In early August, Iran’s most important pro-democracy opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), celebrated its 55th anniversary.

Iran’s theocratic and decidedly unsavory regime has been hoping that a policy of ruthless repression and outright lies about the Iranian opposition, especially the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) will somehow pay off.

By Jennifer Jones-Kelley

The third and final portion of the MEK’s 55th Anniversary Celebration consisted of speeches from members of the Iranian diaspora.

By Jennifer Jones-Kelley

The anniversary celebration on Saturday continued in the afternoon as Mrs. Rajavi gave the second half of her speech. Her remarks were followed by speeches from representatives of Iranian communities around the world.

By Jennifer Jones-Kelley

On Saturday, September 5, the MEK held an online event celebrating the 55th anniversary of its founding at Ashraf 3, its headquarters in Albania. The event was live-streamed around the world and included speeches from MEK Secretary General Zahra Merrikhi, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) President-elect Maryam Rajavi, and representatives of over 300 Iranian groups from all over the world.

Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK celebrates 55th founding anniversary#Iran#MEKhttps://t.co/J3tuWo4NEm

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 5, 2020

The prevailing theme of the day was the MEK’s continued determination to end the clerical dictatorship and bring democracy to Iran. Speakers paid homage to the founders and leaders of the MEK and vowed to carry on their work.

The following are highlights from the day’s speakers:

Badri Pourtabakh

MEK Deputy Secretary-General

“Our deepest respect and homage to the founders of this organization. They paved a new way in the history of our nation. The way of struggling against dictatorship and fundamentalism. Their names will forever shine in our history.”

“Our organization proved that the fundamentalists ruling Iran do not represent our nation and people. The PMOI/MEK is the continuation of 120 years of struggle for freedom in Iran. The MEK has stayed true to the tradition of the struggle for freedom and protected its legacy.”

“With the Resistance Units and ongoing uprisings in Iran, we will surely fulfill the dream of the Iranian people to achieve freedom and democracy.”

Zahra Merrikhi

MEK Secretary-General

“Despite the spread of the coronavirus, we are seeing each other virtually. But we cannot see another part of this gathering, namely our rebellious friends inside Iran, especially the enchained and imprisoned dissidents, and particularly, MEK members and sympathizers, as well as the brave Resistance Units who are resisting in the prisons regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.”

“The reality is that since 1971, the MEK, under repeated onslaughts by the Shah and the mullahs’ regime, has been on the verge of being totally destroyed many times. But, it has risen from its ashes time and again.”

“Khomeini’s ideology and the velayat-e faqih (absolute rule) have no other role than to enslave the people.

“Look at the questions Khomeini’s ‘Death Commissions’ asked prisoners in 1988. Amnesty International published them.

‘Are you willing to condemn the MEK and its leadership?

‘Are you willing to spy on your former comrades and collaborate with intelligence agents?

‘Are you willing to become a member of the firing squads?

‘Are you willing to hang a MEK member?’”

“The MEK’s response to these conditions has always been ever further sacrificing, honesty and selflessness and saying yes to the resistance for the overthrow of the regime.”

“Our rebellious friends and Ashrafis, those who have come a long way in the company of the MEK and sacrificed their lives and everything they had, understand these words with flesh and bone. From providing the expenses of this movement to moving past crises, storms blow, and conspiracies, Iranian communities across the world upheld the dignity and name of Iran and Iranians in different countries through their support, their protests, strikes, and demonstrations. They awakened the conscience of humanity. They were the friends of the difficult days of siege, attacks, and missiles. They took part in the movement that seeks justice for the martyrs by knocking on closed doors and opening the locks.”

“Owing to the sacrifices [of the MEK’s martyrs], today, the MEK is stronger, more solidified, and more cohesive than ever before. It has become the beacon of hope for the Iranian people to overthrow the mullahs’ regime and establish freedom in our fettered nation.

“It is not without reason that the regime’s leaders constantly warn of the expansion of popular support for the MEK and the role played by the MEK’s Resistance Units in organizing the uprising and the anti-government protests. The mullahs know better than anyone else that they have been defeated in every aspect of the face-off against the MEK, and that the day is not far until the Iranian people will rise up and topple them. Indeed, the Iranian people and the Resistance, led by the MEK, will overthrow the regime and nothing can prevent that from coming into fruition.”

