Social psychologist Alexandra Stein, Ph.D., specializes in cult phenomena and teaches courses at several universities in London. Her article, “Mothers in Cults: The Influence of Cults on the Relationship of Mothers to Their Children,” examines the impact of the cult experience on the mother-child bond. Dr. Stein notes that this bond is controlled in multiple ways:

mothers are often discouraged from having a special bond with the child;

mothers may spend very little or no time with their children because of the demands of the cult;

the child is physically taken from the parents; and

mothers’ behavior toward their children is carefully monitored.

Stein writes: “Doing ‘the right thing’ (for God, the Revolution, one’s personal growth, whatever) becomes synonymous with obeying the leader. To go against the leader’s directive is to go against God himself. The mother becomes psychologically trapped: she wants to be a good person, but the definition of goodness resides entirely in the cult’s domain.

In 1991 around one thousand children of Mujahed couples were separated from their parents and smuggled to Europe and North America under the order of Massoud Rajavi. More than 3 hundred of the smuggled children were later, at the ages of 14 to 19, sent back to Iraq to receive military trainings at the MEK camps.

Amir Yaghmai is one of these former child soldiers who managed to leave the MEK fighting the group leaders as well as his own leader.

He wrote and published his memoirs of being born in a Mujahed family, grown up at camp Ashraf until his 5 year-old age, smuggled to Sweden, recruited as a child soldier at the age of fourteen.

His mother is still in the MEK’s cult-like structure. She resides in the group’s headquarters in Albania. She denies that Amir is her son because as Dr. Stein expresses, she is psychologically trapped; She wants to be a good person by the definition of goodness that Massoud and Rajavi define for MEK members.

At his forties, Amir Yaghmai is a father of two girls but he is still impressed by the behaviors of his brainwashed mother trying to shed light on the nature of the MEK as a destructive terrorist cult. Here is a short memoir Amir has recently published on his X account sharing a photo of him and his mother:

1994. I am around 10 years old.

My mother is in Sweden – on behalf of the organization.

For a few days she lives in their office.

On the last day we meet in Guldfynd in the center of Kista.

She asks what I wish for.

I choose a bronze Thor’s hammer.

She buys it for me.

I think it is a farewell between mother and son.

At the last moment, just before she says goodbye, she says:

“Amir, I didn’t come here to see you.

I am here on behalf of the organization.”

The world stops.

Everything goes in slow motion.

I remember every sensory impression –

how my breath evaporates in the chilly air,

exactly where I am standing on the uphill slope,

and above all how my heart breaks.

I wanted to feel needed.

After several years of absence, I thought she came for me.

But instead I was told that I was worth less than the organization.

A feeling that was confirmed over and over again during my upbringing.

Mazda Parsi

The post To his mom, he was worth less than the MEK appeared first on Nejat Society.

In the midst of this, we were once again called to a grand meeting in the large hall.

The leader stepped onto the stage with heavy, determined steps. On either side of the stairs stood armed guards, motionless as statues. Further back, like a second wall, stood additional bodyguards. The security was massive, suffocating.

He stopped in the middle of the stage. His gaze swept over us.

The hall was filled – a sea of ​​green uniforms, broken by perfect, symmetrical blocks of red from the women’s headscarves. Everything was orderly. Controlled. Almost militarily beautiful. And completely lifeless.

He opened his mouth: “As part of Maryam’s ideological revolution, I have a gift for all of you…”

A gift. The word echoed strangely in my head.

“You have given me everything. But you have kept the most personal. Something that has prevented you from fully uniting with me and the struggle. Your sexual fantasies.”

He paused.

“From now on, we will introduce the weekly ablution. You will write down every private, every sexual thought you have during the week. And at the end of the week, you will read it out loud to others. The other members will attack your dirty thoughts… and you will be purified.”

Silence. Not an ordinary silence – but a total, suffocating stillness. Ten thousand people in the same room… and yet there was barely a breath. It felt as if time had stopped. As if the air had frozen. A pin could have been heard to drop.

How is this a gift?

Thoughts raced through my mind. This was not a gift. It was a demand. A demand for the last thing that was mine.

We had already lost everything – our lives, our choices, our relationships. We had no contact with the opposite sex. But thoughts… Thoughts were the last thing anyone could take away from us.

