Difference between revisions of "Mujahedin-e Khalq"

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As head of the MEK, Rajavi sought to acquire power in Iran by running in the 1980 Iranian presidential elections, the first elections of the newly established state. He was endorsed by several communist parties, including the [[Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas|People's Fedai]], the [[National Democratic Front (Iran)|National Democratic Front]], the [[Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Democratic Party of Kurdistan]], [[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan]] and the [[League of Iranian Socialists]].<ref>{{citation|author=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=1989|isbn=9781850430773|volume=3|series=Society and culture in the modern Middle East|at|Pg. 198}}</ref> Rajavi instructed his party not to support in the December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum.<ref>{{citation|author=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=1989|isbn=9781850430773|volume=3|series=Society and culture in the modern Middle East|at|Pg. 198}}</ref> Khomeini "disliked the MEK's philosophy, which combined Marxist theories of social evolution and class struggle with a view of Shia Islam that suggested Shia clerics had misinterpreted Islam and had been collaborators with the ruling class".<ref>{{cite book|title=Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat That Grows While America Sleeps|p=27–28|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc|year=2012|author1=Steven O'Hern|isbn=978-1-59797-701-2}}</ref> As a result of Rajavi's dissent of the constitution, the government of Ruhollah Khomeini disqualified Rajavi and the Mujahedin-e Khalq from being presidential candidates.<ref>{{citation|author=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=1989|isbn=9781850430773|volume=3|series=Society and culture in the modern Middle East|at|Pg. 198}}</ref>  
 
As head of the MEK, Rajavi sought to acquire power in Iran by running in the 1980 Iranian presidential elections, the first elections of the newly established state. He was endorsed by several communist parties, including the [[Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas|People's Fedai]], the [[National Democratic Front (Iran)|National Democratic Front]], the [[Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Democratic Party of Kurdistan]], [[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan]] and the [[League of Iranian Socialists]].<ref>{{citation|author=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=1989|isbn=9781850430773|volume=3|series=Society and culture in the modern Middle East|at|Pg. 198}}</ref> Rajavi instructed his party not to support in the December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum.<ref>{{citation|author=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=1989|isbn=9781850430773|volume=3|series=Society and culture in the modern Middle East|at|Pg. 198}}</ref> Khomeini "disliked the MEK's philosophy, which combined Marxist theories of social evolution and class struggle with a view of Shia Islam that suggested Shia clerics had misinterpreted Islam and had been collaborators with the ruling class".<ref>{{cite book|title=Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat That Grows While America Sleeps|p=27–28|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc|year=2012|author1=Steven O'Hern|isbn=978-1-59797-701-2}}</ref> As a result of Rajavi's dissent of the constitution, the government of Ruhollah Khomeini disqualified Rajavi and the Mujahedin-e Khalq from being presidential candidates.<ref>{{citation|author=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=1989|isbn=9781850430773|volume=3|series=Society and culture in the modern Middle East|at|Pg. 198}}</ref>  
  
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Following Rajavi's denial of power by Khomeini, the MEK started a campaign of dissent terror against the newly established government. On July 1981, the MEK failed an assassination attempt on Habibollah Asgaroladi, an opposing presidential candidate, killing his bodyguard instead.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hiro|first1=Dilip|title=Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals)|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=1-135-04381-7|page=191}}</ref>
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Following Rajavi's denial of power by Khomeini, the MEK started a campaign of dissent terror against the newly established government. On 20 July 1981, the MEK failed an assassination attempt on Habibollah Asgaroladi, an opposing presidential candidate, killing his bodyguard instead.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hiro|first1=Dilip|title=Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals)|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=1-135-04381-7|page=191}}</ref> A little over a month later, Kurdish MEK member [[Masoud Keshmiri]] killed President Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and six other Iranian government officials.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Staff|title=Iran marks anniversary of 1981 bombing at PM’s office|url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/405893/Iran-marks-anniversary-of-1981-bombing-at-PM-s-office|accessdate=14 March 2017|newspaper=[[Tehran Times]]|date=29 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="Nyt1">{{cite news|author1=[[United Press International]]|title=Iranian Says Secretary to Premier Hid Fatal Bomb in Teheran Office|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/14/world/iranian-says-secretary-to-premier-hid-fatal-bomb-in-teheran-office.html|accessdate=14 March 2017|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 September 1981}}</ref>
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Revision as of 01:28, 23 November 2019

