^[324]
• 28 June 1981: A bomb detonated at the Islamic Republican Party headquarters in Tehran killed 73, including the party's secretary-general, 4 cabinet ministers, 10 vice ministers and 27 members of the Parliament of Iran.^[61][325]
• 1 July 1981: A prison guard shouting MEK slogans killed governor of Evin Prison.^[326]
• 6 July 1981: Chief prosecutor of Gilan Province assassinated.^[30]
• 5 August 1981: MP Hassan Ayat assassinated by gunmen in Tehran.^[30]
• 30 August 1981: A bombing killed five, including the incumbent president, prime minister and chief of national police.^[325]
• 29 September 1981: MP Abdulkarim Hasheminejad killed in a grenade explosion in Mashhad.^[327]
• 11 December 1981: Ayatollah Abdulhossein Dastgheib and several others killed in a suicide attack in Shiraz during Friday prayers.^[324][30]
• 28 December 1981: MP Mohammad Taqi Besharat assassinated.^[328]
• 21 January 1982: MP Mojtaba Esteki assassinated.^[328]
• 26 February 1982: Assassination of a senior cleric in Tehran.^[30]
• 7 March 1982: Chief of national police assassinated.^[30]
• 2 July 1982: Ayatollah Mohammad Saduqi assassinated in Yazd during Friday prayer.^[324]
• 15 October 1982: Ayatollah Ata'ollah Ashrafi Esfahani assassinated in Kermanshah during Friday prayers.^[324]
• December 1993: The MEK admitted it killed a Turkish diplomat in Baghdad, Iraq, claiming he was mistaken for an Iranian official.^[329]
• 20 February 1996: Two former members assassinated by MEK in Istanbul.^[30]
• June 1998: A senior cleric assassinated in Najaf, Iraq.^[30]
• 1 May 2000: A senior IRGC commander assassinated in Tehran.^[30]