I thought.

Now they too would be gone. What is left of a self when even your innermost thoughts belong to someone else?

Maybe that was exactly the point. To wipe out the self. To replace it with something else. Something that fit into their world.

That was exactly what they had taught us about the ideological revolution.

I remembered the videotapes from the late 80s. Our parents had been in these meetings. We were children then. In the films, the leader spoke with a different voice – softer, almost convincing. He spoke of sacrifice.

How they had left everything behind: their lives in Iran, their careers, their lives in the West. But he also said they hadn’t sacrificed everything.

“Why fight halfheartedly?” he asked. “Why not take the final step?” He put his hand in his pocket. “You’re hiding something from me.”

He took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and placed them on the table. “What do you have in your pockets that you don’t want to give up?”

The private. The hidden. What was still theirs. “Give it to me.” Then it was about spouses and children.

Now, almost fifteen years later, that wasn’t enough anymore. Now even the thoughts would go away.

Fear crept into my body in a way I had never felt before. Not even the missile attacks had scared me this much. The air was electric. Tense to the point of breaking. As if a single spark could blow everything up.

Why did everyone react like this? And why… didn’t I feel anything?

Women in the MEK: Trapped, tortured, and silenced

Brainwashed by Brother Massoud

A young man pushed his way forward. I recognized him immediately. Reza Chavoshi. The MEK’s kid from Germany. The one who used to listen to Ice Cube and gangster rap.

Now he stood there with a wild look and shouted: “Thank you, Brother Massoud! You have freed us from our inner devil! I was the devil!”

I stared at him. What the hell…? How could he change so completely?

It was as if all these people had been missing something. A final piece of the puzzle. A key.

And now the leader had given it to them. And their reactions exploded.

One by one, those who had been sitting still stood up. They lined up. The lines wound all the way to the back of the hall.

Finally, I saw it. I was the only one left sitting. Either they really believed this. Or they didn’t dare do otherwise. But I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t. How could I, at seventeen, feel that something was wrong?

while an elderly man from the United States – a man who had lived in a democratic society, had received an education, lived with freedom – stood there shouting that he had been freed from his “invisible shackles”?

One by one they came forward and thanked him.

Psychological pressure by Massoud’s devotees

Then a short, gray-haired man came up to the microphone. His name was also Massoud. He had lived in London. His voice trembled: “I’m sorry, brother Massoud… but I don’t think I can handle this…”

He couldn’t take it anymore. A roar erupted. Protests. Loud, aggressive. Growing. Then, as if on command, the entire hall began to shout: “Gomsho Pasdar! Gomsho Pasdar!” [in persain] meaning: “Go to hell, you Revolutionary Guard!”

Ten thousand voices. Like a wave.

The gray-haired man covered his ears. He collapsed. Started to cry.

I had seen people attacked in smaller meetings before. But this… This was something completely different. It was brutal. Crushing. And even though I wasn’t the target… I could feel the pressure. The psychological weight.

The leader paced back and forth on the stage. He smiled. He looked at the man. Then he said, almost calmly: “I’m not saying anything. It’s the congregation that takes a stand against you. And the congregation is always right.”

Amir Yaghmai

Taken from Amir Yaghmai’s X account, Translated by Nejat Society Website

The post Massoud Rajavi’s “Precious Gift” to his Followers appeared first on Nejat Society.

In just one month, Iran was thrust into the global spotlight. Protests erupted. Chaos spread. Ordinary citizens stood against violence, restoring order in the face of terror.

But behind the unrest lay a hidden war; coordinated attacks, sabotage, and the deliberate targeting of lives, cities, and culture. This is the story of a nation tested, of resilience… forged in fire!

Mostafa Beheshti, former member of the MEK was interviewed by Press TV in this investigated report on the protests.
He explains how the group under the leadership of the US and Israel works against Iranian interests.

“At the top of the MEK, Israel and the US are giving the orders,” he told Press TV. “They issue the instructions and the terrorist group is just the executer.”

According to Beheshti, one or two months before these events the MEK began their work in the telegram groups using fake accounts. Then, they entered their operatives through western borders of Iran, those who are armed to commit acts of destruction and sabotage against civilians and security forces.