"Islamic terrorism"
Group.png Mujahedin-e Khalq  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
MEK Emblem.png
AbbreviationMEK, MKO, PMOI
Formation1965
Founder• Mohammad Hanifnejad
• Saeed Mohsen
• Mohammad Asgarizadeh
• Rasoul Meshkinfam
• Ali-Asghar Badizadegan and Ahmad Rezaei
HeadquartersAlbania
LeaderMaryam Rajavi (aka Maryam Qajar-Azodanlu)
A terroristic cult seeking to overthrow the government of Iran. First allied to the USSR, then to Saddam Hussein and then finally to Israel.

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), also known as the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran or by the alias National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), is a cult[citation needed] of Iranian "terrorists" who oppose the government of Iran.

Origins

The group founded in 1965 by Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen, Mohammad Asgarizadeh, Rasoul Meshkinfam, Ali-Asghar Badizadegan and Ahmad Rezaei. In its early days, six members who splintered from the Freedom Movement, a moderate party based on the politics of ousted Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. The MEK founders were followers of leftist thinker Ali Shariati. The group split from the Freedom Movement due to that party’s moderate approach in challenging the government of the Shah.[1] The MEK started as a liberal communist organization, which is still reflected in the group's flag and the word "People's" in their name, as part of the greater anti-Shah movement.

Activities

In the 1970's the MEK killed several government and U.S. targets. The MEK failed an attempted to kill the United States Ambassador to Iran, Douglas MacArthur, on 30 November 1970.[2] MEK gunmen ambushed MacArthur's car while he and his wife were en route to their house. Shots were fired at the vehicle and a hatchet was hurled through the rear window. In May 1972, the MEK failed an attempted to kill U.S. Air Force General Harold L. Price, go was seriously wounded in attempted assassination. Several hours later, the MEK blew up a bomb at a mausoleum where President Richard Nixon was scheduled to attend a ceremony. The plan failed as the bomb blew up 45 minutes before President Nixon attended the ceremony.[3] The same year, the MEK completed their first major successful terrorist attack, killing Saeed Taheri, the Chief of Police of Tehran, on 13 August 1972.[4] During the same period, the MEK also conducted terrorist bombings also committed bombings of the gates of British Embassy, facilities of Pan-American Oil, Shell Oil and Pan-Am Airline.[5] On 3 July 1975 the MEK killed an Iranian employee at Embassy of the United States in Tehran.[6] In the following month the MEK killed U.S. Air Force Colonel Paul R. Shaffer and Lieutenant colonel Jack H. Turner.[7]

On 5 May 1975 the MEK killed one of their own leaders Majid Sharif-Vaghefi, one of three members of the MEK's central committee, for not embracing communism. His death was ordered by the other two members of the central committee, Taghi Shahram and Bahram Aram, who gave him an ultimatum to adopt the ideology or leave Iran.[8] After pretending to embrace communism, he fled the group and went into hiding. His location was given to Shahram by his wife, who was a fellow MEK member who did embrace communism. He was subsequently killed, his body burned and dumped outside the city.[9] The MEK today refer to him as a "martyr" and "hero", despite the fact that they themselves killed him.

On 28 August 1976, four MEK gunmen the killed civilian contractors Robert Krongrad, Donald Smith and William Cottrell, on their way to Doshan Tappeh Air Base to work on Project IBEX, an aerial reconnaissance program run by the CIA and Imperial Iranian Air Force from bases inside Iran against the Soviet Union.[10] On 23 December 1978, the MEK killed Iranian Oilfield Services Company (IOSC) employees Paul Grimm and Malek Boroujerdi.[11] These would be the last major terror attacks by the MEK prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran.

