Iran's Travel

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran or the Mojahedin-e Khalq is an Iranian political–militant organization based on Islamic and Socialist ideology and advocates overthrowing the Iranian government and installing its own leadership. It was the first Iranian organization to develop systematically a modern revolutionary interpretation of Islam – an interpretation that deferred 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 government. The MEK is considered the Islamic Republic of Iran's largest and most active political opposition group.The European Union, Canada and the United States formerly listed the MEK as a terrorist organization, but this designation has since been lifted, first by the Council of the European Union in 26 January 2009, by the U.S. government on 21 September 2012, and lastly by the Canadian government on 20 December 2012. The MEK is currently designated as a terrorist organization by Iran and Iraq. In June 2004, the U.S. designated the members of the MEK as ‘protected persons’ under the 1949 Geneva Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Various scholarly works, media outlets, UNHCR, HRW and the governments of the United States and France have described it as a cult built around its leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. The MEK helped overthrow the Shah during the Iranian revolution, and subsequently pursued establishing democracy in Iran, gaining support particularly from Iran's middle class intelligentsia. This created conflicts with Ayatollah Khomeini, and by early 1981, authorities had banned the MEK driving the organization underground. After the fall of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the MEK refused to take part in constitution referendum of the new government, which led to Khomeini preventing Massoud Rajavi and other MEK members from running office in the new government. The MEK organized a peaceful demonstration against the Islamic Republic party . The protest led to arrests and executions of MEK members and sympathizers.MEK responded by targeting key Iranian official figures, with the bombing of the Islamic Republic Party and bombing of the Prime Minister's office, attacking low ranking civil servants and members of the Revolutionary Guards, along with ordinary citizens who supported the new government. According to infoplease.com, more than 16,000 Iranian people have been killed by the MEK since 1979. According to the MEK, over 100,000 of its members have been killed and 150,000 imprisoned by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps then raided MEK safe houses killing Massoud Rajavi's first wife , and Musa Khiabani .Later, the MEK took base in Iraq, fought against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war alongside the Saddam Hussein's army, and assisted Saddam's Republican Guard in suppressing the 1991 nationwide uprisings against Saddam. In 2002, the MEK blew whistle on Iran’s clandestine nuclear program, and in 2003, following the occupation of Iraq by U.S. and coalition forces, the MEK signed a ceasefire agreement with U.S. and put their arms down in Camp of Ashraf.
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