Beheshti said that paying the vandals is a longstanding tradition in the MEK. “They had also instructed their members that all activities should be done in person and that no messages should be sent on online platforms,” he explains how the MEK hires mercenaries. “They operated in three-person cells. I this set-up one person from outside the country contacted a three-member team.”

About the fee of violence, he adds, “We were paying around 200 to 300 million for arson and clashes with security forces using crypto currency and exchanging offices. In some cases, we had a separate method. The payment was hidden in trash bins in parks.”

Former member of the MEK finds a common aspect in recent incidents in Iran and the MEK’s acts of terror in the early years of the Islamic Republic. “If I want to put it briefly these events were very similar to what happened in Iran in the 1980s,” he states. “At that time, they needed to manufacture death and portrait themselves as victims in order to convince the public”
As a defector who spent 20 years inside the MEK, he has no doubt that the scale of killings carried out by the MEK has not even committed by Daesh. “These are done to demonstrate their loyalty and mercenary role on behalf of Israel,” he says.

The post Press TV to interview former MEK member on riots in Iran appeared first on Nejat Society.

The hall was full of interested participants, who followed with attention every word of the speakers and their touching stories about the violence, isolation and deceptions in the destructive cult of Rajavi. The atmosphere was warm, emotional and full of solidarity with the families of the MEK victims.
Representatives of the Albanian community also participated in this conference, expressing their indignation at the way the group manipulates people and uses Albanian territory for political and terrorist purposes. Some of the speakers, former MEK members, shared their personal experiences, showing the true and violent face of the group and the abuses that occur within the camp in Manzë.

A special moment was the speech of Aldo Sullolari, president of Nejat Society Albania, who had just returned from a trip to Iran. He spoke about his meetings with many Iranian families who are waiting with hope for news from their relatives trapped by the MEK in Albania. “The voices of these mothers and fathers must be heard here, in Albania, where their isolated sons are. Our association will continue to be a bridge of communication between them,” Aldo emphasized with emotion.
The conference also read several messages from families suffering from the MEK’s violence and terror. Those messages touched everyone’s hearts, showing the pain that this cult has caused for many families.

At the end of the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to talk with members of the Nejat Society Albania and with former members released from the camp, expressing their full support for their humane and courageous initiative. Many of them emphasized that such activities help the Albanian public to better understand the dark reality inside the MEK camp.

The “Tirana to Tehran” conference showed once again that the truth cannot be hidden. The voice of families, the love of mothers and relatives for their children, and the desire for justice are stronger than any propaganda or deception of the violent MEK cult.

“Tirana to Tehran” Conference, a journey between cultures and truths

“Tirana to Tehran” Conference, a journey between cultures and truths

“Tirana to Tehran” Conference, a journey between cultures and truths

The post Tirana to Tehran Conference held in Tirana appeared first on Nejat Society.

Taha Hosseini is a former member of the MEK. He is one of the thousands of people that the MEK lured into the organization through deception and fraud. He is one of those who fell into the trap of the MEK’s kidnappers in Turkey while he had traveled there to find a job.

The MEK recruiters told Taha that they have a large factory in Iraq which only recruited Iranians. A female MEK recruiter in Turkey told him, “The wages they give you here are very low. Turks have no mercy on Iranians. We recruit labor in Turkey.

We have a very large factory in Iraq. Only Iranians work in Iraq. We do not hire non-Iranians. We had people work in our factory in Iraq for a year, after a year they said they want to go to Europe, they went to Europe with a lot of money and now they live there and help their families financially.”

Taha was convinced to move to Iraq to work in the so-called factory. He gave his passport to them. Eventually, he was taken to Iraq where he was faced with the MEK’s military camp in Iraqi dessert. He was shocked to see people with military uniforms. There was nothing like a factory.

Two women with khaki military uniforms and red scarves welcomed him. One of them introduced herself and said, “I’m Fereshteh, the army’s reception officer, and my deputy is Marzieh.” Taha asked her, “What is the army doing in your factory!?”

Fereshteh Yeganeh, the high-ranking member of the MEK who is the 42nd defendant in the trial of the leaders of the group, replied, “Which factory? Here is Camp Ashraf, the place of war with the regime [Islamic Republic of Iran]!”