New Leader and Conversion into Cult-hood

Senior MEK member Massoud Rajavi was imprisoned by the Shah of Iran for his anti-monarch anti-American political activities and militancy.[12] He was originally sentenced to death, but his sentence was changed to life in prison due to his brother Kazem Rajavi's connections with Swiss politicians.[13] He was released from prison as a result of the 1979 Revolution.[14] Upon his release, he assumed leadership of the Mujahedin-e Khalq.[15]

As head of the MEK, Rajavi sought to acquire power in Iran by running in the 1980 Iranian presidential elections, the first elections of the newly established state. He was endorsed by several communist parties, including the People's Fedai, the National Democratic Front, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the League of Iranian Socialists.[16] Rajavi instructed his party not to support in the December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum.[17] Khomeini "disliked the MEK's philosophy, which combined Marxist theories of social evolution and class struggle with a view of Shia Islam that suggested Shia clerics had misinterpreted Islam and had been collaborators with the ruling class".[18] As a result of Rajavi's dissent of the constitution, the government of Ruhollah Khomeini disqualified Rajavi and the Mujahedin-e Khalq from being presidential candidates.[19]

Following Rajavi's denial of power by Khomeini, the MEK started a campaign of dissent terror against the newly established government. On 20 July 1981, the MEK failed an assassination attempt on Habibollah Asgaroladi, an opposing presidential candidate, killing his bodyguard instead.[20] A little over a month later, Kurdish MEK member Masoud Keshmiri killed President Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and six other Iranian government officials.[21][22]


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References

  1. ↑ https://www.mintpressnews.com/mek-revolutionary-group-imperialist-asset/236653/
  2. ↑ Newton, Michael (2002), "MacArthur, Douglas II (Intended victim)", The Encyclopedia of Kidnappings, Facts on File Crime Library, Infobase Publishing, p. 178, ISBN 9781438129884Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  3. ↑ https://terrorspring.com/amp/2018/07/news/terrorist-files/american-herald-tribune-worse-than-isil-the-dark-past-of-mujahedin-e-khalq-terrorist-group/
  4. ↑ David R. Collier (2017), Democracy and the Nature of American Influence in Iran, 1941-1979, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 9780815653974Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  5. ↑ https://terrorspring.com/amp/2018/07/news/terrorist-files/american-herald-tribune-worse-than-isil-the-dark-past-of-mujahedin-e-khalq-terrorist-group/
  6. ↑ Goulka, Jeremiah; Hansell, Lydia; Wilke, Elizabeth; Larson, Judith (2009). The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: a policy conundrum (PDF). RAND Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-4701-4.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  7. ↑ Monica L. Belmonte, Edward Coltrin Keefer (2013). Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, V. XXVII, Iran, Iraq, 1973–1976. Government Printing Office. p. 560. ISBN 978-0-16-090256-7.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  8. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, 3, I.B.Tauris, p. 162, ISBN 9781850430773Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  9. ↑ Maziar, Behrooz (2000). Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran. I.B.Tauris. p. 71. ISBN 1860646301.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  10. ↑ Monica L. Belmonte, Edward Coltrin Keefer (2013). Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, V. XXVII, Iran, Iraq, 1973–1976. Government Printing Office. p. 560. ISBN 978-0-16-090256-7.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  11. ↑ Branigin, William (31 December 1978), "Shah's Effort to Form New Cabinet Falters", The Washington Post, retrieved 1 August 2018Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  12. ↑ Hersh, Seymour M. "Our Men In Iran?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 December 2013.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  13. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, 3, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 9781850430773Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  14. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, 3, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 9781850430773Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  15. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, 3, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 9781850430773 Text "at" ignored (help); Text "Pg. 146" ignored (help)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  16. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, 3, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 9781850430773 Text "at" ignored (help); Text "Pg. 198" ignored (help)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  17. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, 3, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 9781850430773 Text "at" ignored (help); Text "Pg. 198" ignored (help)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  18. ↑ Steven O'Hern (2012). Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat That Grows While America Sleeps. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 27–28. ISBN 978-1-59797-701-2.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  19. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, 3, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 9781850430773 Text "at" ignored (help); Text "Pg. 198" ignored (help)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  20. ↑ Hiro, Dilip (2013). Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. p. 191. ISBN 1-135-04381-7.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  21. ↑ {{URL|example.com|optional display text}}
  22. ↑ {{URL|example.com|optional display text}}


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