Leader of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization terrorists Maryam Rajavi has reportedly ordered the execution of MKO members who try to leave the cult.
A number of former MKO members who managed to escape made the revelation, Fars News Agency reported on Monday.
The MKO has barred its members from visiting their families for more than two years and tries to prevent its members from fleeing the horrendous conditions in any possible way, the report continued.
Founded in the 1960s, the outlawed MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime and set up Camp Ashraf, about 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) west of the Iranian border.
Testimonies made by former MKO members reveal an immense pressure on many residents of Camp Ashraf who want to escape but are afraid and unsure of the future. They say scores of members have recently been killed by the organization and that MKO guards open fire on defectors before they can exit the camp.
The MKO is notorious for carrying out numerous acts of terror against Iranian civilians and officials, and collaborating with Saddam in the bloody repression of the 1991 Shia Muslims in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the country’s north.
Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government.
In April, Iranian Justice Minister Morteza Bakhtiari said 12,000 Iranians have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror. He also condemned the US and Europe for their continued support for the terrorist group, referring to the EU decision to remove the group from its list of terrorist organizations in 2009.
While the MKO is designated as a terrorist organization under United States law, and has been described by State Department officials as a repressive cult, The New York Times recently reported that Washington is mulling over removing the MKO from its terrorist watch list and giving refuge to its members.