A surge of frantic propaganda from the Iranian regime’s state-controlled media is not a sign of strength, but an involuntary confession of its profound fear. In recent weeks, the clerical regime has unleashed a coordinated campaign of demonization against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), revealing a deep-seated panic about the growing influence and legitimacy of the Iranian Resistance.
This hysterical reaction has emanated from every corner of the state’s repressive apparatus. On August 17, the IRGC’s Javan newspaper claimed the PMOI has no support inside Iran. Similar attacks have appeared in the Quds Force’s Tasnim News Agency and the Judiciary’s Mizan News Agency. This campaign extends to the pulpits of the regime’s most loyal clerics. On August 15, Mohammad Saeedi, Ali Khamenei’s representative in Qom, admitted the Resistance’s unwavering resolve, calling the PMOI a disease and complaining that the PMOI’s core members “do not see themselves as wrongdoers to repent.”
An anatomy of fear: An international perspective
This deep-seated fear was recently dissected by former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt at the Free Iran 2025 conference in Rome. She explained how she first encountered the regime’s demonization machine after speaking in support of the Iranian Resistance. “I became the target of a wave of emotional pressure and coordinated disinformation,” she recalled. “But instead of stepping back… I decided to dive in and do my own research.” Her investigation uncovered the precise reasons why the regime is so terrified of the PMOI.
Fear of a credible and organized alternative
First, Tehran fears the PMOI because it presents a coherent and organized political alternative, not just scattered protest. Ms. Betancourt pointed to Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for a future Iran as a direct threat to the mullahs’ tyranny. This plan, she noted, is a comprehensive “governing agenda” that includes free and fair elections, gender equality, the abolition of the death penalty, and a non-nuclear Iran. It is a tangible vision of a democratic future that the corrupt and crumbling regime cannot compete with.
Fear of legitimacy on the ground
Second, the regime’s deepest nightmare is the PMOI’s growing and active network inside Iran. The Resistance Units, comprised of men and women from all walks of life, are risking everything to challenge the regime from within. This internal network provides the movement with something the regime fundamentally lacks: popular legitimacy. As Ms. Betancourt stated, “That gives the MEK something very rare: legitimacy on the ground. And that’s what the regime fears the most.”
Fear of an unbreakable history of resistance
Finally, the regime’s propaganda machine is desperate to erase a history it cannot deny. The PMOI’s legacy is built on more than 60 years of unwavering resistance against two dictatorships—the Shah and the mullahs. This history is sealed with the blood of 120,000 martyrs who sacrificed their lives for freedom. This is not a movement built for power or profit, but a principled force forged in the crucible of torture, execution, and exile. Ms. Betancourt rightly concluded that it is a “grassroots force grounded in principle and having the willingness to sacrifice everything for freedom. And no lies can erase that history.”
The inescapable truth the regime fears most
The regime’s desperate campaign of lies is an involuntary confession. It reveals that Tehran’s rulers see the PMOI not merely as an opponent, but as the only democratic alternative poised to replace them. The international community must look past the mullahs’ smokescreen of disinformation and recognize the reality that terrifies them. As Ingrid Betancourt powerfully stated, the choice for a free world and a free Iran is clear:
“The MEK is not just background noise; it is the voice of those who refuse to surrender. It is the foundation of change, its vision, its plan. It is the face of hope for the people of Iran. And not only that. The MEK is the only option. It’s not an option, it’s the only option.”