When an organisation has emerged from a terrorist group, its leader as well as its cadres are also terrorists and it adopts a terrorist strategy, it is quite obvious that it supports terrorism, terrorists and terrorist operations. The question, here, is whether NCRI supports terrorism?

Moslem Eskandar Filabi, a Responsible for NCRI, has praised the assassination of Lajavardi, the retired Attorney of Iran, as a heroic operation and attributed it to NLA and called for its support:

“Two years ago the national hero Ali Akbar Akbari…murdered Lajavadi…It is our nation-al and patriotic duty to extend our all ought to support NLA and the leadership of the Resistance.” [129]

It is interesting to note that this member of NCRI at the end of his statement considers NCRI and NLA as one group and certifies on this union by saying:

“NCRI and NLA for the reason of their clear course of action and for the reason of their right-fulness and for the reason of their political honesty are victorious.” [130]

While they glorify the memory of killed terrorists, they refer to the number of people assassi-nated at the hands of terrorists as ‘mercenaries’:

“Let me start my speech by honouring the memory of Manizheh Akbari and Mozhgan Zahedi. They were two brave women Mojaheds who were killed on 19 August 2000, after killing tens of enemy mercenaries in Kermanshah…” [131]

Saleh Rajavi a Responsible of NCRI (also brother of Masoud Rajavi, leader of NCR/MKO) while praising a terrorist named Ali Akbar Akbari confesses that 700 terrorist operations were done by the group:

“Praise to the soul of …brave and victorious Mojahed Ali Akbar Akbari…A nation with its brave combatants who have carried out 700 operations inside Iran.” [132]

Mohammad Reza Rowhani another Responsible in NCRI, not only congratulates the assassi-nation of Sayyad Shirazi, the national hero of Iran during the war with Saddam Hussein, to the members of NCRI but furthermore, he calls for the expansion of terrorist operations by NLA inside Iran:

“The operation of executing justice with regard to Sayyad Shirazi, deserves lots of congratula-tions from people and the Resistance…the expansion of armed resistance inside Iran and join-ing the unorganized resistance of the people, would pave the way for bringing the final strike by the children of Iran Land.” [133]

Strange enough is the congratulatory message of Jalal Ghanjaei a Responsible in NCRI to Masoud Rajavi and his co-chair Maryam Rajavi on the occasion of the assassination of Lajavardi:

“Congratulation to the President (NCRI  president  elect) and the Leader of the Resistance (NCRI ) ,

Hello and Congratulation!

The punishment of Lajavardi was a source of joy and happiness for all the freedom seeking people…We are really grateful to the brave Mojaheds who carried out such a just and right-ful punishment… How wonderful it was.” [134]

Some other members of NCRI not only congratulated terrorists for carrying out the assassina-tions, but also launched mortar shells on the civilian residences. Saleh Rajavi a Responsible of NCRI says:

“Now we turn to the recent operations, the punishment of Sayyad Shirazi who was put to death following other brave operations whereby Lajavardi was punished to death and the launching of mortar shells on the Ministry of Intelligence and the carrying out of tens of oper-ations in Tehran and other cities…An operation of this kind was more complicated and more important than other operations…the important point about this is that the brave MKO com-batant were able to escape from the operation scene safely.” [135]

One other responsible of NCRI also expresses his support for the assassination and mortar attacks:

“Ali Akbar Akbari, punished Lajavardi…mortars are attacking Ministry of Intelligence…” [136]

The claims of NCRI/MKO of targeting the military and intelligence centres came at a time when all the official news agencies of the world were taking photographs and filming the ruins of civilian homes destroyed as the result of the mortar attacks.

Other members as well not only encouraged terrorism, but also had no hesitation in attribut-ing it to NCRI. In this regard Manouchehr Sakhaei, a member of NCRI says:

“Last year the Iran Resistance (NCRI) was able to carry out a series of operations inside Iran and brought the struggle to a higher level. The Revolutionary execution of Lajavardi…mor-tar attacks from close range on Revolutionary Guards Corps centres and the building of the Intelligence Ministry situated in the centre of Tehran which enjoys the largest level of security protection, reflects on the one hand the deep wrath of the people against these institutions and on the other hand, the revenge of Iran’s Resistance …Last year, Iran’s Resistance pave the way for the final victory in the new year.” [137]

At the same time, Saleh Rajavi, loudly and with delightfully spoke about 170 terrorist attacks in only one year with semi-heavy weapons resulting in the deaths of 6 policemen:

“In the year 2000, 170 military operations with semi-heavy weaponry were carried out suc-cessfully…This shows, on the one hand the peck of glory of the Resistance (NCRI), and the peck of devotion and love for MKO cause on the other…Direct clashes between MKO operat-ing units and the security and intelligence agents in front of others and in three different dis-tricts of Tehran which resulted in the deaths of 6 agents of the suppressing regime…And car-rying out the same operations in Abadan, Maymak and Ilam and tens of other operations” [138]

These people claim that they attack military bases, while in fact they bring residential places and administrative buildings under their mortars. The irony is that they congratulate the chairman of NCRI on these terrorist attacks:

“Brother Mojahed Masoud Rajavi, Commander -in- chief of NLA and chairman of NCRI:

Please accept my warmest greeting and heartfelt congratulation for the victorious operation dubbed “Tehran Uprising” where the centre of power of Khamanei and Office of Rafsanjani in Marmar Palace were targeted by the brave operating units of MKO.

Hamid Reza Taherzadeh (Member and one NCRI responsible) 2 February 2000

“I congratulate you, the Leader of NCRI and the Lion of NLA combatants on this big operation…

Reza OliyaMember of NCRI” [139]


NCRI members pride on kissing the hands of terrorists:

“NCRI President Elect, General Commander of NLA, Brother Masoud and Sister Maryam Rajavi,

May you be delighted by this victorious operation “Tehran Uprising”. On the occasion of these series of operations we kiss a thousand times the hands of our brave Mojaheds and burst into tears of joy.

Sincerely yoursJalal Ganjaei6 February 2000” [140]

Interestingly enough, the members of NCRI do not hide the reality of the mortar attacks on Tehran by terrorists. In fact, the message of NCRI chairman, Masoud Rajavi, and its President elect, Maryam Rajavi :

“Everyday our brave combatants bring the centres of power of the suppressing mullahs under their mortar shelling. In this way, they relay the message of Resistance, the message of Maryam and Masoud to them.” [141]

And more important than that is their emphasis on terrorist attacks by NCRI which is are fact aimed at disturbing the diplomatic negotiations process between Iran and Europe:

“The recent operations of MKO combatants in Tehran both from a military standpoint as well as political situation have truly disrupted the mullah’s efforts. Chairman of NCRI immedi-ately after the visit of Kharazi (the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran ) declares that: “Please make peace with us. Please go ahead and make peace with us!” and some days later this operation in Tehran clearly shows that the fight of the people and Iran’s Resistance (NCRI) with the middle-aged regime is moving ahead with full force and speed.” [142]

And finally NCRI members have no hesitation in attributing terrorist operations, not implic-itly but explicitly, to NCRI. Regarding the Meeting of NCRI held in the year 2000, Mohammad Ali Sheykhi, one responsible of NCRI claims:

“The number of military resistance operations which were carried out between two Sessions of NCRI, exceeds that of one hundred. The mortar shelling of strategic buildings of the regime by MKO combatants, in particular, clearly shows how the regime is incapable of standing against the iron will of MKO to overthrow it…Another point which we should not be negligent about it is that in the process of moving ahead with the Resistance usually one does not pay attention to this point about how much the Resistance has moved ahead during a certain period of time and what were its achievements. But when the time of proper assessment arrives, for example in this Session, then it becomes clear how widespread and brilliant the operations of MKO combatants inside Iran and NLA combatants at the border areas and the activities of mem-bers and sympathizers of NCRI abroad have been.” [143]

Now the question one should ask is that how a so-called political organisation could justify this amount of support to terrorism, terrorists and terrorist operations? And basically, does there remain any room for justification?

With the intention of deceiving public opinion, European officials and official organisations, MKO/NCRI with such an evident and clear terrorist background claim they have denounced ter-rorism since 2001 and have not carried out any terrorist operations inside Iran since that time. This statement comes out in circumstances in which they have fully supported terrorist attacks carried out by MKO’s operatives inside Iran until 2002. A quick look at official statements issued by MKO’s headquarters in which they claim responsibility for these terrorist attacks reveals MKO’s true evil intentions.

