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MEK is a Islamic-Marxist terrorist organization established in 1965. In early 70s they assassinated at least at least six American citizens who were employees of Rockwell and other defense contractors in Iran .
In 1960s and 70s they were spying for the Former Soviet Union against Iran as well as committing acts of sabotage and assassinations. In 1979 collaborated with Ayatollah Khomeini to overthrow the former Shah of Iran. They supported the US Embassy take over and taking of the American diplomats hostage. Soon after the revolution they lost the power struggle and were purged by Ayatollah Khomeini in the early 1980s . MEK then sided with Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war by 1985.In 1988 they launched a foolish attack on the Iranians borders that was swiftly defeated by the Mullahs. As a result of this foolishness, many MEK personnel and Iranian conscript soldiers were killed. This gave the murderous IRI regime to execute more than 30,000 Iranian political prisoners in matter of weeks in the summer of 1988. They were mostly leftist political prisoners.
In 1991 after the first Persian Gulf War, MEK fighters were on the front lines of Saddam ' s brutal counterinsurgency campaigns in the Shiite south and Kurdish north. "Up until the fall of the Saddam's regime, they were heavily involved in suppressing the Kurdish uprising of 1991. Page. 321 of the SSIC report on pre-war Iraq intelligence makes crystal clear, the Iraqi regime provided bases, training, protection, and funding to MEK and in return the group helped Saddam with his "internal security." In addition to occasional acts of sabotage, the Mojahedin are responsible for violent attacks in Iran that victimize civilians.
The Supreme leader of the MEK, Massoud Rajavi escaped from Iran disguised as a woman; leaving his wife behind. His first wife along with her brother was shortly killed by the IRI regime in a gun fight. Shortly thereafter Rajavi married the daughter of Banisadr (The first IRI president) who had escaped from Iran in the same manner with Rajavi.Rajavi later on seduced his comrade's ( Mehdi Abrishamchi) wife Maryam , divorced his second wife and married Maryam Rajavi who is the MEK selected President for Iran. This they called a revolution, what kind? Probably a bedroom one! MEK at the same time being a cult that is; pressures its members to divorce their spouses and families! When Maryam came to Europe in 1993 her husband had an affair with her second in command, Fahimeh Arvani back in Iraq .
In June 2005, Human Rights Watch published a report about mistreatment inside the Mojahedin-e Khalq, identifying torture and assassination as being used to stop disaffected members from leaving the organization.
The Us department of state report describes MEK's popularity among iranian in this manner: “ Since their leadership ' s expulsion from Iran , the Mojahedin have conducted a public relations campaign among Western press and public officials, seeking political support and financial backing. Exploiting Western opprobrium of the behaviour of the current government of Iran , the Mojahedin posit themselves as the alternative. To achieve that goal, they claim they have the support of a majority of Iranians. This claim is much disputed by academics and other specialists on Iran , who assert that in fact the Mojahedin-e Khalq have little support among Iranians. They argue that the Mojahedin ' s activities since the group ' s leadership fled from Iran in 1981-- particularly their alliance with Iraq and the group ' s internal oppression -- have discredited them among the Iranian polity. The clerical regime in Tehran , aware of the Mojahedin ' s unpopularity, attempts to discredit many of its opponents by falsely linking them to the MKO. The Mojahedin, for their part, often dismiss their critics as "agents of the regime”.
Aside from the above, MEK is also hated for previously burning the Iranian Sun and the Lion flags, and cult behavior including committing suicide by setting themes on fire. Several people died when in protest of Maryam's arrest in France, several cult members set themselves on fire where in contrast to the execution of the 30,000 political prisoners (many of whom were MEK members) they did nothing. “When Maryam Rajavi was arrested in Paris in June 2003, and her premises were searched, she was found to possess millions of dollars from Iraq and not surprisingly about a million Euros worth of clothes, shoes and make-up. Observers were shocked by the contrast between her personal wealth and the way she and her husband Massoud Rajavi treat the cult members who are not allowed personal possessions, sleep in communal dormitories sometimes 10 to a room and whose children are used to collect money in the streets. For years the Rajavis have been using these members as slaves, and have, in addition, been paid per head by Saddam to add to their personal wealth” reported by Iran Interlink.
Conclusion
Any kind of US support for the MEK as an organized Iranian opposition would be a complete and utter disaster for any kind of movement for democratic revolution inside Iran . It would give the mullahs a propaganda victory that they would relish for years to come and completely discredit any legitimate pro-democracy groups that accepted US support. As far as the Iranians are concerned MEK can take its terror (TRAITOR) organization, its ideology and shove it where the sun does not shine!
