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A Mujahideen ConundrumThe multiple faces and roles of the Iranian MeK
Abstract:
This paper attempts to understand the ambiguous and multifacetedrole played by the
Islamic-Socialist organization Mojhedin-e Khalq (MeK) in its trajectory from anti-Shahdissident to anti-American terrorist, from American protg to pro-western spy. The
American troops protect the MeK members as a politically threatened minority while atthe same time the US Department of State classifies it as FTO- Foreign Terrorist
Organization. I argue that historical changes and political choices of both the USA and
Iran prompted the MeK to assume diverse and even contradictory roles, while attemptingto reach its main goal of defeating the Islamic Regime of Iran. Friend or foe, the
Mojhedin-e Khalq plays a crucial role in the relationship between USA, Iraq and Iran.
Key Terms:
FTO, Iran, Iraq, MeK, NCRI, NLA, PMOI, Terrorism, United States
Eduardo Lacerda
Winter 2009-10
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Introduction
The term Terrorist carries a highly political undertone and value. As a highly
contentious term, it can be used both to punish enemies and to protect allies. In some
cases it can also be used as a bargaining chip which countries use for diplomatic
pressure and gains. The objective of this paper is to understand under which
circumstances a non-state group can be classified as Terrorist, and how countries exploit
the significance of that nomenclature. I will use as case-study the dissident Iranian group
MeK /PMOI, and its tumultuous relationship with the United States.
Seen by some as a relic of another era1 the MeK is nowadays the largest Iranian
opposition movement in exile. Well-known for its violent past acts against the Iranian
Islamic regime, nowadays the group is seen by most countries as a legitimate dissident
organization in exile, fighting for democracy in Iran2. It purportedly carries an agenda of
democratic values, social inclusion, feminine empowerment and the struggle against
authoritarianism.
However, the MeK has been classified by the United States Department of State
as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) due to its origins: a left leaning group fighting
against the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and internationally connected to radicals,
revolutionaries and communists. Only four countries in the world accept that FTO
definition: USA, Canada, Iraq and Iran itself. The paper explores the permutations of this
movement, its importance and international role along the years. We argue that the USA
maintains an ambiguous relationship with the group neither due to political doubts nor
1 Blanche, Ed. pp.12
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due to historical contingencies, but simply due to MeKs utility as a political tool in the
bargaining with the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
A Jigsaw of NamesThe MeK is the acronym for Mojhedin-e Khalq, (Szmn-e Mojhedin-e Khalq-
e Irn), which in Farsi stands for the Peoples Holy Warriors of Iran. Over the years the
group has been and still is referred to by several names and acronyms. These varied
denominations seem to have three distinct origins: 1) self-imposed, for political, strategic
and cultural reasons; 2) pegged to the group by its foes as a way to express views of
dishonesty and ambiguity, and finally 3) denominations due to MeKs association with
other political bodies.
The group is sometimes named MKO (Mojhedin-e Khalq Organization) and
PMOI (People's Mujahedin Of Iran), two partial transliterations of the original Farsi
acronym. The Iranian government officially refers to the organization as theMonafeqin,
the Hypocrites3. In the past, MeK suffered an ideological schism, from which a rival
group emerged, first hijacking the original name but further changing it, first to
Mujahidin (ML) and then to Peykar4. During the 80s the MeK evolved into a large and
well trained wing named the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA). Complicating the
matter further, the MeK it is the founder, controller, largest and most active group within
another organization named National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
3Munfiq (n., in Arabic: , plural munfiqn) is a term used in Islamic Arabic to depict a religious
hypocrite, who outwardly practices Islam, while inwardly conceals his disbelief (kufr). The term derives
from the 63rd sura of the Qur'an, the Surat Al-Munfiqn (Arabic: , The Hypocrites. This surabears 11 ayat(verses). See http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick/063.htm4 In Farsi: , meaning battle.
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The mutable nature of its denomination and the multiplicity of its affiliations have
generated a great deal of confusion among journalists and policy makers, also raising
difficulties for the creation of a unified body of literature on the subject.