By way of example, MKO’s headquarters released a statement on 11 September 2001 in which they proudly claimed: “MKO’s heroic operational teams raided a military base used by IRGC’s Mobilization Forces ( Basidji  forces ) in Ghaleh Morghi , a neighbourhood in south of Tehran . In this courageous attack, the base came under a barrage of fire from different kinds of grenades and explosive materials. [144]” In another statement titled as “Mehregan Operations, No. 2”, MKO/NCRI claim responsibility for a terrorist - military operation in Tehran. The statement goes: “ MKO’s brave operatives attacked headquarters of disciplinary ( police ) forces in Vali-Asr settlement on Monday, 8 October 2001 at 8 : 45. In this raid, police headquarters were severely hit by different kinds of grenades.”[145] It is worth mentioning that MKO’s headquarters accepted responsibility through the official communiqués they released for many terrorist – military operations launched by its opera-tives inside Iran throughout the year of 2001. Statements No. 563 and 564 dated 1 November 2001 are a handful of these statements in which operations called ‘Rebellion of Narmac’, ‘Rebellion of Punac’ and ‘Rising of Iran’ (No. 1 to 4)” have been pointed out.

The group did not cease its terrorist acts in 2002 either. Some of MKO/NCRI’s official com-muniqués concern the operations they carried out in this year. Operation ‘Rebellion of Ferdous’ mentioned in a statement which was later published in ‘Mojahed Publication’, is an example:

“Disciplinary forces’ headquarters in Ferdous came under attack by a series of gun fires on Wednesday, 24 April 2002. [146]

MKO’s headquarters released another statement on 19 May,2002 stating: “ the commanding headquarters of 123rd battalion of IRGC’s Mobilization forces ( known as Battalion of Ashura ) in East of Tehran, at Pirouzi Street, were severely pounded by an MKO’s operational team in a series of fast and courageous raids”. [147] It should be mentioned that two of MKO’s operatives were injured in this terrorist attack.

MKO’s terrorist operations inside Iran continued throughout the year of 2002, bearing the approval stamp and support of MKO’s leaders and their communiqués were being published in Mojahed, the official organ of MKO. MKO/NLA has been designated as a foreign terrorist organ-isation by the State Department of the United States since 1994. A few years later, in 1997, NCRI was also designated as a foreign terrorist organisation. As the group was based in Iraq in those years and was heavily supported by Saddam Hussein and assisted by the Ba’ath Party for financial and military help, it never took into consideration being included in the terrorist lists and continued its terrorist operations until 2003 which gave rise to inclusion in the EU’s terrorist list and terror-ist lists of other countries such as the UK, France, Germany and many others.

After the US-led military campaign in Iraq which resulted in the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime and his Ba’ath Party on one hand, and the raiding of MKO/NLA’s military bases in Iraq by US forces on the other, MKO/NLA had to submit itself to disarmament ( never on a voluntary basis ). As the organisation did not enjoy Saddam Hussein’s support any further and regional and international circumstances were not in its favour, MKO lost the capability to launch terrorist operations inside Iran and therefore had to stop them. Yet, they continued provoking and per-suading acts of terrorism through publications (mainly Mojahed) and TV broadcasts (Sima TV) demonstrating the organisation can not separate itself from its cult – terrorist nature and cannot distance itself from the armed strategy it has cherished since its foundation. To provide an exam-ple, another MKO’s statement published in Mojahed in 2002 is notable. This statement which has been entitled “ the torching of the suppressors’ cars has started” reads: “… the rebellious young people, in support of National liberation Army (NLA), distributed thousands of tracts in Enghelab St. and … calling for overthrow of Mullahs regime.” [148] In this statement, MKO has openly sup-ported NLA which has been included in the EU and US State Department’s terrorist lists.

Having read MKO’s claim that “they have denounced terrorism since 2001”, a question arises as to why leaders or senior echelons of MKO/NCRI/NLA have never issued any statement or have not made any official remarks on Sima TV and Mojahed publication (which are run by the group itself ) rejecting their terrorist acts and their armed conflict to verify the above-mentioned claim? On the contrary, MKO has continuously provoked and persuaded violence, commemorated mili-tary and terrorist operations carried out over the past few years through its TV channel and its pub-lication. Within this context, enclosed you will find a selection of video films broadcast on NITV ( Sima TV ) in which violence and acts of terrorism have been openly persuaded.

Mojahed Publication seems to be another example which best demonstrates the terrorist nature of MKO and its deep belief in armed conflict. The emblem of MKO/NCRI conspicuously attracts attention In the front page of the publication and in the middle of this emblem a gun is omnipresent. The phrase “Long Live NLA” has also been printed at the bottom of the front page which in itself emphasizes MKO’s insistence on preserving NLA and continuing terrorist acts.