Failed attempts and other attacks

• November 1970: The group hijacked an airplane flying from Dubai to Bandar Abbas, because British-controlled Bahrain extradited six members to Iran.^[18]
• October 1971: In the group's first operation, they failed to kidnap son of Ashraf Pahlavi and the Shah's nephew Shahram Shafiq.^[18]
• May 1972: U.S. Air Force General Harold price was wounded in attempted assassination. Attacks on Tehran police station, In Hafteh (This Week) journal, U.S. Information Office, Hotel International, Iran-American Society, the mausoleum of Reza Shah, and offices of General Motors, Pepsi Cola, and the Marine Oil Company.^[30]
• 3 August 1972: Bombing of Jordanian embassy in Tehran^[30] during King Hussein's state visit.^[221]
• September 1972: Bombings of Civil Defense Organization Center, Imperial Club, Municipal Department Store, Dept. of Military Industries exhibition hall, and police armory in Qom.^[30]
• June 1973: Bombing of facilities of Pan-Am Airlines, Shell Oil, Radio City Cinema, Hotel International, and an export company.^[30]
• February 1974: Attack on police station in Isfahan.^[30]
• April 1974: Bombing of offices of Oman Bank and Pan-American Oil and of gates of British embassy; attempted bombing of SAVAK center at Tehran University.^[30]
• June 1974: Bombing of gendarmerie post in Tehran and offices of U.S. company ITT.^[30]
• February 1975: Bombing of gendarmerie post in Lahijan.^[30]
• 5 May 1975: MEK member Morteza Samadiyeh-Labbaf was injured in attempted assassination by fellow MEK members, taken to hospital, arrested by SAVAK and eventually executed on 24 January 1976.^[320]
• June 1975: Failed to assassinate an American diplomat in Tehran.^[330]
• September 1980: MEK operatives bombed the United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, using a projectile.^[331]
• 22 June 1981: A bomb blast at Qom railway station killed eight and injured twenty-three.^[332]
• 1 July 1981: MEK plan to blow up the Parliament building was foiled.^[332]
• 20 July 1981: MEK gunmen failed to kill MP Habibollah Asgaroladi.^[333]
• 2 August 1981: Two explosions in Kermanshah and Tehran killed twenty.^[334]
• 7 August 1981: Armed assault of 24 MEK members to the Embassy of Algerie in Washington, DC, U.S. (Iranian Interests Section), who took five hostages, led to three injuries.^[335]
• 11 August 1981: A barricade incident involving 20 MEK operatives at the Embassy of Iran in Oslo, Norway. They took seven hostages, but none of them were injured.^[336]
• 12 August 1981: An attack on IRGC headquarters in Tehran with machine guns and rockets.^[334]
• 21 August 1981: Twelve people died in a Tehran IRGC contingent skirmish.^[334]
• 27 September 1981: Hundreds of MEK members clashed with IRGC near University of Tehran campus. It left seventeen killed and forty wounded.^[337]
• 15 April 1982: Attack on during Friday prayers on an Imam in Rasht.^[30]
• 18 February 1983: Assassination attempt on a Khomeini representative in Khorasan province.^[30]
• 2 July 1987: Mohammed Raisi, Iranian diplomat in Madrid, Spain, survived a car bomb, as well as an injured bystander.^[30][338]
• 23 December 1991: Attempt to assassinate two Iranian diplomats at the Embassy of Iran in Baghdad, Iraq using pistol was unsuccessful.^[339]
• 20 March 1992: An attack on the vehicle of Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq resulted to damage but no individual was injured.^[340]
• 5 April 1992: Five members of the MEK armed with knives forcibly entered and seized the Iranian Mission to the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. During the two-hour siege, the men took three hostages who were American citizens, and destroyed computers and furniture. All assailants were arrested and nobody was injured.^[341]
• April 1992: Bombing at a Tehran public building killed two children.^[342]
• 16 July 1992: Iran's FM Ali Akbar Velayati who was visiting Potsdam, Germany was attacked by MEK.^[343][344]
• 20 August 1992: A MP from Kuhdasht survived grenade explosion at his house.^[343]
• 11 October 1992: Destruction of six IRGC vehicles in Qom; bombing of gas station and office of Tehran IRGC commander.^[30]
• 12 October 1992: Bomb exploded at the mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini.^[343]
• May 1993: Two guards were killed in the attack on communications facility of the National Iranian Oil Company in Kermanshah.^[329]
• 2 November 1994: An Iranian diplomat on mission in Denmark attacked.^[30]
• June 1995: Bombed oil refineries and other sites in west and south Iran.^[343]
• 7 May 1998: Attack on Iran's deputy FM in Austria.^[30]
• June 1998: Mortar attack on Defense Industries Organization; bombing of Revolutionary Prosecutor's office and Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran.^[30]
• July 1998: Bombing of Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran; armed attack on Iranian official in Rome, Italy.^[30]
• 14 September 1998: Attempt to kill Gen. Mohsen Rafighdoost failed.^[345]
• January 1999: Ali Razini, head of Tehran's judiciary, was wounded after motorcyclist hurled a hand grenade at his car. The explosion killed one and injured three.^[346] Mortar attack on Ministry of Intelligence in Tehran.^[30]
• 14 November 1999: MEK claimed responsibility for a car bomb that injured twelve Iraqi civilians in Fazeah, south of Kut, Iraq.^[347]
• 25 November 1999: Mortar attack at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz.^[30]
• 5 February 2000: President Mohammad Khatami was unharmed in mortar attack on his residency in Pasteur Street, which reportedly killed a print shop worker and injured five others.^[348]
• March 2000: Mortar attack on residential housing complex; cross-border mortar attack on Iranian territory; attack on Iranian military forces near border.^[30]
• April 2000: Attempt to assassinate the commander of Nasr Headquarters, interagency board responsible for coordinating Iran's policies on Iraq.^[349]
• May 2000: In several powerful explosions in Kermanshah, MEK claimed "dozens of agents had been killed or wounded".^[350] Six people were injured in a mortar attack near Tehran's police headquarters.^[351]
• June 2000: Plot to assassinate Ali Akbar Velayati was foiled.^[352] Rocket attack on Ministry of Defense.^[30]
• October 2000: A mortar attack targeting the command centre of special anti-riot forces in northern Tehran, left no casualties.^[353]
• August 2000: Mortar attack on city of Mehran; rockets fired near Salehabad and Khoramshahr.^[30]
• November 2000: Mortar attack near Musian and on Kermanshah.^[30]
• January 2001: Gen. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf survived a mortar attack on the headquarters of Law Enforcement Force.^[354] Five rockets fired at IRGC base in Tehran; mortar attack on Supreme Court and other government buildings in Tehran.^[30]
• March 2001: Rocket attack on Iranian security forces headquarters in Tehran and regional office in Shahr-e ziba, Tehran.^[30]
• 19 August 2003: MEK bombed the United Nations compound in Iraq, prompting UN withdrawal from the country.^[30]