Historical Background
The MeK was founded in Tehran in 1963 by six middle-class students at Tehran
University, former members of the Freedom Movement of Iran5. Those students were
supporters of the Dr. Mohammad Mossadeq, the popular and democratically elected
Iranian Prime Minister of Iran between April 1951 and August 1953. Mossadeq was a
staunchly secular nationalist, keenly opposed to foreign intervention in Iran. He had been
the architect of the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which pitted his country
against British interests. Mossadeq ended ousted from power through the Operation Ajax,
a CIA sponsored coup dtat supported by the MI-5. The coup brought back to political
prominence the discredited and weak Iranian monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
With the approval of his western allies the Shah would rule Iran with an iron hand for the
next 25 years. The event is considered a turning point in Iranian history and it is the
origin of the MeKs dissidence. It is also the starting point of ascension for a young and
until then unknownMujtahid6named Sayyed Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini.
Since its inception, the open objective of MeK had been to overthrow the Shah by
any means deemed necessary. The group maintained close but independent ties with
clandestine, religious and radical groups and organizations from all over the world.
5TheNehzat-e Azadi-e Iran (Farsi: ), also known as LMI:Liberation Movement of Iran is
an still existing (though now clandestine) Iranian political organization, founded in 1961 as a re-
embodiment of the National Front, the umbrella assemblage of Mossadegh's original supporters. See: 6 An Islamic cleric competent to interpret divine law.
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Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the MeK built alliances with the Soviet Union, East
Germany and Cuba as well as other international guerrillas. Domestically it associated
itself with underground Iranian groups and organizations such as the Fadaiyan Khalq (a
Marxist revolutionary organization), theJebhe-ye Melli (the National Front, Mossadegh's
nationalist liberal party) and the Tudeh Party (the oldest communist party in Iran, of
Stalinist line). Being a left but religiously-oriented group, the MeK also worked closely
with a growing number of discontented religious Islamic clerics from the holy-scholar
city of Qom. Those allied clerics would form the radical movement that would culminate
with the 1979 Islamic Revolution
7
. Ironically, they would also become the MeKs main
foes.
The MeK before the Islamic Revolution
The MeK worked with any and everyone interested in carrying violent terrorist
acts against the regime of Reza Pahlavi. The group also chose to target American citizens
along with Iranian government members, due to the involvement of the CIA in the coup
against Mossadeq. But the initial terrorist acts of MeK not only failed but had also
disastrous consequences to the group. In November 1971 the MeK failed in its attempt to
kidnap Douglas MacArthur II, the U.S. Ambassador to Iran. In August of the same year
the group attempted to bomb Tehrans electrical facilities, and to hijack an airplane with
the Shahs nephew. Those acts were carried in protest against Pahlavis lavish celebration
of 2,500 years of continuous Persian civilization and Iranian royalty in the ruins of
Persepolis. The Shah did not forgive those bold acts against his allies, reign and family.
7 See documents in:Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Gasiorowski, Mark J and Malcolm
Byrne (editors). The National Security Archives. George Washington University. June 22, 2004.
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Pahlavi had been restored to the center of power through a coup dtat and thus
had to resort to political suppression and mounting dissident repression. A prison
informant betrayed the MeKs plans, leading the Shahs secret police, the dreaded
SAVAK, to capture nine leaders of the group. Like a domino effect, one of those nine
gave out the name of other 66 leaders8, leading to a massive arrest of dissidents. After
trial, a military tribunal sentenced 11 MeK leaders to death. In May 25, 1972, three of its
founders were executed by SAVAKs death squads, along with two other leadership
members9.