In response to Taha’s complaints he shouted, “Camp Ashraf is a battlefield, give whatever documents you have to Sister Marzieh, we will give them back to you later if you need them.” Thus, they confiscated his passport, ID card, and birth certificate.

Taha Hosseini was then given a military uniform to wear. Although he did not want to be a member of the MEK, he had no way out. In the reception unit he got to know some other guys who had been recruited in other countries under the fake job promise.

He was under military and cult-like pressure for four years with no access to the outside world. He was suppressed by the group leaders when ever he asked to contact his family.

In a meeting that Taha asked Fahimeh to let him leave the camp, she said, “Don’t even think about running away! If you run away from Camp Ashraf, Iraqi forces will arrest you and say you are a spy and execute you. Erase the thought of escape from your mind! You have entered into our organization, do whatever we tell you!”

Taha Hosseini could manage to escape the group only after the collapse of Saddam when the US army disarmed the MEK in 2003 and supervised Camp Ashraf for a while.

In 2004, Taha returned to his hometown, Arak in the central province of Iran. He got married and had children. He is now a welder and happy with his life.

“Rajavi and his gang have no humanitarian feelings.” Taha Hosseini says. “Rajavi has trained a bunch of crooks and fraudsters in his own school. They deceive people and ruin their lives. I hope no young person falls into Rajavi’s trap.”

The post Taha Hosseini former member of the MEK recounts his experience appeared first on Nejat Society.

On Friday, September 12, 2025, the Nejat Society Albania organized a grand social gathering in the central square of the city of Tehran under the title “Albanian Dignity”.

Albanian Pride rally held by Nejat Albania members in Tirana

In this activity, which was accompanied by the distribution of brochures and friendly conversations, citizens participated with great enthusiasm and showed once again that the voice of justice never dies.

This symbolic action was a clear response to the years of oppression and crimes of the People’s Mujahedin organization against the Iranian people; especially to the mothers who wait with a sad heart to see their children, spending their days and nights with longing and pain.

Albanian Pride rally held by Nejat Albania members in Tirana

These mothers are a symbol of resistance and love, and their call for justice will never be forgotten by history.
The leaders of this organization have recently, with insulting and inappropriate words, called Albanians “poor”; but this people, with dignity and pride, stood firm in the face of this insult and showed that no humiliation can harm the pride of Albanians.

Nejat Society Albania throughout the world and the path of reunification of fathers, mothers and children in the Manza camp becomes closer.

We believe that no wall can divide the love between families and their relatives.

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On the eve of the American invasion to Iraq in 2003, Massoud Rajavi, called all members of Camp Ashraf to gather in a large hall. “He began by describing the sensitive political situation at the time and the serious threat posed by the United States against Iraq,” Amir Yaghmai writes in his memoirs. “He then said that in these circumstances, MEK members must maintain their focus and no longer be involved in the issue of defection or “cutting off” of individuals. Therefore, each member must sign a new contract in which he undertakes not to ask for leaving the group for the next two years.”

Amir was shocked. He had wanted to leave the MEK for years but hadn’t been able to. “Each time I had been forced to sign different contracts for different reasons,” he writes. However, this time, the matter was more serious than ever. Massoud Rajavi was officially ordering members to stay in the isolated Camp Ashraf. “You were supposed to keep your mouth shut for two years, not to express a single doubt.”

Amir told himself: “I won’t sign! They can do whatever they want! Take me to a confession session, quarantine me for two years, send me to Abu Ghraib prison, or hand me over to the regime! It doesn’t matter! I can’t take it anymore.”

This was also his response to his commander when he asked Amir to sign the contract. Consequently, Amir entered a traumatic cycle of bribery, threat, intimidation and humiliation.

First, the MEK leaders tried to bribe him promising to allow him to have a home in Baghdad, and to get married –the possessions that are forbidden for MEK members. This was a promise made by Maryam Rajavi, Massoud Rajavi’s third wife but it was presented to Amir by Mohammad, the son of Massoud who was also a child soldier and a friend of Amir’s.

