THE CHANGING IDEOLOGY OF THE PEOPLE'S MOJAHEDIN ORGANIZATION OF IRAN

Abstract

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, or Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), is one of few Iranian political organizations that was founded prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and still exists today. However, the organization has experienced lots of change in its ideology and list of political allies in its almost 60-year-old history. At the same time, the MKO has mostly stayed loyal to its main political goal – to topple the ruling regime in Iran, whether it be the Shah's government or the Islamic Republic.

The shifts in the MKO's ideology and activities ca be explained with extensive repressions against the group by the Shah's regime as well as the Islamic Republic, which killed thousands of members of this group; the organization ending up under the leadership of Massoud Rajavi and then his wife Maryam Rajavi; and the geopolitical changes that dramatically altered the list of the MKO's political allies.