But the group managed to survive the brutal onslaught. With all the MeKs
original leadership either dead or jailed, the second tier militants took power, restarting
the terrorist attacks against the regime and its American allies, while undergoing a long
phase of ideological self analysis. In May 1972 the group attempted to kill the USAF
Brigadier General Harold Price, a U.S. adviser in Tehran. His car went over a road IED
(Improvised Explosive Device), breaking both his legs and killing a female Iranian
passerby10. In June 02, 1973, the U.S. Army comptroller Lt. Col. Louis Lee Hawkins was
shot to death. After two years trying to redefine its radical left Islamism ideology and its
strategy of action, the inner debate of the second tier would end up with an official
schism. In 1975 the rupture was made public in a book entitledManifesto on Ideological
Issues, in which the out-of-jail leadership stated that after ten years of secret existence,
four years of armed struggle, and two years of intense ideological rethinking, [we]
8 Abrahamian, Ervand. The Iranian Mojahedin. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), pp.135.9 "May 25, 1972 Founders of PMOI slain by the Shahs regime". People's Mojahedin Organization Of
Iran (website). Historical Events.
10 Larzelere, Alex R., CAPT, USCG, (Ret.). Witness To History: White House Diary of a Military Aide to
President Richard Nixon. AuthorHouse, 2009. See:
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reached the conclusion that Marxism, not Islam, was the true revolutionary
philosophy.11
As the grip of the Shah tightened his regime accumulated more reverses and
enemies. Using an entirely secular new Marxist guidebook, the group kept its attacks
under MeKs name, completely disregarding the original leadership and its original left-
Islamic orientation. In May 21, 1975 the Air Force Col. Paul Shaffer and the Lt. Jack
Turner were shot and killed in Tehran and in May 1976 six other Americans were shot
dead. They were Rockwell International employees working in an electronic intelligence
gathering system geared toward the neighboring USSR, an ally of the Marxist MeK. With
the Islamic Revolutionary movement gaining momentum, the Marxist MeK joined forces
with Ayatollah Khomeinis allies. On December 7, 1978 the group renamed itself
Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, becoming known as
the Peykar, and completing the schism initiated in 1975.
The MeK during the Islamic Revolution
Among the original MeK leaders imprisoned and sentenced to death in1972 by
the Shahs secret police SAVAK was Massoud Rajavi, a 20 year old political law
undergraduate student from Tehran University. In order to save him, his elder brother
Kazem Rajavi organized a worldwide campaign, using his influence as a university
professor. International pressure from the Amnesty International, the International
Committee of the Red Cross and the French socialist president Franois Mitterrand,
forced the Shah to commute his sentence to life in prison with forced labor i. Massoud
Rajavi would spend the next seven years in prison, being released only three weeks prior
11 Abrahamian, Ervand.Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton University Press. 1982, p.493-4
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to the ascension of the Islamic Revolution to power. Massoud would then become the
leader of the left-Islamic fraction of MeK.
Originally, both fractions of MeK supported the Revolution due to its coalitional
revolutionary nature, involving all sectors of the society, from the military to
businesspeople, from the secular intelligentsia to the Islamic scholars. Soon however, the
most radical sectors of the revolutionary movement rose to prominence, casting aside the
democratic and moderate sectors. In November 1979 Iran adopted the new constitution of
the Islamic Republic, approved by a national referendum, and Khomeini became the
Supreme Leader of Iran, officially known as the Leader of the Revolution. Initially his
position was adamantly against clerics running for government positions, and the secular
moderate Abolhasan Bani-Sadr was chosen and elected as the first president of the
Islamic Republic of Iran in 4 February 198012.
In September 1980, the Arab nationalist regime of Iraq invaded Iran, initiating a
war that would last for eight years. Saddam Hussein wanted to destroy the menacing
Shia revolution while taking control of the Iranian province of Khuzistan, predominantly
Sunni Muslim and rich in oil. The war changed the fragile balance of power among the
members of the Iranian revolutionary coalition, tilting the scale in favor of the most
conservative and centralizing minds surrounding the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
These clerics had never wanted a western-type regime, but an unrestrained Islamic one.
What began as a genuinely popular-based revolution would soon be distorted into an
Islamic fundamentalist theocracy.