Maryam Rajavi

NCRI President-elect

“The Shah, relying on his ruthless secret police, backed by world powers and superpowers, and clinging to his dream of a ‘great civilization,’ was finally toppled as a result of the Iranian people’s uprising.”

Today, we learned that the regime has changed their place of detention. This is what we say, and what our people and the world public say: Do not execute! Free them! #StopExecutionsInIran pic.twitter.com/xvs4OOwJpm

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) September 5, 2020

“By the same token, the mullahs will be overthrown by the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance, the great army of freedom, even though they rely on their Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and despite their inhuman suppression and massacres while clinging to their dream of establishing an “Islamic caliphate.”

“What has stood fast, firm and proud, and will continue to do so, is the Iranian people’s Resistance for freedom, with the MEK at its epicenter.”

“We honor the great founders of the MEK, Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen, and Asghar Badizadegan who took the initiative for this historic breakthrough.”

“How inspiring it is that the Iranian Resistance’s Leader, Massoud Rajavi, revived and revitalized this organization despite the crushing blows of two dictatorships, leading it to the pinnacle of its struggle against the reactionary mullahs.”

When there is not a qualified leadership organization, there could be no fundamental change or development. As in the time of the Constitutional Revolution, people rose up and compelled the authoritarian monarch to accept the constitution, but there was no guarantee. #Iran pic.twitter.com/VqmBVLl5k8

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) September 5, 2020

“Even today, we see that the clerical regime is admitting it in a thousand different ways that its main problem is the structure of the PMOI/MEK. So, it must be obliterated and beheaded to guarantee the regime’s survival. This is the common goal pursued by all the regime’s mercenaries.”

“The uprisings in Iran since December 2017 up until now clearly demonstrate that the protests are the scene of public support for the views and policies of the PMOI/MEK, especially among the younger generation. They are also the venue for the PMOI/MEK to make progress and the place for increasing activities by Resistance Units.”

The public health crisis caused by the spread of coronavirus in Iran, where over 75,000 victims had been counted by early July, has not stopped the Iranian authorities from continuing their campaign to suppress and demonize the opposition.

Despite the regime’s efforts to minimize the number of people killed by security forces during the November Uprising, MEK Iran sources have successfully tracked deaths, injuries, and arrests of civilians and shared them with international media. The widespread publication of the regime’s brutality has led to outrage and hand wringing from some regime officials, who would prefer to hide the mullahs’ crimes and delegitimize the MEK in Iran and abroad.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani in an interview with the Hill TV described the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI / MEK Iran) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) as a vehicle for democracy in Iran that has proved capable of a functioning government-in-exile.

Rudy Giuliani who recently attended a 5-day conference in Ashraf 3, the main residence of the MEK in Tirana, was asked a question in the interview. If the Iranian regime were to fall and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian opposition, was to govern, would she be able to govern during a transition period and prevent chaos? He replied:

“Well, what they do, what they—these are the questions, of course, we ask them all the time, and I’ve seen evidence that they have a functioning government-in-exile. They evaluate the problems in Iran every day. They are enormously active in communicating within Iran. They remind me of the Voice of America in one aspect during the Cold War, which used to broadcast into the Soviet-dominated countries every single day. They broadcast; they try to 24 hours a day. And they have ministers, shadow ministers for each one of the agencies of the government. And they have a plan for transition. And the plan for transition would say they’d put up an interim government immediately and they would attempt to get to a full election within six months so that there’s—so it isn’t an imposed government, it’s a democracy. And her proposition is that she doesn’t want to dominate, she wants to be elected or not elected, or elected to something and they would share leadership with maybe 10, 12 other groups.”

 

Addressing the American public, Mayor Giuliani describes President-elect Maryam Rajavi as a “true disciple of peace and democracy” and said:

“What they should know is that this is a true disciple of peace, democracy. Her whole life has been spent trying to obtain democracy for her country, first against the Shah who killed I think her sister. And then against the Ayatollah who killed another relative. I think another sister. Her family has been the victim of both the Shah’s oppression and murder and been the victim of the even more increased murder under the Ayatollah. And people should know that this is a regime that has more blood on its hands than any regime in the world, and that it is the biggest supporter of terrorism in the world.”

Mayor Giuliani called on European governments to stop the policy of appeasement and reiterated what he also mentioned during his speech at this year’s Free Iran gathering in Ashraf 3:

“Why do we want to negotiate or trust a regime that’s the biggest supporter of terrorism in the world? And I made that challenge to the European governments. Hasn’t Iran proven to us that they are too irresponsible, that they are too murderous to have nuclear weapons in their hands? It would be too dangerous for the world. And I think the European governments have to develop the kind of courage that President Trump has.”