Another evidence proving MKO/NCRI has not transformed from a terrorist – military move-ment into a political movement can be clearly inferred from the official remarks or interviews con-ducted by senior authorities of MKO/NCRI in which they have always supported NLA (all these remarks or interviews have been published in Mojahed). For example, Seied Mohammad Seied’ol Mohadethin, chairman of NCRI’s foreign policy committee, made a speech in a gathering held in Brussels in November 2005 on MKO’s armed conflict and terror strategy. He emphasised in his speech that: “ … it is absolutely and fundamentally incumbent upon us to defend Ashraf and for which we all would rise”. [149] Sedigheh Hosseini, a senior member of NCRI and MKO’s First Authority in Iraq, comments on the belligerent and violent nature of MKO: “Ashraf is a place for those who want to fight to the finish and remain loyal to their oath of remaining a Mojahed and a fighter till the last moment of their life and till the last drop of their blood”. [150]

Within the same framework, Mojahed writes ( arguing NLA should remain in Iraq, in Ashraf camp ): “ Today, in the castle of the resistance of the Iranian nation, in Ashraf city, the heroic fight-ers are following the very first lessons of their great leader, Masoud Rajavi, in a more complete and more magnificent circuit and are honouring the blood donated by [ MKO’s ] militia martyrs.” [151] To mention a more important evidence, one should examine a statement released by Masoud Rajavi, Chairman of NCRI, Commander-In-Chief of NLA and leader of MKO, on 24 December 2006. Despite all the publicity the group is giving over the issue of denouncing terrorism, the leader of the group talks so openly and explicitly of preserving armed strategy: “ …The liberation army, this great asset of the Iranian nation, is standing as firm and proud as mountains”. He goes on in his statement to say: “…Risk and danger is something, but the history, direction and rules of the liberation struggle with the Mullah’s regime is something else. This has been our only pur-pose to come to Iraq and deploy our forces in that country, next to the soil of our homeland”. In the same statement, Rajavi refers to MKO as an armed opposition group, which in one way or another he himself is recognising the terrorist nature of the group: “ … thinks now that United States of America has occupied Iraq and Afghanistan and has disarmed the armed opposition group which is MKO …”. Finally Masoud refers to the solution known as The Third Option presented by his wife, Maryam Rajavi, who is currently leading MKO/NLA/NCRI in the absence of Masoud Rajavi. He admits even this should come about through terrorist and military actions carried out by forces in Iraq: “ … the change will come about by the people of Iran, the resistance of Iran, People Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) and fighters for freedom of Iran (NLA).

In any case, there are many clear evidences and indications throughout this statement to prove MKO has not distanced itself from the armed and terrorist approach. He even goes further in his statement to encourage violence and terrorism, “ I also recommend our beloved and our shackled people, especially the combating young generation and the students, that it is time to rise in rebellion. Emeliano Zapata  once said it is better to die while standing on our feet than to live on our knees. The essence of my word is “nobody can scratch my back except my own finger” [ refer-ring to a Persian proverb meaning nobody can help us from the outside world, we ourselves should do something ]. Look at the heroes standing in Ashraf who have created the biggest epic of resist-ance in the past hundred years. We can and we should spread this epic throughout the country”. Concerning the similarity of MKO and NCRI, he adds in his statement ( addressing members of Ashraf camp ): “ you should honour your sisters [ female members of MKO ] in the leadership council, most specifically, your commander Mojgan [152] and the First Authority of MKO, Sedigheh [153], as these two people are the greatest gifts Maryam could have ever donated to the organisation” [154]. These remarks clearly show that the senior echelons of MKO/NLA are appoint-ed by Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of NCRI. Does this not prove  MKO/NLA and NCRI are one and the same?

In addition to all these documents each of which constitutes a concrete evidence rejecting MKO’s claim that they have denounced terrorism and armed conflict, it could be easily proven not only that the group has continued its terrorist activities after the year of 2001 and has claimed responsibility for many terrorist operations through their communiqués, but also the group has started a huge campaign to preserve the military part ( NLA ) of the organisation in Iraq. Meanwhile, it has persuaded members to carry out terrorist and violent activities, to con-tinue theoretical military training in Ashraf military camp and has shamelessly called on American forces to return to them their confiscated guns, which is quite contrary to its claim of giving up terrorism.