12 Bani-Sadr was the president of the Council of the Islamic Revolution.
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In 1981 Bani-Sadr was impeached for his opposition to the radicalization of the
government. The MeK's called for a mass rally under the banner of Islam, accusing
Ayatollah Khomeini of obscurantism and his Islamic regime of fascist. Its Islamic but
pro-democratic left leaning perspective soon started to be seen as public threat that, as
many others, had to be purged. The coalition was over and all former allies had become
the main enemies. The Islamic leaders acted fast, first eliminating most members of the
anticlerical Peykar branch members and effectively destroying the faction. Then they
turned against the MeKs religious branch: thousands were brutally persecuted, tortured
and killed
13
. After MeKs leader Mohammad Reza Saadati was executed on 27 July,
1981 the remaining oppositional leaders were forced to flee the country. Massoud Rajavi
and Abolhasan Bani-Sadr secretly left Iran with the aid of the MeK and the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP), finding exile in the socialist controlled France of Francois
Mitterrand. Two days later and disrespecting their exile agreement terms Bani-Sadr,
the MeK and the KDP founded the NCRI, National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Headquarters were established in Paris while a military infrastructure was established in
Iraq, under supervision of the Iranian enemy Saddam Hussein.
The MeK after the Islamic Revolution
As the Iran-Iraq war escalated, the MeK found a safe haven under the protection
of the Baathist regime. The group was granted with weapons, training, funds and a base
ground. In 1986 the MeK transferred its headquarters from France to a sprawling 30-
square-mile complex in Iraq, less than 70 miles from the Iranian border. The place was
13 U.S. Department of Homeland Security. University of Maryland, START:The National Consortium for
the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. TOPs:Terrorist Organization Profiles (formely known
as TKB:Terrorism Knowledge Base). Terrorist Organization Profile.Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK). Retrieved
March 6, 2010.
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named Camp Ashraf, after Massoud Rajavi's first wife, assassinated at home by the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard14. Throughout the second half of the 1980s the group
operated as a proxy army, conducting clandestine operations across borders, targeting
Iranian civilians and military in attempts to destabilize the Iranian regime.
In fact, the last important war operation between Iran and Iraq had the MeK
forces as the main actor. In early 1988 Iran and Iraq accepted as a cease-fire agreement
under the terms of UN Resolution 598. In July however, Saddam Hussein authorized a
military incursion to force further concessions from Iran. Under heavy Iraqis air support
7000 MeK soldiers launched the Operation Eternal Light (Farsi: Foroughe Javidan),
using National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA) as alias. The MeK/NLA attacked western
Iran and battled the Pasdaran15
for the city of Kermanshah, capturing and destroying the
Iranian town of Islamabad-e Gharb. However, under international pressure due to the
cease-fire, Iraq withdrew its air cover and Iran was able to react, cutting the supply lines
of the MeK/NLA and ultimately winning the battle. Between 1400 and 4500 MeK/NLA
soldiers were killed, while over 55.000 Iranian soldiers died in combat. That would be the
greatest defeat of the MeKs history. It was the largest and the last military regime
change attempt even made against the Islamic Republic.
As a tit-for-tat response to Operation Eternal Light (called by Iran Operation
Mersad), Tehran launched a silent, brutal and systematic execution of all political
14 Interestingly enough, the MeK/PMOI now controlled by Rajavis second wife, does not provide any
bibliographical information about his first wife, Ashraf Rajavi. The official PMOI web site has just a
picture with four short entries containing her age, education, occupation and the year of her death. No
mention about the fact that she was Rajavis first wife nor any connection to the Iraqi Ashraf Camp, home
to the bulk of MeKs core members. See:
http://www.iran.mojahedin.org/pagesen/martyrsDetails.aspx?MartyrId=15557>15Seph e Psdrn e Enqelb e Eslmi (Farsi: ): The Army of the Guardians of theIslamic Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
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prisoners with ties to the MeK. The figures are unclear but several thousands of
oppositionist, mainly members of the Mojhedin-e Khalq, but also Fedaian, Tudeh and
others, were hanged and strangled to death in SAVAKs dungeons16.