Nevertheless, Amir replied Mohammad Rajavi: “I want to be free, to go for a walk without a barbed wire or a guard tower in front of me. To love. To sing. To wear the clothes I want. To see the world. I won’t go and regret the unseen. Not just to get married.”

When the first tactic did not work for the cult commanders, they tried to threat Amir and pressure him by intermediating an emotional tool: his mother.

“In a large room, around an oval-shaped conference table, the high-ranking commanders of the MEK were sitting: Ahmad Waqef, Mahmoud Ata’i, Fereshteh Yeganeh, Mahvash Sepehri, Mohammad Rajavi… and my mother!”, he pens.

Nasrin (Mahvash Sepehri) told Amir: “When you joined, your mother guaranteed that you would never leave us. Now she has to come with you, go into quarantine for two years, and then be sent to Iran with you. Then, she has to find a way back—if she gets arrested, she has to commit suicide.”

Amir shouted at them shouted: “You have no right to make my mother the victim of my decision! I am responsible for my own choices. I am twenty years old!”

Fereshteh Yeganeh opened a folder and showed him. His mother’s signature, and all the oaths he had been forced to sign over the years. Amir protested that all of this was by force. “If my mother is leaving with me, I am not leaving at all!” Amir told them. Nasrin replied emotionlessly, “If you want to stay, you have to defend your choice. We are not convinced yet.”

They kept Amir and his mother in the room for over 9 hours, until the dawn. During the entire hours, the commanders were insulting Amir, calling him “traitor”, spitting on his face and his mother was watching him with weeping eyes.

The next morning, Amir had been coerced to sign a new contract. “I signed a new contract which had nothing for me except humiliation,” he writes.

This is how he describes that night: “The night at Camp Ashraf, when just because I wanted to leave the organization, they made me go under the most severe stress, threat, insult, and humiliation. Worst of all, my mother, who was an old member, was also tortured before my eyes in order to force me to confess that I was wrong. Seeing tears and sufferings of my mother was one of the most painful moments of my life.”

The post The darkest night for an MEK child soldier appeared first on Nejat Society.

Sheida Sabzehvari of Tehran Times introduces Nejat Society as “a Tehran-based entity with offices across Iran and Europe that assists families seeking contact with loved ones in the MEK.”

Presenting a summary of his involvement with the MEK, Khodabandeh tell Tehran Times about the group’s tactics to infiltrate the western governments, to buy the support of certain politicians and to raise funds in European cities. He also speaks of the cult-like attitudes of the group leaders who violate the basic rights of their own members.

The CEO of Nejat NGO explains about the activities of the NGO during the past two decades in order to accomplish its mission which is to aid the families of MEK members who are not allowed by the group leaders to contact their loved ones. According to Khodabandeh, cooperating with the international human rights bodies, Nejat NGO has taken a lot of actions to help families but in most cases the bodies have failed to provide adequate assistance in this regard.

The interview has been published in two parts on Tehran Times website. This is part one.

The post Tehran Times Interview with the CEO of Nejat Society – Part 1 appeared first on Nejat Society.

Issa kept his eyes on the floor as we started talking. It was hard to read him at all. He seemed like a jumble of things: anxious, numb, angry, regretful… but then you’d see a flicker of hope in there somewhere. Before delving into his experiences with the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), a terrorist organization known for its dogmatic indoctrination and isolated, tightly controlled environment, he said he wanted people everywhere to understand how dangerous the MEK really is, both for those who join and for the world beyond its walls.

“When I entered the MEK I was highly educated,” he explained. “I was a university graduate, and I had a family, job, and social connections. But after my involvement with the organization all that was lost. There, Masoud Rajavi tried to reduce the members to nothing, devoid of character, dignity, and honor.”

Introduced to the MEK after the 1979 Islamic Revolution while studying engineering at a prominent Tehran university, Issa joined the organization under the influence of a friend and became a high-ranking member over a 38-year period. He spent two decades at Camp Ashraf in Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran, until its dismantling in 2003 by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. After the camp’s closure, Issa, along with other MEK members, moved to Camp Liberty near Baghdad. He ultimately left the MEK before its relocation to Albania in 2016.

