Massoud Rajavi, the Leader of the Iranian resistance
The man who announced the establishment of the main opposition to the mullahs’ regime in Iran was born in the little North East Iranian town of Tabas in 1947. Massoud Rajavi gained a law degree at the University of Tehran and soon joined the Iranian People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMOI/MEK Iran) in 1967. He was a major influence on the way the MEK Iran interpreted Islam. This interpretation was a result of a lengthy discourse on history, religion and revolutionary theoretical ideas.
Rajavi was arrested, together with other members of MEK’s Central Committee, by the Shah’s infamous secret police, Savak, and sentenced to death in 1971.
Rajavi’s sentence was reduced to a life sentence following a campaign by his brother, Kazen Rajavi, who worked with officials from the French Government. He was finally released on 21st January 1979 during the events of the Iranian revolution which saw the Shah removed from power. He had spent 7 years in prison by that stage.
At various stages in the journey that has become the MEK Iran / PMOI’s history, he has led it with integrity, courage, and steadfast belief in the ideals of that small group of young, freedom-loving university students and intellectuals, who formed the only Muslim revolutionary movement in Iranian history, committed to guiding the nation to a free, democratic, and progressive future.
Kazem Rajavi, Massoud Rajavi’s brother who was killed by Iranian regime’s terrorists in Geneva
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) was formed on June 29th, 1981 by Massoud Rajavi, a year after Ayatollah Khomenei, Iran’s Supreme Ruler after the overthrow of the Shah, denied Rajavi’s candidacy for president in the country’s first presidential election. The NCRI was established as the main democratic opposition and alternative to the Iranian regime. The NCRI is composed of more than one political current. It remains Iran’s longest-running coalition in Iranian political history.
Rajavi left Iran with the help of Iranian military sympathizers after the danger of executions and imprisonment dramatically increased.
During the Iran-Iraq war, Rajavi orchestrated a peace campaign that was followed with much support by the Iranian people.
Since the inception of the NCRI, Massoud Rajavi has spent his life nurturing the organization and helping efforts to get rid of the corrupt Iranian regime of the mullahs. The NCRI received support on July 8th1992 when 219 members of the U.S. Congress signed a declaration of support for the organization.
Massoud’s wife, Maryam Rajavi, was elected to become the president-elect of the NCRI in August 1993 and remains in that position today.