Uniting for Freedom, Democracy & Equality​

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
1988 Massacre
Activities
Activities Outside Iran
Annual Grand Gathering
Articles
Coronavirus
Death Commissions
Economic
Free Iran 2020 Global Summit
Free Iran 2021
Free Iran 2022
Free Iran 2023
Free Iran 2024
Free Iran World Summit
Free Iran World Summit 2023
Grand Gathering 2016
Grand Gathering 2017
Grand Gathering 2017- Videos
Grand Gathering 2018
Grand Gathering 2018- Videos
Grand Gathering 2019
Grand Gathering 2020
Human Rights
International Supports
Iran Protests
Iran Revolution
Iranian Assemblies
Iranian Resistance
Maryam Rajavi
Media Gallery
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
News
Opinion
Partial list of speakers & dignitaries at the 2018 Free Iran Gathering
People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/MEK)
Quotes
Reports
Resistance Activities Inside Iran
Socio - Economic Crisis
The Free Iran World Summit 2019
The Free Iran World Summit 2021
Videos
Women

The MEK Shows Their Resilience in the Fight Across the Decades

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) recently published an essay written by a veteran member of the MEK, Mehdi Abrishamchi, who was previously a political prisoner under the dictatorship of the Shah.
Two Regimes(Monarchy and Mullahs) Failed to Destroy Iran’s Main Opposition Movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/MEK)

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) recently published an essay written by a veteran member of the MEK, Mehdi Abrishamchi, who was previously a political prisoner under the dictatorship of the Shah.

The MEK was founded in 1965 by three progressive Muslim intellectuals and university graduates Mohammad Hanifnejad (often referred to as Hanif), Saeid Mohsen, and Ali-Asghar Badizadegan. Not only have the MEK fought against the tyranny of the Shah’s dictatorship, but to this day, they are continuing to fight against the oppression that the current Iranian regime are inflicting on Iran.

Founders of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/MEK)
Founders of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/MEK)

Abrishamchi said, “The MEK is the only multi-generational organization in the Iranian society that has survived and expanded starting with the baby boomers to Millennials. Throughout the last five decades, the MEK has attracted the best and brightest talent of the Iranian society, not just in numbers but also in terms of representation from Iran’s rich ethnic and demographic diversity.”

The MEK has strived to fully implement gender equality in the organization, both in theory and practice, even while facing huge sacrifices along their journey. They are proud that their members are free of gender biases that ‘plague many cultures and societies’ and work well together.

Abrishamchi said, “The MEK is the only organization in the world that has intimate knowledge regarding the threat of Islamic extremism or Islamic fundamentalism. We also have a concrete plan and expertise to defuse and defeat this global threat in its entirety.”

The Iranian Resistance’s leader, Massoud Rajavi joined the MEK in 1967, working directly with the founders of the organization. President-elect of the parliament-in-exile National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi, who joined the MEK in 1973, said that the “MEK is a movement that adheres to democratic Islam and is the vanguard of struggle against religious tyranny and extremism. [Massoud Rajavi] has paid a heavy price to educate the generations that serve at the forefront of this struggle for freedom.”

Massoud Rajavi
Massoud Rajavi

Initially, the mullahs declared that the MEK was non-existent, however as the Iranian public became aware of more information as technology improved, the mullahs went on to portray the MEK as a non-influential exiled group with no connection to the rest of the Iranian society. In the late 90s, the regime tried to completely erase the MEK’s name from the memory of Iranians, by forbidding any mention of them in government publications and state-run media.

Abrishamchi said, “It is for this reason that perhaps a generation of Iranians born after 1988 had not even heard the name of the Mojahedin or MEK until more recently. In some cases, those who heard about us knew us as a distant enemy of the mullahs’ regime that doesn’t exist anymore.”

Thanks to the underground network in Iran, and their hard work fighting against the regime’s censorship, men and woman across Iran began to connect with the MEK, with many choosing to join the fight at the MEK’s bases near the Iran-Iraq border.

Abrishamchi said, “I share such examples to contextualize the environment that our movement has operated in since the 1979 revolution. Although the Shah’s regime used similar tactics against us, the depth and breadth of mullahs’ regime is vastly greater, which shows the extent to which they view the MEK as an existential threat that requires extensive resources to counter.”

Recent Posts