Perception by Iranian people

A wide range of sources state that the MEK has little or no popular support among Iranian people. The most frequent reason cited for it, is that their alliance with Saddam Hussein during Iran–Iraq War, and attacking Iranian conscripted soldiers and civilians, is viewed as treason or betrayal within the homeland. These sources include journalism,^[357][358] academic works,^{[359][360][361]} as well as those written by analysts working for the government and think-tanks.

The RAND Corporation policy conundrum on the group, suggests that between 1979 and 1981 it was the most popular dissident group in Iran, however the former reputation is diminished to the extent that it is now "the only entity less popular" than the Iranian government.^[30]

Relationship with other Iranian opposition groups

An October 1994 report by the U.S. Department of State notes that other Iranian opposition groups do not cooperate with the organization because they view it as "undemocratic" and "tightly controlled" by its leaders.^[85]

Due to its anti-Shah stance before the revolution, the MEK is not close to monarchist opposition groups and Reza Pahlavi, Iran's deposed crown prince.^[85] Commenting on MEK, Pahlavi said in an interview: "I cannot imagine Iranians ever forgiving their behavior at that time [siding with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war]... If the choice is between this regime and the MEK, they will mostly likely say the mullahs."^[362]

Iran's deposed president, Abolhassan Banisadr, ended his alliance with the group in 1984, denouncing its stance during the Iran–Iraq War.^[85]

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, Tareq Aziz and Rajavi in January 1983, as well as the "Holy and Revolutionary" nature of Rajavis in April 1984.^[363]

Scholarly views

A policy conundrum published by RAND Corporation, investigating "Application of Cult Theory to the MEK", describes authoritarian and charismatic leadership, psychological manipulation, intense ideological exploitation and isolation, sexual control, emotional isolation, degrading peer pressure, deceptive recruitments, forced labor, sleep deprivation, physical abuse, and lack of exit options within the group as cultic tendencies.^[30]

Academics specializing in a wide variety of the social sciences believe that the MEK is an example of a cult. Such scholars include the following:

• Ervand Abrahamian, Iranian-born historian^[371]
• Alexandra Stein, South African social psychologist^[372]
• Stephanie Cronin, British historian^[373]
• Wilfried Buchta, German scholar of Islamic studies^[374]
• Rick Alan Ross, American deprogrammer and cult specialist^[375]
• John Andrew Morrow, Canadian scholar of Islamic studies^[376]
• Michael Axworthy, British historian^[377]
• Masoud Kazemzadeh, Iranian political scientist^[378]
• Ahmad Sadri, Iranian-born sociologist^[379]
• Thomas Juneau, Canadian defence policy expert^[380]
• Karim Sadjadpour, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace^[381]
• Mahan Abedin, of the Jamestown Foundation^[382]
• Mehdi Khalaji, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy^[383]
• Ariane Tabatabai, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies^[384]
• Michael Rubin, of the American Enterprise Institute^[278]