Khavaran Cemetery, a resting place for the joint victims of IRI & MEK
These pictures are from Khavaran Cemetery , where some of the "undesirables", the victims of mass executions in Iran , mostly from leftist political leanings are buried. This includes the victims of mass murders in Summer of 1988 . I recently came across another group of pictures f rom the same cemetery, showing families visiting the graves of their loved ones, where no markers or headstones are allowed and often only a single flower or a picture points to where the remains of their son, daughter, husband or mother was buried. The larger plots hide the mass graves, where even the dignity of a separate burial was denied the victims.
Their memories will live forever in the hearts of many Iranians.
Spring and summer of 1988 is a period of great significance for those interested in Iran ' s modern history. Three sequential and important events took place during this time, starting with a cease-fire after an 8 year war with Iraq .
Saddam Hussein had started a war with Iran in 1980, with full support of the West and with fantasies of an easy victory over a non-existent army battered by dismissals, executions and escape of most of its upper decision-makers following the Iranian revolution of 1979. His dream and the dream of his backers were quickly shattered when untrained and often unarmed grassroots resistance forces of largely ordinary Iranians stopped the invasion headed by his advanced and well-armed army. The first two years of the war is full of heroic and incredible stories of battles that eventually led to pushing the Iraqi army all the way behind the international borders .
However, Khomeini, Rafsanjani and others at the top, refused to stop the war at this point, despite several offers by Saddam and his supporting neighbors to pay restitution, accepting culpability for the war and advice of top military experts. They announced that the war shall continue until the fall of Saddam and thus pulled the country into an additional 6 years of unnecessary and disastrous war costing billions with over a million dead and injured. The war was now an ideological and religious campaign and not a nationalistic and defensive effort of Iranian people. Finally in 1988, Khomeini accepted that his pursuit of “regime change” was unrealistic and as he put it; he drank the “goblet of poison” by accepting the ceasefire.
This prompted the second event of that period. Mojahedin e Khalq Organization ( MEK or MKO ) who had spent the last few years under the protection of Saddam's regime, saw the end of the war as either their opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to the battered Iranian regime, or felt their existence may now be in jeopardy without the cover of the war. For whatever reason, they started a massive campaign by gathering their full force at the Iranian border and in a military strike that lasted several days, tried to advance towards Tehran . MKO's forces only managed to seize a small parcel of Iranian land and were severely beaten, suffering heavy casualties and major embarrassment for their foolish plan.
However, what came next was the event I have such a difficult time writing about. Whether the MKO offensive was the catalyst for a long overdue revenge, the fear of political prisoners still in custody becoming a resistance force in the future, or an excuse had been created to implement a previous plan, the regime decided to clean up its prisons after quashing the MKO offensive.
The number of political prisoners in Iranian prisons had exploded right after the MKO and other left organizations became targets of the regime in 1981. As the number of prisoners decreased, mostly due to nightly mass executions, regime found new enemies to supply a fresh crop all the time. Prisoners were tortured regularly and would at one point be granted a “trial” at which no lawyer defended them, prosecutor was also the judge and juries were never invited. Those who had proven connections to now outlawed groups were almost definitely sent to the firing squads. Others were given long sentences, usually between 10 to 30 years and often for no evidence but having a banned book, being related to “an infidel” or just being accused by a trusted friend of the system.
In the last two months of the summer of 1988, these “convicted” prisoners became the new targets again. A committee of three clergy was selected by a direct order of Khomeini to review all cases and decide once and for all as to the fate of each prisoner. There was no due process, no appeals and no defense council. All decisions would be final and carried out immediately.
The “judges” had three standard questions for each group or organization the prisoner was accused of helping. Basic questions like “are you Muslim?”, “do you practice your religious chores regularly?” and “do you accept the rule of the Supreme Leader?”. Answering negatively to any of the 3 questions asked would result in an automatic death sentence. Even positive answers caused a “judgment call” as to see if the clergy present believe the accused and even if they did what should the new sentence be.
There are no definitive numbers, but all evidence point to thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of executions within those two short months. The volume became so heavy, new executioners had to be recruited and then instructed to not use bullets, as the costs associated with buying ammunition through black market was too high. Places like the large prayer hall in dreaded Evin Prison were transformed into hanging galleries.
Mass executions were not new to this government, but two factors sets this particular set aside: 1) For the first time, the injustice evident to most opponents was clearly displayed to the world by executing prisoners already convicted and while serving their sentences where no new “crime” could have been committed and none presented a threat to the regime. 2) The executions went across all opinion and ideological barriers and included almost all groups present at the recent political landscape of Iran .
I lost many friends that summer. In fact of the group of about 30-something student activists functioning within my high school, I only know of 2 others who have survived past the summer of 1988.
Buried in unmarked spots and unknown mass graves, the victims of 1988 massacres won't be forgotten and will always serve as a reminder of how low we humans can sink and how hate and fundamentalist view of the world based on ideologies and religions can divide people and portray us as anything but similar creatures only separated by ideas, cultures and geography.
These are the unmarked graves of men and women who fought the Tyranny:
 
 
 
 
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