Military Periscope :: Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)

Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)

Group Name:

Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK); the National Liberation Army (NLA, the militant wing of the MEK); People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran; National Council of Resistance; or the Muslim Iranian Society (front used for financial support).

Location/Area of Operation:

The group is based in Iraq and conducts operations against Iran. The main MEK headquarters is located in Paris with concentrations of members across Europe. Within Iraq, MEK has operated out of camps near the Iranian border since 1986. Such facilities include:

Camp Ashraf, the MEK military headquarters and largest concentration of MEK members in Iraq, about 60 miles west of the Iranian border and 60 miles north of Baghdad near Khalis;
Camp Anzali near Jalawla, 70-80 miles northeast of Baghdad and about 30 miles from the border with Iran;
Camp Faezeh in Kut;
Camp Habib in Basra;
Camp Homayoun in Al-Amarah; and
Camp Bonyad Alavi, near the city of Miqdadiyah in Mansourieh about 65 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Stated Purpose:

MEK seeks to violently overthrow the Iranian regime and establish a democratic, socialist and secular state in Iran.

Strength:

The MEK is estimated to have several thousand fighters, most of whom are organized into the National Liberation Army (NLA). About 3,400 MEK members are confined to Camp Ashraf. They are under the U.S.-led coalition's control, with "protected person" status under the Geneva Convention. MEK has an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 worldwide members. Since 2003, a significant number of MEK personnel have voluntarily left Ashraf and an additional several hundred individuals have renounced ties to the MEK and been voluntarily repatriated to Iran.

External Aid and Links:

Before the U.S.-led coalition war against Iraq, Baghdad was the MEK's primary supporter. Evidence gathered after Operation Iraqi Freedom indicated that MEK received millions of dollars in subsidies from the U.N.'s Oil-For-Food Program from 1999 through 2003. After Saddam Huessein's fall from power, the group began to use overseas fronts to solicit contributions from Iranian expatriate communities. The U.S. reportedly has supported the group in an effort to destabilize the Iranian regime. Washington has denied such links. More recently, the U.S. seems to have distanced itself from the MEK to avoid worsening relations with Iran.

Activities:

The MEK group uses terrorist tactics to destabilize the Islamic Republic. During the 1970s, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and murdered U.S. citizens working in Tehran. The MEK has also attacked Iranian embassies in over a dozen countries.

The group has assassinated several Iranian government officials. In 1981, the MEK detonated a bomb in the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party, killing the president, prime minister and chief justice of Iran.

In the 1990s, the group worked with the Iraqi government to suppress the Kurdish and Shi'ite uprising following the Gulf War. The MEK continued to perform security operations for the Iraqi government until the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The MEK has frequently skirmished with Iranian police and military forces near the Iraqi border.

U.S. forces briefly allowed MEK fighters to keep their weapons during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Pentagon said it adopted this measure to avoid a fight with the MEK during this period.

Western media accounts have suggested that the U.S. has worked with the MEK to destabilize Tehran, a claim that Washington denies.

The political arm of the MEK has also been active in disclosing information about Iran's secretive nuclear development program.

Overview:

University-educated children of the merchant class founded the MEK in the 1960s as an armed resistance group against Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The group expressed opposition to what it saw as excessive Western influences on Iran. The MEK was involved in the uprising that removed the shah from power. However, due to its radical ideology, the group was not involved in the post-revolution political structure set up by the ayatollahs.

The MEK subsequently turned on the clerics and has continued to fight against the revolutionary regime. Iranian security forced the MEK leadership to flee to France. By 1987, most had resettled in Iraq, where they continued to wage their campaign against the Islamic Republic.

Maryam Rajavi is MEK’s principal leader; her husband, Massoud Rajavi, heads up the MEK's military forces. Maryam Rajavi relocated with the group to Paris in 1981. While there she was elected its joint leader and later became deputy commander-in-chief of its armed wing. Massoud Rajavi was last known to be living in Iraq, but authorities aren’t certain of his whereabouts or whether he is alive.

The NLA, the MEK's military wing, was estimated to have some 250 tanks, as well as number of armored personnel vehicles, artillery and helicopters. Some estimates indicate that the NLA had enough materiel to equip a division. However, as a condition of the cease-fire agreement with the U.S., the group relinquished its weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles and heavy artillery.

The MEK has also demonstrated cult-like characteristics. Upon entry into the group, new members are indoctrinated in MEK ideology and revisionist Iranian history, are required to undertake a vow of "eternal divorce" and participate in weekly "ideological cleansings." Additionally, children are reportedly separated from parents at a young age. MEK leader Maryam Rajavi is viewed by members as the "Iranian president in exile."

Group Chronology:

1960s

University students set up the MEK to fight excessive Western influences in Iran.

1971

The MEK killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians working in Iran.

1981

The MEK detonated bombs in the offices of the Islamic Republic Party and the prime minister, killing about 70 high-ranking officials.

1980s

The Iranian government expelled the MEK leadership and many moved to France. By 1987, most of the group's leaders had resettled in Iraq.

1982

Feb. 8: Mousa Khiabani and Ashraf Rajavi and 20 other members were killed in a shootout with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran.

1986

The MEK moved its headquarters to Iraq.

1991

The MEK assisted the Iraqi government in suppressing Shi'ite and Kurdish uprisings.

1992

The MEK attacked 13 Iranian embassies in different countries.

1999

April 11: MEK claimed responsibility for the assassination of Iranian Gen. Ali Sayid Shirazi in Tehran.

June 9: A truck exploded next to a bus carrying MEK members in Baghdad. The explosion killed seven and wounded 23.

2000

Feb. 5: The MEK launched a mortar attack against the presidential palace in Tehran, killing one and injuring five.

2003

The MEK negotiated a cease-fire agreement negotiated with coalition forces. As a condition of this agreement, the MEK relinquished control of more than 2,000 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy artillery.

June 3: Australian federal police raided the homes of several MEK suspects in Melbourne. The police were investigating possible financial links with the MEK in Iraq.

June 17: French police arrested almost 200 MEK members, including MEK leader Maryam Rajavi. Most were released shortly thereafter, including Rajavi, who is now in hiding.

2005

November: Iran admitted the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog to its Parchin military base for a second time to check for signs of radioactivity. Weeks earlier, the political arm of the MEK held a press conference in Washington and presented photographs and diagrams of tunnels and underground installations at Parchin. Those facilities, said the group, are intended to conceal nuclear activities.

2006

July: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki accused the MEK of becoming too involved in Iraqi affairs and threatened to expel the group.

2007

March: The Iraqi government pressed charges against 100 MEK members for alleged human-rights violations. Some analysts viewed the changes as part of a stepped-up effort to evict the group.

2008

June: Britain removed the MEK from its list of terrorist organizations.

October: The E.U. removed the MEK from its list of terrorist organizations. It remains on the U.S. list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

Last Updated:

November 2008