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June 20, 1981–Mullahs Showed They Don’t Want to Let Go of Power in Iran

39 years ago, the Iranian regime showed that it only understands the language of firm and power and the mullahs would not leave the power unless the people topple them

In 1978 and 1979, the Iranian people flooded into the streets hoping to achieve a democratic government.

Eventually, on February 10, 1979, they managed to topple the prolonged monarchic dictatorship. However, given the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s crimes against freedom-loving people’s and organizations such as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas, the Iranian movement suffered from the lack of real owners of the 1979 Revolution.

In this respect, the self-described leader of the revolution Ruhollah Khomeini seized the people’s achievements and gradually monopolized all sectors of the power. He did not show mercy even to his previous political allies, who played a key role in identifying him to the people, let alone freedom-loving people like PMOI/MEK members and supporters.

For two-and-half years, PMOI/MEK leader Massoud Rajavi, his deputy Moussa Khiabani, and other prominent figures of the organization did their best to persuade Khomeini to give basic freedoms to the people. They expressed their objection with the new regime’s oppressive measures such as forced Hijab, gender segregation, violation of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, restriction on political activities, and removing dissidents by forming club-wielder groups loyal to Khomeini. For two-and-half years PMOI/MEK headquarters tried to pacify Khomeini and his regime in word and in deed to achieve citizens’ basic rights within the Islamic Republic regime.

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In January 1980, Khomeini banned Massoud Rajavi from standing as a candidate in the presidential campaign due to Rajavi’s refusal to vote in favor of the regime’s constitution, which legitimated all kinds of killing, torture, plundering, arbitrary arrest, and putting national resources up for auction by the mullahs with impunity.

Additionally, Khomeini prevented PMOI/MEK candidates from entering the Majlis with cheating in the Parliamentary elections in 1980. Khomeini’s thugs, known as Hezbollahis among the Iranian people, stormed the PMOI/MEK meetings and offices in different cities across the country leading to the death of 70 members and supporters of the organization.

All the mentioned developments proved that reforming and moderating the mullahs’ regime is impossible at least through the ballot box. Khomeini and his allies also institutionalized various types of suppression in the early 1980s. Furthermore, they ignited a meaningless war with Iran’s western neighbor Iraq by provoking the Iraqi people and army to revolt against the then-government. Khomeini exploited the war and turned it into a war of attrition to justify domestic suppression and quell any opposition voices.

On June 20, 1981, over half a million PMOI/MEK members and supporters marched in Tehran’s streets toward the Parliament (Majlis) to announce their frustration about the regime’s endless suppression. In reality, Khomeini blocked all political ways to reform the regime.

In response, Khomeini ordered the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the state security forces to disperse the crowd violently. On Sunday evening, murderers loyal to Khomeini opened fire on bared-handed protesters and brutally killed hundreds of teenagers and youths affiliated to the PMOI/MEK.

Subsequently, the IRGC and security forces began to capture all commuters in the streets and transferred them to notorious penitentiaries and dungeons like Evin Prison, which the theocratic tyranny inhibited from its predecessor dictatorship. According to the PMOI/MEK, as of today, the mullahs’ regime has killed more than 120,000 members and supporters of the organization. In the summer of 1988, the current judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi implemented Khomeini’s Fatwa and executed over 30,000 political prisoners across the country, mostly PMOI/MEK members and supporters.

Also, the regime frequently targeted the PMOI/MEK bases in Iraq through the IRGC Quds Force and its local mercenaries leading to the death of at least 140 people. Moreover, after the relocation of PMOI/MEK members from Iraq to European countries, particularly Albania, the IRGC and the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) were tasked with assassinating PMOI/MEK members.

In this context, the mullahs orchestrated several terror plots against the organization in different countries abusing diplomatic privileges. In March 2018, the regime’s embassy in the Albanian capital Tirana recruited the local mafia to bomb the PMOI/MEK celebration marking the new Iranian year. Albanian authorities foiled the attempt and following their investigation expelled the Iranian ambassador Gholamhossein Mohammadnia and several senior diplomats and so-called cultural agents in the following years.

In June 2018, in a joint and sophisticated operation, German, French, and Belgian prosecutors managed to foil another terror attack targeting the grand gathering of the Iranian Resistance in Villepinte, a suburb of Paris. German law enforcement arrested Assadollah Assadi, the regime’s senior diplomat based in Vienna, Austria, for delivering explosive materials to terror cells in Luxembourg. Belgian and French police also detained the would-be bombers on their soil.

In August 2018, the United States arrested two Iranians, accusing them of spying on Iranian dissidents. Afterward, they admitted to the allegations and confessed that the Iranian regime had recruited them to collect information against the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and PMOI/MEK, supporters.

However, the regime also endeavored to remove the PMOI/MEK and trample their reputation via character-assassination techniques. In this regard, the MOIS launched a massive misinformation campaign to demonize the regime’s credible opposition. The regime produced and printed hundreds of movies, books, TV serials, and websites, as well as holding exhibitions by fabricated evidence to deter Iran’s younger generation from the PMOI/MEK. furthermore, the mullahs touted their agents as PMOI/MEK “former members” to spread hate sense against the organization among youths.

However, their efforts have only added to the popularity of the PMOI/MEK. For instance, the democratic opposition held an annual gathering to show popular support for the Iranian people’s struggle for the establishment of a democratic government in Iran. Every year, many prominent figures from five continents appear to show their solidarity with the PMOI/MEK and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI.

Hundreds of politicians, military officers, human rights activists, and tens of thousands of members of the Iranian diaspora announced their support for Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan for the future of Iran. Notably, the PMOI/MEK enjoys extended support among Iranians inside Iran. Using its vast domestic network, the PMOI/MEK managed to provide precise information about the mullahs’ sensitive projects of producing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

Also, the PMOI/MEK was the first organization that exposed the real number of the victims of the November 2019 protests in Iran to be more than 1,500. Moreover, in a tireless attempt, the PMOI/MEK managed to provide reliable stats about the coronavirus victims in all of Iran’s 31 provinces, which resulted in defeating the mullahs’ project to conceal the real magnitude of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran.

The PMOI/MEK’s activities and popularity are the main concern for the mullahs. Some while ago, the regime’s judiciary spokesperson stated that security forces have detained two elite students, accusing them of having ties to the PMOI/MEK. This matter prompted the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei to sound the alarm about the organization’s popularity among youths.

However, as the regime loses its public base and meets harsh blows in different sectors, Iran’s younger generation tempts to get more information about the regime’s archenemy. In this respect, the world witnesses an increase in the Iranian people’s anti-government activities, which are led by the PMOI/MEK supporters, known as Resistance Units.

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