Issa says almost every single day he spent with the MEK was tiring, humiliating, and dehumanizing.
“We would all wake up at 5 a.m. to the sound of a shrill wind instrument. It was incredibly jarring. We had about 20 minutes to get ready and eat breakfast. Then, our exhausting day began. We had to clean the area, guard the camp, and carry out missions outside. Our only entertainment was watching the group’s propaganda on TV for two 30-minute segments.” The TV remote was kept locked in a box; a precaution that seemed unnecessary. After all, only the person responsible for the TV schedule knew how to use it.

Issa said the most difficult part of the day was the joint self-criticism sessions. “One of the biggest taboos was having sexual thoughts. We were forced to dissect our feelings, describe our fantasies in detail, and express repeated regret. Then, the others would join in, and one by one start scolding us too.”

Forced divorces followed by forced marriages

Typical of leaders like Rajavi, the man was obsessed with sex. Initially, he ordered some members of the organization to marry each other. However, after realizing that marriage and family preoccupied the minds of those he considered his devoted followers, he decreed that everyone should divorce. Rajavi later declared that all women in the group had become his wives, a claim substantiated by former female members of the MEK who reported frequent sexual abuse and exploitation orchestrated by Rajavi himself.

“The divorce process the members were forced to endure was one of the most inhumane and unbelievable events imaginable,” Issa stated. He had not taken his wife and kids with him to the camp, but he was still required to divorce his wife in his mind. “Couples within the organization were made to stand facing each other and then ordered to hurl vile profanities at one another.” Reflecting Iranian cultural norms, where men typically avoid cursing in front of women, Issa declined to repeat the exact words for me. “Even those who were not married, either within or outside the organization, were ordered to undergo a ‘mental divorce.'”

Soon after, strict segregation was enforced. Men and women were required to use separate routes within the camp to minimize contact. “There was a gas station inside the Ashraf camp where we refueled the vehicles used for patrols. We were not even allowed to visit the gas station on the same day,” Issa revealed.

The mass “marriage” of MEK women to Rajavi occurred sometime after contact between men and women was cut off. Rajavi’s own wife, Maryam Qajar-Azdanlu – having herself divorced Rajavi’s friend to then become Rajavi’s wife after a scandalous affair – was the key figure in manipulating the other women into accepting their “sacred” duty: sexual submission to their leader.

“I didn’t know this was happening when I was still part of the organization, because I rarely spoke to the women there. Also, there’s often a great deal of shame involved in admitting to being sexually assaulted. When a former female member of the MEK publicly broke the news a few years ago, it was very difficult for me to process, even though I had always known that Rajavi was a perverted and corrupt individual.”

The Taliban and Daesh were less oppressive towards women than the MEK, Issa said. While no one within the organization enjoyed rights or privacy, women were treated as particularly disposable.
“People often ask individuals like me why we didn’t leave the organization sooner,” Issa said as he looked at me with a bitter smile. “To those observing the MEK from the outside, it’s crucial to understand the complete loss of self that occurs within its walls. You are forced to abandon your identity, to erase your past and all those you once cherished. Inside, Masoud Rajavi’s orders become your only reality.”

Children that were killed, trafficked, or indoctrinated

In 1990, Rajavi took another crucial step to subjugate MEK members: He ripped kids away from their parents. These kids lived in separate compounds near their parents’ headquarters in Iraq.
“There were about 700, all different ages. They were just put on buses and shipped off to Jordan,” Issa said. What followed was a tragedy. Some never made it, some were exploited by human traffickers, others became entangled in crime, and some ended up in brothels. Roughly 300 were left, either sent to distant relatives or relegated to MEK-owned housing in Europe.
Years later, some of those kids, who’d grown up hearing Rajavi’s propaganda and idealized stories of their parents’ “heroic” actions, ended up joining the MEK. Their view of the whole thing? Like something out of a bad Hollywood movie. They, however, managed to come to their senses soon. “Many of them eventually left the MEK again. I believe they were wiser than their parents.”

Now in their 40s, some of these former child members have recently begun to share their experiences. They frequently face threats from the organization, and are blamed for being “ungrateful”.

MEK’s ‘missions’ funded by the U.S.

Like many who joined the revolution against the Shah, Rajavi lacked the popular support to gain prominence in the new political system after the monarchy was toppled. However, what set him apart was the United States’ interest in using him to destabilize Iran, which began during his imprisonment under the Shah.