Outlining his view of this year’s gathering, he added:

“So the conference was about basically how can we replace the regime of Iran with a democratic government, which the MEK has been attempting to do for 20 years. I have about 11 years of involvement with them. But they have a tremendous amount of support in the United States, bipartisan, about 200 members of Congress, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. I was there with former Senator Lieberman, Democrat, former Senator Torricelli, who’s actually one of their principal people. He’s been involved with them longer than I have. And what they are is basically the National Council of Resistance in Iran is headed by Madame Rajavi. She’s the president-elect. And it’s made up of a group of organizations including the MEK that are resistance groups, like the French Resistance, against the Ayatollah. They’ve been active since the revolution. A hundred and twenty thousand of their people have been killed but they still are going strong.”

Rejecting speculations about the MEK’s popularity in Iran and the disinformation Iranian regime lobbyists try to spread in this regard, he vowed:

“Both the ayatollah and Rouhani have announced within the last year that they are the biggest threat to the regime. In the years past, it was always doubted that was created about how strong are they in Iran? How much support do they have? I think that all has been put to rest now with basically Rouhani’s statement and the Ayatollah[Khamenei]’s saying that the MEK, and sometimes they’ll call PMOI, is our most dangerous threat, the only one capable of putting a government together, and therefore we’ve got to wipe them out, which is what they do.”

“If they find that you’re a member of this organization, or suspect that you’re a member of this organization, by and large, you don’t get a trial. You’re either imprisoned or you’re shot depending on the circumstances. And so 120,000 since the beginning of the revolution. Probably another thousand in the last couple of years. And they have a government-in-exile. They have tremendous support. They have tremendous support in what’s called the Iranian diaspora. And they have a charter, 10 points, which largely looks like our Bill of Rights. Significant thing is, they’re headed by a woman. This is, this is the Middle East. This is right next to the Arab world. Not only are they headed by a woman, but roughly half their leadership are also women”, Mr. Giuliani added.

.@RudyGiuliani: Iran's democratic opposition the MEK has grown & grown. I feel an optimism in this room that I haven’t felt in previous meetings. If you wanted to build this city in NYC it would take 15 yrs. You've done it in a year#IStandWithMaryamRajavi #FreeIran #WeSupportMEK pic.twitter.com/aAZe5kMJcP

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 13, 2019

Regarding the prospect of regime change in Iran and the role of the Iranian opposition, Mayor Giuliani relied on his insight into the matter and reply to the question, “does she [Maryam Rajavi] have a chance to lead Iran into a democratic state?” said:

“She does. I mean, she does have a chance. I mean, I don’t think people realize how much turmoil there is inside of Iran. Since January of 2018, I think I have my facts correct here, there have been over 250 major protests all throughout the country, not just in Tehran. And now they have spread into the economic sectors. So there have been taxi drivers that have gone out on strike and protest. There are teachers, all the teachers of the country went on strike. There are farmers, professors have joined the political activists. And you can see it. Videos that I saw when I was in Albania because they have probably the MEK people, the PMOI [MEK] people have the best window into Iran”.

As a respected lawyer and an expert in the field, Mr. Giuliani also addressed the 1988 massacre of MEK political prisoners in Iran and said, “Back in 1988, within a two-month period, the regime killed 30,000 members of MEK. Thirty-thousand people! We are talking about a crime against humanity. Crimes for which they should be prosecuted in the World Court.”

Hashem Khastar, a representative of the freedom-loving teachers in Iran published an article providing an honest account of the role smaller ‘fake’ opposition movements have in furthering the Iranian regime’s agenda in Iran. The article, titled ‘Little Democrats’ shared in Telegram Messaging platform, talks about the current status and support that is rightly given to the Iranian opposition groups MEK in Iran.

His article sheds light on the dubious tactics of the Iranian regime in their attempts to draw support away from the MEK towards the monarchist camps. Mr. Khastar described this situation as “disorganized and sporadic” at best. In support of Reza Pahlavi, moles sent into the fold have encouraged the use of vulgar language against the regime and MEK catching MEK needlessly in the crosshairs and drumming up general confusion around the MEK’s political position. He also expressed concerns that these subversives are spending time in prison so that they not only become popular but also to gain credibility among the Iranian people who are desperate for change and are looking for leaders to help topple the Iranian regime as it currently stands. Khastar comments; “Others, unknowingly, may even find themselves in the ranks of security forces, and instead of focusing their attention on the regime, they place all their will against the PMOI/MEK.