MeK: Grassroots democrats or Terrorists?
Hybrid Ideologies, strange alliances.
The group had suffered massive losses during both the Operation Eternal Light
and the Iranian purges of 1988. MeK came to existence in a period of intense intellectual
debate and political turmoil in Iran. Traditionalists, modernists, revolutionaries, secular
and religious groups were in struggle against each other, trying to define and redefine the
place of Iran in the world. It was amidst such effervescence that the radical Iranian
sociologist of religion Ali Shariati appeared, proposing his unique philosophy. The so
called Revolutionary Islam ideology represented a midpoint that seemed to balance all
sides, and thus, quickly gained great appeal among the urban intelligentsia of the time.
It was this blend of religious values and socialist activism that formed the core of
the MeKs ideologies. It inspired the group to connect itself with Cuba and the Soviet
Union, support guerrilla activities all over the world and target US citizens. Not
surprisingly, the relationship of the group with the United States had always being of
open antagonism. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend. At the time Saddam Hussein
was not yet an American enemy, but an ally against Iran, and the MeKs position against
the Islamic regime served well the American strategic purposes in the region. Despite the
antagonism, the Mojhedin and the US had become bedfellows.
16 The Amnesty International mentions over 4,500 political prisoners but Iranian opposition groups suggest
that as many as 30,000 prisoners may have been executed. See:
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From Friend to Foe
The 1990s brought radical changes to the international system, dramatically
changing the coalitional dynamics in the region, the role and importance of MeK. In 1989
the Communist Soviet block started to collapse and the world seemed to be heading away
from revolutionary left ideologies. Having suffered massive losses during both the
Operation Eternal Light and the Iranian purges of 1988, and being largely unsuccessful in
every single facet, the MeK had no choice but to adapt and head toward less armed
attacks and more political activism. At a conference in 1995 the group established a 16-
point plan named the Charter of Fundamental Freedoms17. The plan encompasses all the
constitutional democratic values held in western countries, including separation between
religion and state, freedom of expression and gender equality ii.
In August 2, 1997 Iranians elected the reformist Mohammed Khatami for
President. Khatami run on a platform of liberalization and reform, emphasizing freedom
of expression, tolerance and civil society, constructive diplomatic relations and dialogue
among civilizations18
. Khatami was seen worldwide as representing a new age in Irans
relationship with the world. In order to send a 'goodwill gesture' to the newly elected
Iranian regime19, the US attended a persistent request of Tehran. In early October of that
same year, the United States Department of State, under the Clinton administration,
placed MeK on its list of terrorist organizations20
.
17 Cafarella, Nicole.Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) Dossier. CPT- Center for Policing Terrorism. March 15,
200518Dialogue Among Civilizations is the name of Khatamis famous book, written in response to Samuel P.
Huntingtons theory of Clash of Civilizations. The United Nations proclaimed the year 2001 as the United
Nations' Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations, based on Khatami's proposal.19 Pipes, Daniel. Unleash the Iranian Opposition. The Jerusalem Post. July 12, 2007. Pg. 1420 Armey, Dick.Iranian 'terror' groups; U.S. should rethink designations. The Washington Times.
December 4, 2007. pg.A19.
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From Freedom-Fighter to Terrorist
The U.S. State Department establishes that a terrorist is someone whose acts
appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the
policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a
government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.21
By the definition the MeK was an obvious terrorist organization. But so far it had
been one that attacked an enemy of the United States, and therefore, a tolerated one.
However, the election of Mohammed Khatami raised the possibility of transforming such
relationship from antagonism to cooperation, and the Clinton administration did not want
to miss such unique opportunity.
The implications for the MeK were vast and swift. Once placed in the FTO list, an
entity cannot receive any physical, financial or intellectual support or help from any
American individual or institution. To make matters worse the Department of State had
classified both the MeK and the NCRI as a single entity, which affected equally both
those within Camp Ashraf and those working from the NCRI base in France. Under
pressure from Washington, and for fear of being possibly labeled as terrorist sponsors, in
2002 the European Union put the organization on its own list of terrorist organizations22.
