Mojahedin and the Iranian revolution

“The Iranian Mojahedin” is an excellent study of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known by its Farsi name Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK). The author, Ervand Abrahamian, is an Iranian-Armenian scholar based in the United States. The book is divided into two parts. The first is a general analysis of Iranian politics and society under the Shah, the Iranian revolution of 1979, and the subsequent consolidation of Ruhollah Khomeini's Islamic republic. The second part deals more specifically with the PMOI, and also discusses prominent Iranian intellectual Ali Shariati, whose ideas were strikingly similar. The author, while an opponent of the Khomeini regime, is nevertheless critical of the PMOI, which may explain some of the negative reviews of this book. They were presumably written by Mojahedin supporters...

The PMOI began as an ideological study and discussion group during the 1960's, later developing into an urban guerilla. Mojahedin fighters opposed the Shah's regime and carried out armed attacks on royal officials, American advisors and Israeli interests. They also feuded with a breakaway group, known as “Marxist Mojahedin” or Peykar. The PMOI had contacts with the PLO, Algeria, the Iraqi and Syrian Baathists, and the Marxist government of South Yemen. They made a failed overture to Ayatollah Khomeini, who would become the Supreme Leader of Iran after the Shah was toppled. After the 1979 revolution, Mojahedin experienced a spectacular growth and soon became a mass movement. Initially, they avoided an open collision with Khomeini, seeing the United States and the native “liberals” as the main enemy. Khomeini's supporters, by contrast, often attacked PMOI offices and meetings. Eventually, a confrontation between Mojahedin and the new order became inevitable. Together with President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr (who had fallen out with the Supreme Leader), Mojahedin attempted to overthrow the Khomeini regime in June 1981. The attempt failed, the regime responded with mass terror, and the leadership of the Mojahedin was forced to flee to France and later to Iraq. In exile, the Mojahedin formed the National Council of Resistance (NCR), which still exists.

Ideologically, Mojahedin could be described as Muslim socialists and modernists. At least that was their original political orientation. While never officially calling themselves Marxists, they were heavily inspired by Marxist analyses and de facto attempted to synthesize Marxism and Shia Islam, interpreting the latter in a “revolutionary” manner. Ali Shariati made similar attempts to combine Islam, Marxism and Neo-Marxism, and is often (wrongly) referred to as “the father of Mojahedin”. The combination of Islam and socialism appealed to the university-educated and radicalized sons and daughters of the traditional Iranian middle class, which is highly devout. This middle class is largely based on the bazaars. By contrast, the modern middle class in Iran, largely based in the state administration, has long been completely secular. Its radicalized elements were rather drawn to secular nationalism á la Mossadeq, liberalism or orthodox Marxism. Despite this, Mojahedin was nevertheless closer to the Marxist and nationalist groups than to the clerical-Muslim opposition around Khomeini. The PMOI wanted a socialist and modernized Iran. As a lay movement, Mojahedin rejected the monopoly of the conservative clergy to interpret the Quran, the sayings of the Prophet or the writings of Imam Ali. When faced with Khomeini's repression, they began to emphasize the need for democracy, pluralism and a “democratic Islamic republic”. The philosophical ideas of the early Mojahedin could be compared to Catholic liberation theology, while the later orientation sounds broadly similar to that of the secular nationalists or even the “liberals” they had initially condemned.

By contrast, Khomeini advocated a theocratic program based on traditional interpretations of the sharia. Society should be ruled by the clergy and everyone is politically subordinated to the “vilayat-e faqih” or “guardianship of the jurisconsult”, the guardian jurist being none other than Khomeini himself in his position as Supreme Leader. The PMOI's modernist-socialist version of Islam (which also included full gender equality) was condemned by the grand ayatollah as “eclecticism”, “unbelief” and “hypocrisy” (to be a “hypocrite” means to be an anti-Muslim masquerading as a believer). What made Khomeini particularly dangerous was the combination of a conservative religious message with populist mass mobilizations eerily reminiscent of European interwar fascism, complete with a Führer. But enough about Khomeini!

According to this book, Mojahedin lost most of its popular appeal in exile. One reason was their de facto support for Saddam Hussein's Iraq in its war against Iran. The Mojahedin established its “National Liberation Army” on Iraqi and Iraqi-occupied territory. After being expelled from France, the PMOI leaders also relocated to Iraq. The Mojahedin organization itself degenerated from a mass movement into a bizarre cult, which controlled the day to day life of every member in detail (including style of dress), arranged marriages and demanded unquestioning obedience to the leadership. A personality cult developed around PMOI's chairman Massoud Rajavi and his wife and co-leader Maryam Rajavi, who had married Massoud under strange circumstances. (I distinctly remember this personality cult myself, when I encountered the PMOI at several points during the 1990's.) One aspect of the personality cult was to bestow Messianic-sounding titles on Massoud Rajavi, another aspect was the slogan “Rajavi is Iran, Iran is Rajavi”. The NCR went from being a Mojahedin-dominated united front with Bani-Sadr and other opposition forces, to a mere front group for Mojahedin itself. Since Abrahamian's book was published, Mojahedin seems to have changed its spots yet again, playing down the weird and cultish traits in public while strongly emphasizing its “democratic” and quasi-feminist sides. The PMOI no longer mentions socialism, but instead portrays itself as a pro-Western and pro-American group, not entirely convincingly due to its longstanding collaboration with Saddam.

Ervand Abrahamian's “The Iranian Mojahedin” is detailed and scholarly, yet easy to read and relatively easy to understand. It may be the only objective study of the most controversial Iranian resistance movement. The only problem with the work is that it's dated. A new edition with a few additional chapters would have been interesting! That being said, I give the book five stars. Recommended.