For the Iranian regime, staying power means oppressing all voices that challenge their rule, particularly the human rights abuses and strict laws on everything from who you can socialize with to how you dress in public. Yet, one group has been the main focus of the regime’s efforts to suppress and undermine their voice in support of a free Iran. That group is the MEK.
When the MEK was removed from the U.S. list of terrorist groups, Iranian regime House Speaker Ali Larijni
said during his speech on June 23, “Now it’s you (the United States) who are sponsor of terrorism and even mother of terrorism, yet you accuse the Iranian regime of sponsoring terrorism. Your accusations are shameful…Today, the Americans removed the MEK from their list of terrorist groups.”
News agencies, including the Fars agency under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have revealed the concerns of the regime over what they see as a dangerous turn of events, now that Camp Liberty’s residents have been relocated to Europe. On June 20, Fars reported that the move was a reminder of (MEK’s) declaring war against the regime.
After adding a few more claims against the MEK, the article went on to reveal the regime’s fear of another uprising, such as those that occurred in July 1999 and 2009. “The group’s (MEK’s) increased activities and their efforts for creating chaos and making a creeping coup was so intense over a period of time that many thought it was over for the regime on July 9, 1999. Their coordination was even further revealed during the 2009 uprising,” said the Fars news agency.
The press in Iran is controlled by the regime and the IRGC, so it is a source of frustration that thanks to satellite television, the opposition is able to expose the regime’s activities. These include the exposing of insecure, bankrupt institutions belonging to state entities, such as the IRGC, a move aimed at informing the Iranian people.
“Some satellite channels linked to MEK have released a clip showing that Samen institution has gone bankrupt, scaring investors into rushing to Samen Bank branches,” said a regime official.
But this is nothing to the latest efforts of various families to receive justice for their loved ones killed in the
1988 massacreMEK: The Opposition the Iranian Regime Wants to Silence of political prisoners. Fearing the spread of this movement, regime leader Ali Khamenei
has spoken out against this movement, which focuses on justice for those MEK members executed.
According to Khamenei, “We’ve recently been hearing some tribunes attacking regime’s records during the 80’s. I recommend those who are thoughtful not to mistake executioners for martyrs when judging the 80s events. Iranian people were oppressed at the time. Terrorists, MEK, their supporters and those who raised them and constantly blew them persecuted the Iranian people. They did bad things. The Iranian people were forced to take a defensive position.”
By Iranian people, Khamenei meant nothing more than his own ruling class of mullahs. The fact is that the 80s is the decade when 30,000 political prisoners were massacred, and the decade when pregnant women, 13-year-old girls, and 70-year-old mothers were part of those who were killed.
Following Khamenei’s speech, a rush of state-run media and other outlets launched a wave of attack and false accusations against the MEK, a move which was even further escalated a few days later following Khamenei’s fire-at-will order. These supporters of the Iranian regime called MEK the killers and that the order from Khomeini was meant to protect the country by killing anyone, including MEK members and supporters, who still stood their ground and supported the MEK.
What it boiled down to was anyone considered pro-MEK was a threat to the regime, and this was true even if they did nothing against the regime but support an alternative set of political ideals. Efforts to portray the MEK and political prisoners massacred during the 80s as executioners were significantly increased in Friday prayer events and the regime’s media following the ISIS attacks in Tehran.
While acknowledging the massacre of MEK members in 1988, Assadollah Imani said in Shiraz Friday prayer show, “if MEK had not been repressed in 1988, you were faced with such plights everyday over the past 20 years. Khomeini knew well how to deal with MEK.”
The attacks on the MEK in the media aren’t limited to just the leaders and supporters of the MEK, but are also showing the cracks within the factors of the regime itself. In Mashhad, the city’s Friday Prayer Imam Alamolhoda attacked Rouhani for the increased popularity of the MEK and the movement seeking justice for victims of the 1988 massacre.
“Today, we are faced with such a problem. To gain power and push away their rivals, they defend (MEK) so much that the supreme leader is forced to shout not to mistake executioner for martyr. Those claiming to run the regime are actually defending the MEK,” said Alamolhoda.
Others argue that the release of the Hassanali Montazeri
audio tape detailing the roles of the death commissions in the 1988 massacre has benefited those groups who would like to see the end of the regime’s repressive fundamentalism.
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