The MEK, an Iranian group that opposes the Iranian government and has committed several terrorist attacks is hugely controversial. But that doesn’t stop the US from supporting them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran should be isolated until Iran changes,\u201d US President Donald Trump\u2019s attorney Rudy Giuliani, who claimed to be representing the Iranian group the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (MEK), during a Middle East conference in Warsaw, Poland.
\nGiuliani\u2019s suggestion for who will lead the democratic government after replacing the current Iranian government is Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the group that was, until recently, listed as a terrorist organisation by the US.
\nUS support of the MEK is controversial not least because of the cult aspects which dominate its practices, but also the group\u2019s violent past which some suspect continues today.<\/p>\n
So, what is the MEK?<\/strong><\/p>\n The MK is a religious and \u2018Marxist\u2019 group aiming to remove the Iranian government. It was founded in 1965 in Iran in opposition to the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and launched bomb attacks against him. The group is responsible for killing Iran\u2019s then-president Mohammad Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahovar in 1981 and is suspected of the assassination of six American servicemen. Why the US supports the MEK<\/strong><\/p>\n There is one main reason behind the current US support of the MEK: defeating Iran, the biggest enemy of the US in the Middle East.
\nThe group relocated to Iraq after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when Iran proved that the group had lost a power struggle against the government, and found military support and shelter in Camp Hurriya in Baghdad.
\nWhen the eight-year Iran-Iraq war broke out in 1980, the MEK fought alongside Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. That led to them being branded traitors by the Iranian government, who executed thousands of political opponents, including MEK supporters, at the end of the war in 1988.
\nThe US State Department added the MEK to its list of terrorist organisations in 1997, and the exact reason why is unknown but the group carried out several terror attacks killing Iranians, Iraqis and Americans in the 70s and 80s. The terrorist label was reversed under the presidency of Barack Obama in 2012 after the group led a multimillion-dollar campaign. A Guardian investigation found that the group flew funds to members of Congress while running a lobbying campaign to erase its past.
\nWhen the US illegally invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, the group surrendered to the Americans and began presenting itself as a group advocating democracy.
\nUntil 2012, the group remained in Iraq under US protection, but in fear of Iranian attacks, it was relocated to an unlikely country, Albania, where the group built a massive compound surrounded by barbed wire, high-tech surveillance and armed guards.<\/p>\n
\nIn 2015, the Obama administration, along with the UK, China, Russia and Germany reached a deal with the Iranian government. According to the agreement, Tehran would limit its nuclear programme and the world powers sat at the table would remove economic sanctions on Iran.
\nThe US end of the deal eventually fell through when US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the agreement in May 2018. Trump\u2019s National Security Advisor John Bolton, who long advocated for the removal of the agreement, and Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump\u2019s lawyer, have been taking to the stage at the MEK\u2019s rallies, where the speakers are reportedly paid $30,000 to $50,000 per event. Despite speaking at the rallies, neither Giuliani or Bolton have ever confirmed receiving payment from the MEK.
\nFor the US, the rebranded version of the group is the best alternative to fight against Iran, and Rajavi has been leading an expensive propaganda campaign through events at which she aims to attract more supporters. The group\u2019s supporters often make appearances in front of buildings where Iranian officials are attending political gatherings outside of Iran. The group advertises itself as the \u2018popular opposition\u2019, but the fact is that it is”almost universally despised among Iranians both inside the country and in the diaspora.”
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