Removal of the designation

The United Kingdom lifted the MEK's designation as a terrorist group in June 2008,^[404] followed by the Council of the European Union on January 26, 2009, after what the group called a "seven-year-long legal and political battle."^[44][43][45] It was also lifted in the United States following a decision by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton^[107] on September 21, 2012 and lastly in Canada on December 20, 2012.^[405]

The US Appeals Court brief of July 16, 2010 cited the MeK’s petition arguing that more than a decade earlier, in 2001, it had ceased military operations against the Iranian regime, disbanded military units and renounced violence, and had turned over its weapons to US forces in Iraq in 2003.^[115]

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.^[43] Delisting allowed MEK to pursue tens of millions of dollars in frozen assets^[45] and lobby in Europe for more funds. It also removed the terrorist label from MEK members at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.^[44]

On 28 September 2012 the U.S. State Department formally removed MEK from its official list of terrorist organizations, beating an October 1 deadline in an MEK lawsuit.^[107][406] 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. An official denied that lobbying by well-known figures influenced the decision.^[407][408] Some former U.S. officials vehemently reject the new status and believe the MEK has not changed its ways.^[409]

37 individuals including 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.^[410] 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."^[107] 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."^[411]

Documentary films

• A Cult That Would Be an Army: Cult of the Chameleon (2007): Al Jazeera documentary directed by Maziar Bahari^[412]
• The Wolves (Persian: گرگ‌ها‎, translit. Gorg-ha): four-part eight-houred documentary series initially released in 2007 and reissued in 2013 as a 90-minutes documentary, aired by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. It includes footage from Ba'athist Iraq archives of confidential top-level meetings.^[413]
• The Strange World of the People's Mujahedin (2012): BBC World Service documentary directed by Owen Bennett-Jones and produced by Wisebuddah company.^[414] It won New York Festivals award for Best Investigative Report in 2013.^[415]
• An Unfinished Film for My Daughter, Somayeh (Persian: فیلم ناتمامی برای دخترم سمیه‎): 2014 documentary directed by Morteza Payeshenas, aired by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.^[413]
• Comrades in Arms: Ashraf Camp in Iraq Turned into a Harem for Leader (2014): Press TV documentary
• The Secrets Behind Auvers-sur-Oise (2016): Press TV documentary
• Chasing Iranian Spies: documentary directed by Michael Ware as an episode of the Uncensored With Michael Ware (S1E3), aired on 7 February 2017 by the National Geographic

Fictional films featuring MEK members and actions

• The Insider (Persian: نفوذی‎, translit. Nofoozi): 2008 feature film directed by Ahmad Kaveri and starring Amir Jafari as an MEK defector who returns to Iran in 2004.^[416]
• Cyanide (Persian: سیانور‎, translit. Siyanor): 2016 feature film directed by Behrouz Shoaibi which portrays the organization during the 1970s.^[417] The cast includes Babak Hamidian, Behnoosh Tabatabaei, Hanieh Tavassoli, Atila Pesyani, Mehdi Hashemi and Hamed Komeili.^[418]
• Mina’s Choice (Persian: امکان مینا‎, translit. Emkan-e Mina): 2016 drama about happy marriage of couple Mina and Mehran which tears apart. According to the director Kamal Tabrizi and producer Manouchehr Mohammadi, the film intends to “give warnings to families” about MEK.^[419]
• The Midday Event (Persian: ماجرای نیمروز‎): 2017 political drama directed by Mohammad-Hossein Mahdavian, it features MEK during the 1980s and was named the best film in the 35th Fajr International Film Festival.^[420]

Fictional series featuring MEK members and actions

• The Gift of Darkness (Persian: ارمغان تاریکی‎, translit. Armaghan-e Tariki): 2011 drama series directed by Jalil Saman features MEK during the 1980s.^[421]
• Parvaneh (Persian: پروانه‎): 2013 drama series directed by Jalil Saman about MEK during the 1970s.^[421]
• Nafas (Persian: نفس‎): 2017 drama series directed by Jalil Saman features 1970s.^[421][422]