After that most countries moved to a position that in practice meant treating the MeK as a
terrorist group. Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the French judge in charge of counterterrorism,
declared that the MeK was creating a terrorist base in Auver-sur-Oise, a village north of
21 The U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations is issued by the United States
Secretary of State in accordance with the section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as
amended through the Title IV of the United States Patriot Act, subtitle B, section 411. See:
22 Taheri, Amir. Foreign Views: France tries to score points with Iran. Daily Times (Pakistan). Saturday,
June 21, 2003. < http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-6-2003_pg4_9>
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Paris. The French anti-terrorist Special Forces troops, backed by helicopter gunships,
raided about 40 houses in the village, arresting over 150 of MeKs members, including
the president of the NCRI, Massoud Rajavis second wife, Maryam Rajavi23.
From Terrorists to Protected People
With the advent of the Second Gulf War and the resulting collapse of Iraqis
regime in 2003, the Mojhedin-e Khalq finally lost access to all remaining military
support and financial assistance. Located only 40km northeast of Baghdad in the unstable
Diyala Province, MeKs complex was bombed by the allied forces, but the group did not
resist nor counteract, managing to arrange a cease-fire with unconditional surrender of
Camp Ashraf24. As result over 3400 well equipped and well trained but aged MeK
soldiers were captured and disarmed by American forces.
From that point onward a strange and silent revolution started to happen in the
relationship between the United States and the MeK/NRA fighters. First, Massoud
Rajavis suddenly became unaccountably absent from power, allowing Maryam Rajavi to
assume the de facto leadership of both the MeK and the NCRI from her exile in France.
Then the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld conceded legal status MNF-I to
all MeK recruits in Camp Ashraf. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the MNF-1
status positions a group as civilian protected persons and not military combatant
prisoners of war. Never before or ever since the USA has classified an entire guerrilla
army as an entity worthy to be protected against enemy attacks, while at the same time
considering it a terrorist organization. Officially that was done due to the belief that the
23 Idem24 Blanche, Ed.An uncertain future.Middle Eastno. 401 (June 2009). Pp. 25
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MeK did not pose a security threat and due to the NLA neutrality and willingness to
cooperate. But placing an FTO under military protection let the United States vulnerable
to charges of hypocrisy, especially when one compares the treatment and status given to
Al Qaeda operatives and the benefit offered to the MeK/NLA.
MeK and USA: strange bedfellows
The Mojhedin-e Khalq has been a constant and unforgettable headache to the
Islamic regime since its early days. But when tracking back the history of attacks, one
can observe that most of the MeK attacks failed. The Islamic regime continues in power
30 years after the revolution and the MeK did not achieve any single political objective.
Still, Tehran seems to show a disproportionate fixation with the group. Over the years the
Iranian intelligence services ruthlessly hunted down and killed dozens of its operatives
worldwide, sponsored waves of domestic purging and demonstrated a willingness to go
to even higher extremes in order to destroy the leadership structure of the organization.
Nothing illustrates that willingness better than an unbelievable bargain offered to the
coalition troops in December 2003. According to the German Intelligence (which works
closer to Iran's security apparatus than most) Tehran offered to the USA to trade senior
Al Qaeda operatives under the regime control for MeK commanders under US control in
Camp Ashraf. The offer included the Egyptian Saif Al Adel, No. 3 in Al Qaedas
hierarchy, and Abu Hafs the Mauritanian, moniker of Mahfouz Ould Walid, a top adviser
to Osama bin Laden. Surprisingly, the Americans refused the deal, despite the importance
of the prisoners.25 Why would the Iranian regime be so interested in a handful of MeK
leaders to the point of offering such high compensation? And why would the United
25 Idem, pp. 24
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States eager to capture all the Al Qaeda leadership refuse such an indisputably
beneficial swap? According to the US military, 3,418 members of MeK are confined in
Camp Ashraf. Nine hundred of them are women. Most are reaching middle age and many
have long term injures, incapacitating them to combat. The faded military capability of
the MeK may still be a deterrent factor against Iranian incursions in Iraq, but NLA
fighting days are all but over. Furthermore, considering that its members where disarmed
and cannot come and go as they wish, Tehrans obsession with the group worldwide does
not seem reasonable, because the ability of the group to strike terrorist attacks within Iran
has become negligible.