The MEK was initially formed by leftist students in 1965. “Rajavi was cultivated by the CIA as early as his imprisonment in 1971 during the Pahlavi era. He became the group’s leader in 1979,” Issa said. He added that the CIA believed purely communist groups, some of which were formed under the influence of the Soviet Union during the Shah’s reign, lacked appeal for the highly religious Iranian population. Therefore, someone with opposing ideologies to the Islamic Republic but a similar religious appearance was needed. This, according to Issa, is the origin of the MEK’s religious facade.

Rajavi left Iran in 1981 after he failed in two bids for power: a presidential campaign and a parliamentary seat. What followed next was a descent into terrorism. Orchestrating high-profile assassinations—under the order and support of the CIA —Rajavi turned the MEK against its own people. The targets were not just political leaders and military commanders; ordinary Iranians became victims in a brutal killing spree. The MEK’s hands are now stained with the blood of approximately 23,000 and their collaboration with Saddam Hussein in Iraq deepened the wound, as they helped him inflict further casualties on their homeland.

The organization’s operational capabilities, however, are now significantly diminished. The MEK has struggled to recruit younger generations, and its remaining members in Albania are primarily elderly and infirm. “I believe approximately 2,000 members remain with the organization. Some are unable to manage their daily lives due to illness or old age. A small number of younger members are primarily involved in cyber activities,” Issa stated.

As of 2025, the MEK is also exploiting vulnerable young people in Iran, particularly those with troubled pasts or financial hardships, by paying them to perform simple tasks within the country. These tasks include acts of public display, such as hanging posters of Masoud Rajavi or Maryam Qajar-Azdanlu in prominent locations like Tehran highways, which the MEK then promotes on its website.

For payment, these young individuals also set fire to governmental buildings, mosques, educational centers, and public transport, with their arson attacks reaching a high point during the fall 2022 unrest.

“The U.S. and its European allies who prop up these terrorists know that the MEK cannot bring down Iran. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves,” Issa stated. “Right now, the MEK is nothing more than a bargaining chip for them, a pressure point they hope will force Iran into concessions.”

Issa left Iraq and the MEK on December 26, 2011, at exactly 4:30 PM. “I left on my birthday. A relative I had in the UK got in touch with the UNHCR and UNAMI in Baghdad and arranged my exit in secret.”

Adapting to life outside the MEK camps was difficult initially. Having been isolated from technology and modern life, Issa faced ridicule. “People used to laugh at me,” he said. “They could not believe that I did not know how to operate a TV, a mobile phone, or anything else that was not widely used in Iran in the early 80s.”

Issa had one daughter and one son when he left to join the MEK. His young daughter’s visit was a catalyst for his eventual departure from the group. “One day my daughter came to Iraq. It was during the war there. I remember it was scorching hot, almost 60 degrees.”

Issa’s daughter reached the area near Camp Ashraf with the assistance of the Nejat Association, an NGO formed by former MEK members to help those still inside escape the organization’s influence. “My daughter stood outside the Ashraf camp, behind the fences. The organization refused to let her see me, and they didn’t even tell me she was there. Later, they informed me they’d prevented the visit to avoid demotivating me. This was a significant turning point, although it took several years before I finally left.”

Tehran Times, Sheida Sabzehvari

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On Saturday, March 8, 2025, Iranian and Albanian members of Nejat Society Albania tried to enlighten Albanian citizens about the MEK by presenting flowers to female citizens, holding a photo and poster exhibition, and distributing brochures about the violations of women’s rights in the MEK’s camp known as Ashraf 3, located in the remote village of Manz, north of Tirana.

Hamid Atabay, an activist of Nejat Society Albani, while celebrating International Women’s Day, explains that the purpose of holding the photo exhibition is to enlighten the audience on what is happening to women in the MEK camp. Bijar Rahimi speaks about the forced hijab and the deprivation of the right to marry and have children for female members of the MEK. According to these two former members of the MEK, women in this group do not have the slightest freedom.

Also, Ella Deda, Eltisa Billo, and Aldo Solullari explain to their compatriots about the nature of the MEK organization, its history, and its terrorist and cult-like activities.

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