The Iranians are closer than ever to overthrowing a regime most hate and have hated for decades. While historians estimate 10 percent of Iranians took part in the Islamic Revolution, most united around what they were against—the shah—rather than what they were for. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sought to be all things to all people, promising an Islamic democracy without defining what he meant. Prior to his return to Iran, Khomeini gave numerous interviews dismissing any intent to wield power. By the time Iranians marching against the shah realized Khomeini was a liar, it was too late.
The Iranians are closer than ever to overthrowing a regime most hate and have hated for decades.
The Mujahedin-e Khalq were among Khomeini’s greatest supporters in the decade prior to the Islamic Revolution. The group’s founders merged religion with Marxism to win over naïve young university students. They were among Khomeini’s most violent henchmen, training with the Palestine Liberation Organization, assassinating American businessmen and servicemen, and bombing American companies in Iran.
When Khomeini betrayed them, they directed their outrage at him, but they were not so precise with their violence. Mujahedin bombs killed hundreds of Iranians, as the cult-like group cared little about collateral damage. As a result, many Iranians consider them terrorists.
More damning in Iranian eyes was the Mujahedin-e Khalq’s defection to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq at the height of the Iran-Iraq War. It was one thing to be opposed to Khomeini—most Iranians were. It was another to join forces with an Arab dictator whose stated goal was to dismantle Iran as a unitary nation.
In the decades since, the Mujahedin has grown only more cult-like even as it has become a political chameleon, shifting its rhetoric to support whomever it thought its patrons might be. When it solicits Congress, it feigns commitment to democracy, even as its actions and its internal rhetoric suggest it remains unchanged and unabashedly anti-American. “Victory or martyrdom, fighting with America rises from our voice. … Compromise is a shame. Shout from your heart: destroy America!” goes one Mujahedin-e Khalq anthem.
Many Iranians are pro-America, but Washington should not delude itself. Journalists might mingle with Western-looking Iranians in the Tajrish or Shemiran neighborhoods in northern Tehran, but they are no more reflective of Iranian society than would the Upper East or Upper West Sides of Manhattan be of American society. West Tehran is home to many veterans’ families, for example. The Tehran bazaar, while shuttered, remains overwhelmingly religious and conservative. Eslamshahr, to the south of Iran, is working class, poor, and more dubious of the West.
Rubio, unlike some predecessors, has never accepted Mujahedin-e Khalq bribes under the guise of donations or honoraria.
Given not only the Mujahedin’s past terror against Americans, but also its refusal to acknowledge let alone apologize for it, as well as its role in the Islamic Revolution and its subsequent murder of Iranians, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio should designate the Mujahedin-e Khalq as a Foreign Terror Organization. The past two weeks of protests have confirmed the group has no backing or legitimacy among ordinary Iranians. Rubio, unlike some predecessors, has never accepted Mujahedin-e Khalq bribes under the guise of donations or honoraria; he is not beholden to a group Iranians despise.
More than any Truth Social post by President Donald Trump or statement by the State Department spokesman, a re-designation of the Mujahedin-e Khalq would demonstrate the end of an era for all Islamists in Iran, whether Khomeinists or Rajavists.
Such a move would show Iranians sitting on the fence that Washington understands their aspirations, seeks their friendship, and will respect their popular will.