The Islamic Republic does not fear the MeKs open fire, but have a much deeper
reason to fear against this graying group: it is believed that the MeK still have one the
most well connected network of agents and spies inside of Iran 26. In an autocratic country
obsessed with security and control, Information is many times more harmful than bullets,
and that may explain why the American government refused a remarkable deal trading a
few leaders of MeK by Al Qaeda prisoners that were in the FBIs most-wanted list, and
why the legal status MNF-I was granted to all MeK recruits by George Bushs
administration.
Conclusion
Since 2002 the MeK has been releasing anti-regime intelligence gathered illegally
in Iran by its members and allies. U.S. officials say that the Pentagon had already thought
26 About the network and influence of the Mek within Iran, the CUNY history professor Ervand
Abrahamian is quoted stating that They are so discredited in Iran that I can't imagine they have any social
basis. See: Peterson, Scott.Iran sees less threat in exiled MKO militants. Christian Science Monitor.
February 11, 2008. Pg. 6
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of using the MeK informants as spies, separating them from the leadership, providing
training and sending them back to their home country to gather intelligence on the
clerical regime and its efforts to develop nuclear weapons. In fact it was the MeK, the
main responsible for the discovery of the Iranian secret nuclear program. They provided
most of the highly precise and valuable intelligence that allowed the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) to find and verify the nuclear test site in Natanz, the heavy water
production plant in Arak, the nuclear centrifuge testing center in Abali, the nuclear site in
Lashkar Abad, the centrifuge operations center in Kolahdouz and many other invaluable
pieces of Intelligence that could not and would not be gathered otherwise
27
. The United
States has maintained control over the members of Camp Ashraf by using the MNF-I
status while at the same time it has used the classification as FTO to pressure the Islamic
regime of Tehran. For as long as the group is both officially classified as terrorist and
maintained under protection, the United States will have a strong instrument to both
compel Iran to restrain its insurgent activities within Iraqi territory, and to obtain
invaluable Intel against the Islamic regime.
Under the light of MeKs role in exposing Irans secret nuclear program the most
rational reason for the behavior of both countries toward the MeK is its newly found
importance as an unofficial information tool and spying organization within Iran.
Bibliography
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Endnotes
i This contentious claim, as many others, cannot at this point be confirmed or denied. The MKOWatch, an
anti MeK website, states that a press release quoted the security authorities of the Pahlavi Regime as
saying: Based upon the fact that he [Masoud Rajavi] has heartily co-operated during interrogations and
revealed the members of MKO Society and collaborated to full extent which paved the ground for detectionof MKO network by the security agents thor-oughly, His Majestys Order prescribes the commutation of
his death sentence to life imprisonment with hard labour. See:
It is noteworthy however, that the MeK, the NCRI and its leaders have, at least in two occasions, received
the most prominent public support from influential European politicians who subscribed to the Marxist
ideology. The first occasion was the above mentioned, when in 1972 the socialist French president Franois
Mitterrand defended the release of Massoud Rajavi. The second occasion happened recently, when Paulo
Casaca, a Portuguese politician from Portugal's Socialist Party and Member of the European Parliament
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through the Party of European Socialists, presided over the European Union decision to remove the MeK
from the European list of international terrorist groups.
