Though not exactly imprisoned, adherents are kept isolated and separated insofar as possible and could not have any contacts with their families. Their possessions are collectivized so they have no money or other resources. If they are in contravention of the numerous rules that guide the organization they are punished, including physically, and there are reports of members being executed for trying to escape.
The current head of the group is Maryam Rajavi, the wife of the deceased co-founder of MEK, Massoud Rajavi. She is reported to be politically savvy and speaks some English in part to enable her to communicate with adoring American politicians.
This Marxist terrorist group itself was founded in 1965. Its name means “People’s Holy Warriors,” derived from its Marxist/populist roots and its religiosity. It was not unlike the Taliban which developed in adjacent Afghanistan. During the 1970’s it rebelled against the Shah and was involved in bombing and shooting American targets. It executed U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lewis Hawkins in 1973 as he was walking home from the U.S. Embassy and in 1975 it killed two American Air Force officers in their chauffer driven car, an incident that was studied and used in CIA training subsequently as an example of how not to get caught and killed by terrorists. Between 1976 and 1978 the group bombed American commercial targets and killed three Rockwell defense contractors and one Texaco executive.
Maryam Rajavi, leader of the notorious Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) is a fringe, cult-like group that was once on the U.S. terrorism list. Rajavi’s appearances, in which she talks as though she represented the Iranian people, provided Iran’s leaders with a gift. Maryam Rajavi first became involved in the MEK in the 1970s, when they were protesting against the Shah’s Regime.
After the American invasion of Iraq, Maryam fled to France. Her headquarter in Auver sur d’oise in the suburb of Paris was raided by the French Police in June 2003. She was placed under arrest together with 160 of the group members and the assets of the MKO were frozen by the French judiciary. The Police seized millions of dollars from the group’s headquarters. The group was accused of preparing to commit or finance acts of terrorism and money laundering.
A dozen of diehard supporters of the Cult of Rajavi set themselves on fire to protest the arrest of Maryam. Two women were killed eventually.
French Police released the cult leader to stop the horrible scenes of self-immolations in European capitals. In France, Maryam became the administrator of Massoud’s office. The close relationship between Maryam and Massoud in the office led to their dramatic marriage in 1985 immediately after her divorce from Medi Abrishamchi. The marriage was celebrated as an ideological revolution in the history of the group. Maryam Rajavi was named the co-leader of the MEK.
Maryam Rajavi is highly adored by Rudy Giuliani. For years, Giuliani has been one of the most prominent American officials to advocate on behalf of the MEK, a Marxist Iranian opposition group that claims to be the legitimate government of Iran which resembles a cult.
Giuliani went as far as calling Maryam Rajavi a heroic woman. He twitted: “2018 Iran Uprising Summit #FREEIRAN2018 is focused on the uprising in Iran posing an alternative to the homicidal regime. The regime has announced that the MEK is the only organization that can realistically replace them. The movement is led by Maryam Rajavi, a heroic woman.”
“A Treasury Department investigation in 2012 examined whether speaking fees paid by several MEK front groups to a long list of U.S. politicians, including Giuliani, violated laws on Americans receiving money from designated terrorist organizations.”
Maryam Rajavi, a self-styled president in exile is another Khomeini like leader. Like her deceased husband, she is extremely narcissistic and an Islamic fanatic. If she ever grabs the power in Iran, the first thing she would do is to eliminate the opposition and use the mass media to brainwash the people just as MEK has done to their handful of followers. They will create a Stalinist dictatorship that would make both Iranians and Westerners nostalgic for the mullahs.