The Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) has renewed its efforts to position itself as a credible opposition movement to the Islamic Republic. The recent outcome of the group’s lobbying activities has been a resolution submitted by 160 congressmen. However, a comprehensive new report from the Congressional Research Service critically assesses these ongoing efforts, underscoring significant concerns regarding the MEK’s extremist ideological origins, historical involvement in terrorism, documented human rights abuses, and notably weak popular support among Iranians both domestically and within the diaspora.
These serious issues about the MEK’s background indicate that endorsing the group not only contradicts democratic values but also undermines the genuine democratic efforts of the Iranians.
The Key Point
A new report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) details the MEK’s tricky history and its current lobbying efforts in the US, including:
The organization was founded on extremist ideologies combining Marxism with radical Islamism.
It has a documented history of violence and terrorism, including assassinations of American personnel in the 1970s. Historically, the MEK actively supported Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power and endorsed the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.
The organization functions under a highly coercive, cult-like structure that enforces strict obedience to leader Massoud Rajavi through physical, psychological, and financial coercion.
The cult-like totalitarian structure enables extensive lobbying campaigns aimed at deceitfully legitimizing the group as a viable alternative to the Iranian government, despite minimal popular support among Iranians domestically and abroad.
U.S. officials who support the MEK claim their goal is to promote democracy and foster the emergence of a new, representative government in Iran. Yet aligning with the MEK directly undermines this objective. The group has cultivated a strongly negative perception among Iranians, who view the MEK as terrorists and traitors who sided with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.
The Cult of Rajavi Lobbying in the West
The MEK operates with a strict, hierarchical, cult-like organizational structure led by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, imposed through highly coercive measures.
Members are reportedly subjected to forced family separations, including mandatory celibacy. The organization is also particularly cruel to females, conducting hysterectomies on them and repeatedly subjecting them to be raped and sexually abused by the leader, Massoud Rajavi.
Numerous credible reports detail systematic physical and psychological abuses, including allegations of torture and coercive control mechanisms. Dozens of members have been killed due to the mechanisms.
The MEK’s lobbying campaign is aimed at legitimizing the group’s leadership and securing political support, particularly in the U.S. and Europe.
These efforts have allowed the MEK to introduce and garner support for some pieces of legislation. The group pays exorbitant speaking fees to lawmakers to speak at their headquarters in Albania and their rallies in Paris, Berlin and Washington.
For example, speaker fees include over $400,000 paid to former Vice President Mike Pence and $180,000 or more to former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
And most recently, The MEK’s lobbying efforts also led to the introduction of H.Res 166, a deceiving resolution that claims to express “support for the Iranian people’s desires for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran,” but actually endorses Maryam Rajavi and her cult-like terrorist group.
Maryam Rajavi has deliberately misled lawmakers by asserting that the MEK would lead a transitional government in Iran, ostensibly restoring power to the people within six months. However, under her plan, this so-called transitional government would oversee the formation of a Constituent Assembly. While the MEK would technically be dissolved, it would still maintain control through the assembly, ensuring its continued grip on power.
Allying with the MEK hurts the interests of both Iranians and Americans
Engaging with the MEK poses serious risks to U.S. diplomatic credibility. The ideological foundations of the MEK, and its totalitarian system is essentially incompatible with the principles of democracy, human rights, and capitalism.
Ongoing documented human rights abuses and internal authoritarian practices severely undermine their claim of representing democratic aspirations.
The U.S. Department of State has explicitly indicated in recent assessments that the MEK does not constitute a credible democratic opposition force representing the Iranian people.
The MEK relies on front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities, as well as American and European citizens. This practice has gotten the MEK in trouble in the past, such as when the FBI arrested seven MEK supporters for raising over $1 million for a sham charity at LAX.
Due to their ideology, harsh treatment of their members, terrorist activities against Iranian civilians and siding with Saddam Hussein against Iran, the MEK has little to no popular support within Iran and among the Iranian diaspora.
U.S. policy on Iran should not harm the interests of either the United States or the Iranian people. In particular, Washington should respect Iran’s territorial integrity and national unity and should refrain from engaging with armed groups or formerly terrorist designated organizations. Members of Congress should clearly distance themselves from the MEK, learn about its affiliates and avoid legitimizing them or engaging with them.
Mazda Parsi