The excerpt bellow was extracted from Alain Chevalrias book.Brl Vif: Au nom de Marx et de
Mahomet. Enqute sur les Moujahidine du Peuple d'Iran (Trans.: Burned Alive, in the name of Marx and
Mohammed). It serves to illustrate the ideological connection between Rajavi and Mitterrand:
Immdiatement, les fugitifs obtinrent l'asile politique. Franois Mitterrand prsidait
alors aux destines de l'Hexagone. Sa femme, Danile, a sans doute jou un rle dans
cette prise de dcision. On la connat pour son soutien tous ceux qui, devant elle, se
rclament du marxisme. Les fuyards s'installrent Auvers-sur-Oise sous la protection
des autorits franaises. Rajavi avait bien jou. Deux jours plus tard, trahissant la
prparation minutieuse de l'opration, il crait le CNR (Conseil National de la
Rsistance), dont Bani Sadr, en raison de sa position d'ancien Prsident de la
Rpublique, constituait l'un des piliers. L'autre tait reprsent par le PDKI (Parti
Dmocratique Kurde d'Iran). (...) Ce n'est pas le seul soutien franais de Maryam. Outre
de nombreux dputs et snateurs de notre pays, elle compte parmi ses amis Danile
Mitterrand. A sa sortie de prison, dans le discours ddi ses partisans, elle remercie les
personnes qui sont intervenues en sa faveur. En premier lieu, la veuve du Prsidentsocialiste qui a dmontr la grandeur, la conscience et les plus nobles valeurs de la
France et de la Rsistance franaise... C'est comme si Madame Mitterrand avait amen
ici avec elle le gnral De Gaulle, le chef de la Rsistance contre le fascisme en France,
et feu le prsident Mitterrand... Image ose, tant l'on imagine mal De Gaulle et
Mitterrand unis par un mme sentiment. Mais comment ne pas se laisser sduire par tant
de fracheur?
TRANSLATION:
Immediately, the fugitives obtained political asylum. Franois Mitterrand controlled then the
directions of the Hexagon*. His wife, Daniele, undoubtedly played a part in this decision making.
His support for all those who, like him, were followers of Marxism, was well known. The
escapees settled themselves in Auvers-sur-Oise under the protection of the French authorities.
Rajavi had played well. Two days later, betraying the meticulous preparation of the operation, he
created the NCRI (National Council of Resistance of Iran), which Bani Sadr because of his
position of former President of the Republic, constituted the one of the pillars. The other was
represented by the PDKI (Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran). ()It is not the only French support
of Maryam. In addition to many deputies and senators of our country, she counts with Danile
Mitterrand among her friends. At her release from prison, in the speech dedicated to her suporters,
she thanks the people who intervened in her favor. Initially, to the widow of the Socialist president
which showed the grandness, the conscience and the noblest values of France and the French
Resistance It is as if Mrs. Mitterrand had brought with her General De Gaulle, the chief of
Resistance against Fascism in France, and fire president Mitterrand it is a provocative image,
so hard is to imagine De Gaulle and Mitterrand linked by the same feeling. But how not to be
seduced with such great originality?
* The Hexagon is Frances nickname, due to its geographical shape.
ii 1995 MeK Charter of Fundamental Freedoms:
1) Guarantee freedom of belief, expression and the press, without censorship;
2) Guarantee freedom for political parties, unions, groups, councils, forums, syndicates, except those loyal
to either the Shah or Ayatollah Khomeini, provided they stay within the law;
3) Ensure governments would be elected;
4) Respect for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
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5) Abolish courts, tribunals, security departments introduced by the Ayatollah Khomeini;
6) Ensure women enjoy the same social, political and cultural rights as men (including a ban on polygamy);
7) Abolish privileges based on gender, religion or ethnic group;
8) End discrimination against religious minorities;
9) Abolish compulsory religious practice;10) Secure Iranian territorial integrity while recognizing the right of Iranian Kurdistan to autonomy;
11) Safeguard all social, cultural and political rights for ethnic minorities;
12) Repeal what the MEK deems to be anti-labor, anti-peasant laws;
13) Encourage a return from exile for all those who fled either the Shah or Khomeini regime;
14) Base the economy on the free market, national capitalism and private ownership;
15) Provide welfare needs to the poor;
16) Improve Irans foreign relations with neighboring and other states; to live in peaceful co-existence.