Resistance Units across several Iranian cities marked the 61st anniversary of the founding of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) with flowers, wreaths, candles, and commemorative displays honoring the organization’s founders and members who lost their lives during its decades-long struggle.
The activities, held on September 7, 2026, took place in Tehran, Tabriz, Karaj, Shiraz, Urmia, and Zanjan. Wreaths and flower baskets carried portraits of PMOI founders Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeid Mohsen, and Ali Asghar Badizadegan and messages commemorating 61 years of sacrifice, honesty, and perseverance.
Some of the flowers and anniversary messages were sent by political prisoners supporting the PMOI in Ghezel Hesar Prison, linking the commemorations outside prison with parallel anniversary messages being issued from behind bars.
September 2026—Iran
Resistance Units celebrate the founding anniversary of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) In different cities across Iran. pic.twitter.com/ai5tzAP67i— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 9, 2026
The commemorations took different forms from city to city while carrying a common theme of connecting the PMOI’s founding generation with those who followed it.
In Urmia, Resistance Units set up a memorial table with flowers, a cake, candles, and portraits of the PMOI’s founders and members martyred during the struggle. Photographs of 15 PMOI members, including those executed since the beginning of the current Iranian year, were displayed. Messages at the event emphasized 61 years of struggle against the dictatorships of the Shah and the clerical regime.
In Zanjan, another anniversary table included flowers, cake and candles alongside portraits of the founders and the PMOI emblem. Messages described the organization’s 61-year history in terms of steadfastness and “boundless sacrifice,” emphasizing its survival through successive trials and conspiracies.
Another recurring message in the commemorations was the PMOI’s opposition to both the Shah’s monarchy and the current clerical regime. The Urmia display explicitly marked “61 years of relentless struggle against the two dictatorships of the Shah and mullahs.”
Together with the wreaths placed in Tehran, Tabriz, Karaj, and Shiraz, the displays turned remembrance of the founders and fallen PMOI members into the central theme of this batch of anniversary activities.
Tehran
Flower bouquet with photo of PMOI founder Saeid Mohsen, placed on behalf of PMOI supporters in Ghezel Hesar prison. pic.twitter.com/OAGl1odpCT— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 9, 2026
The flowers sent on behalf of political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar add another dimension to the commemorations. During the days surrounding the anniversary, political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar and other prisons also issued a series of messages reflecting on the PMOI’s 61-year history.
These included letters from death-row political prisoner Arghavan Fallahi and Forough Taghipour in Evin Prison and Parisa Kamali in Yazd Central Prison. Their letters emphasized generational continuity, sacrifice, and resistance to dictatorship.
Zanjan
"Congratulations on the 61st founding anniversary of the PMOI" pic.twitter.com/HH3blresux— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 9, 2026
Political prisoner Mehdi Vafaei Sani sent a message from Ghezel Hesar arguing that decades of repression had failed to prevent new generations from continuing the struggle. Further messages followed from prisoners including Meysam Dehbanzadeh, Mohammad Hassani, and Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, who is on death-row in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison.
Veteran political prisoner Ali Moezzi also marked the anniversary from Ghezel Hesar. Akbar Bagheri and Assadollah Hadi issued further messages from the same prison, with Bagheri emphasizing sacrifice as the reason the organization had survived repression under both the Shah and the clerical regime.
The flowers sent from Ghezel Hesar therefore formed part of a broader series of anniversary tributes by prisoners supporting the PMOI.
“Honesty and sacrifice” and the founders’ legacy
The references to sacrifice, honesty, and perseverance in the anniversary displays draw directly on the PMOI’s founding principles.
The organization was founded on September 6, 1965, by Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeid Mohsen, and Ali Asghar Badizadegan at a time when the Shah’s regime had suppressed organized political opposition. The founders concluded that the struggle for freedom required a durable organization, disciplined leadership, and willingness to make sacrifices.
The same language appears throughout the September 7 commemorations. The wreaths honored “61 years of sacrifice, honesty, and perseverance,” while the Zanjan display referred to “boundless sacrifice” and endurance through repeated tests. The activities mark the continuation of the values of the three founders with the PMOI’s subsequent generations.