Hashem Khastar, representative of freedom loving teachers in Iran
“Everyone knows PMOI/MEK is the regime’s main enemy”#FreeIran
https://t.co/ZbO3nMhr1T

— Monika (@ofogheazadi) August 15, 2019

He writes:

“Everyone knows the PMOI/MEK is the regime’s main enemy because it enjoys a firm organizational structure. According to the regime’s own rulers, they have been involved in all the protests and uprisings. On the other hand, monarchists are very sporadic in their efforts and lack any organization. Therefore, the regime is attempting to push freedom fighters towards the monarchists’ camp. The regime has also sent many of its moles into their files to support Reza Pahlavi while using vulgar language towards the regime and the PMOI/MEK. Meaning they place the PMOI/MEK in their crosshairs.”

Mr. Khastar continues to say that the intent of writing this article was not to show support or opposition to any specific organization but rather to become a truthful voice to those who wish to throw their support behind a legitimate democratic opposition to the oppressive Iranian regime.

“I intend to voice the truth for everyone to know in which camp they are fighting and if they are true democrats or little democrats. Furthermore, a freedom fighter can be useful in the transition period to democracy, and the period afterward. We all know that following the 1979 revolution, Iranian minorities, such as the Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, Baluchis and… all had movements seeking to fulfill their rights yet were oppressed through extreme crackdown measures. Those demands are very much alive today and have spread throughout the country. After the Islamic republic is toppled, in a free and democratic state in the future, these minorities must definitely have their rights fulfilled under Iran’s geographic framework. In this path, there may be tensions following the overthrow of the Islamic republic. Only true democrats will be able to help resolve this issue, while little democrats will have no place. Little democrats always talk about the opposition to maybe establish fake opposition movements, with strings attached to the security forces.”

Staff writer

Recently, contrary to decades of silence, inevitably, the Iranian regime is admitting the growing popularity and influence of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK / PMOI), particularly amongst the youth.

“Due to deep negligence of officials in culture and cyberspace field, MEK has penetrated deeply into our homes and their impact is being felt; this is one in a hundred problems we face in disorderly cyberspace in Iran.” Kayhan, known as the mouthpiece of the regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, expressed fear of MEK’s popularity among the youth and added, “MEK easily parade in cyberspace and can promote their thoughts and influence the minds of our youth and teenagers… Just 1,500 of their units are promoting MEK’s ideas to the public round the clock.”

#IRGC Commander: Second is the danger of #MEK infiltration inside the regime, which is the main obstacle in confronting them.”
Read more here:https://t.co/EC7i7g9XNr #FreeIran #WeSupportMEK @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/C7Sm71qQJu

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) August 14, 2019

Kayhan projected the Iranian regime’s fraudulent activities on social media, that has led to the closure of thousands of its fake accounts, and whose focus was on emanating disinformation on the MEK, on the MEK itself and accused it of using fake accounts as it usually does to deflect attention to its malign activities. It also complained that the “Telegram” messenger app and other social media platforms are “magnifying” MEK’s messages. It wrote, “MEK’s influence is greater than the state-run media… Support by messaging platforms and social media for the context of MEK’s messages have made this situation even worse… social media and the messaging platforms magnify MEK’s activities.”

The paper implicitly called for repressive and filtering measures to impose new limitations on Iranians free access to the Internet and wrote, “If we had the technology and boosted our domestic messaging apps, we wouldn’t need to depend on our enemies so that the well-known terrorists can contact our children.”

The Iranian regime has relied on censorship and Internet filtering to counter the MEK’s popularity, particularly among the youth.

The unrestricted use of the Internet and social media has become a serious challenge to the mullahs’ regime. The availability of encrypted messaging applications has given the Iranian people the ability to bypass regime filtering to share news and information.

As the Iranian people lack any faith in state-run media, they increasingly turn to the Internet and social media networks for information. Over the past year, the MEK has successfully leveraged social media to organize protests and spotlight the regime’s corruption, among other measures. This has helped foster the growth of the protest movement within Iran and has caused panic among the mullahs, who fear widespread rebellion and the ultimate overthrow of the regime.