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The President-elect Maryam Rajavi

Biography of Maryam Rajavi

Date of Birth: December 4, 1953

Place of Birth: Tehran, Iran

Education: Metallurgical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran

Political Activities:

  • An official in the student movement affiliated with the PMOI/MEK against the Shah’s regime (1973 to 1979)
  • An official in the MEK’s Social Department (1979 to 1981)
  • Candidate for Parliament (1980)
  • Joint-leader of the MEK (1985 to 1989)
  • Secretary-General of the MEK (1989 to 1993)
  • President-elect of the Parliament-in-exile National Council of Resistance of Iran (1993-present)

Early Life and Career

Maryam Rajavi was born to middle-class parents in Tehran. She was one of several siblings from her family who later went on to actively resist the oppressive regimes in power in Iran. Her brother, Mahmoud, is a veteran member of the MEK and was imprisoned for his political activities during the Shah’s regime. Her older sister, Narges, was murdered by the SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police, in 1975. Her sister, Massoumeh, an industrial engineering student, was arrested and imprisoned by Khomeini’s regime in 1982. In the summer of 1988, she was hanged after being brutally tortured as part of the 1988 Massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. Massoumeh was pregnant at the time of her execution.

Maryam Rajavi joined the MEK when she was a young woman, and in 1980, she ran for a seat in the Iranian Parliament after the 1979 Revolution that removed the Shah from power. However, Khomeini and the new regime conducted widespread voter fraud, ensuring that none of the opposition candidates were seated in Parliament. Rajavi still managed to receive more than 250,000 votes.

President-elect of the NCRI

In 1993, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a diverse coalition of Iranian resistance organizations, elected Maryam Rajavi as its president. As President-elect of the NCRI, Mrs. Rajavi is responsible for handling the transitional period after the mullahs are overthrown while the country is being returned to the Iranian people.

The NCRI acts as a parliament-in-exile and a legislative assembly for the Iranian people.

During her tenure as President-elect of the NCRI, Mrs. Rajavi has challenged the political, social, and cultural ideology that underlies the mullahs’ rule. More than half of NCRI members are now women, and women hold many key leadership roles. Rajavi has spoken repeatedly about the true message of Islam, which emphasizes tolerance and democracy, and how that contrasts with fundamentalist interpretations of Islam. She believes that the differences in these opposing views of Islam can be seen clearly in the way that their adherents view the status of women. Mrs. Rajavi has published several books on the subject of the status of women, including Islam, Women, and Equality, Women, the Force for Change, and Women against Fundamentalism.

Against Fundamentalism

In a 1994 speech at the Oslo City Hall, Maryam Rajavi warned against the threat of Islamic fundamentalism and religious tyranny in Iran. “Fundamentalism has turned into the greatest threat to peace in the region and the world,” said Mrs. Rajavi. “The mullahs ruling Iran are pursuing their expansionist agenda and exporting crises and tensions by exploiting the religious beliefs of over a billion Muslims.”

On June 21, 1996, Mrs. Rajavi gave a speech entitled “Women, the Voice of the Oppressed” at a conference in London’s Earls Court. In her speech, she said, “The issue of women and the equality movement is linked to the struggle against reactionary ideology and fundamentalism. Women are not only pioneers in the equality movement but also the main force for progress, peace and social justice. In my view, humankind can only rid itself of the evil phenomenon of reactionary outlook and fundamentalism if women would assume their leading role in this global campaign and employ all forms of democratic struggle to shut the door on all forms of appeasement of and compromise with the misogynous and inhumane mullahs in Iran.”

The Third Option

During a December 2004 speech in front of the European Parliament, Mrs. Rajavi proposed the Third Option, a plan which would resolve the continuing global crisis posed by the unstable Iranian regime.

Mrs. Rajavi proposed: “In the face of this challenge, two options have been raised: The make-a-deal approach to the clerical regime with the aim of containing it or including gradual change. For the past two decades, Western countries have subscribed to this approach. The other option is to overthrow the clerical regime by way of an external war, similar to what occurred in Iraq. No one would want to see this repeated in Iran. But I have come here today to say that there is a third option: Change brought about by the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance. If foreign obstacles are removed, the Iranian people and their Resistance are prepared and have the power to bring about change. And this is the only way to prevent external wars. No concession is going to dissuade the mullahs from continuing their ominous objectives.”

International Solidarity with the Iranian Resistance

Maryam Rajavi is recognized by the Iranian people as a pioneer in the struggle for a free and democratic Iran. Mrs. Rajavi leads a worldwide movement that has grown dramatically in recent years and includes prominent political and social figures from around the world. This powerful movement has achieved significant victories in its efforts to bring legitimacy and credibility to the Iranian Resistance movement.

International Campaign to Delist the MEK

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi led a successful campaign to have the MEK removed from terrorist lists in the U.S. and Europe. The false terrorism designations were given to the MEK as part of the policy of appeasement toward the mullahs. After numerous court rulings found that there was no merit to the terrorist listings, the MEK was delisted in the U.K. in 2008, the E.U. in 2009, and the U.S. in 2012. French terrorism charges resulting from a 2003 dossier were also dismissed in 2011.

International Campaign in Defense of Resistance Members in Ashraf and Liberty

In 2009, the U.S. government transferred the protection and security of the over 3,000 MEK members living in Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government. Subsequently, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, acting on the orders of Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, attacked Camp Ashraf in July 2009, April 2011, and again in September 2013, killing over 100 residents and injuring more than 1,000 in the process. After the last attack, the residents of Camp Ashraf were transferred to a new site, called Camp Liberty, by the United Nations. Residents at the new camp suffered several more missile and rocket attacks, killing dozens and wounding many more. The Iranian regime hoped to completely destroy the MEK with these attacks.

Maryam Rajavi led an international campaign in support of the MEK members at Camps Ashraf and Liberty, which included hundreds of statements issued by human rights organizations, numerous reports, and statements by U.N.-affiliated organizations, and statements by thousands of parliamentarians around the world, in addition to multiple resolutions passed in parliaments and international institutions. Efforts in the U.S. led to the adoption of a 2016 resolution in Congress calling for the provision of security for the residents of Camp Liberty.

Because of these efforts, MEK members in Iraq were successfully relocated to Albania and other European countries on September 6, 2016. The MEK has since built a new home called Ashraf-3 outside of Tirana, Albania, which functions as a small, fortified city.

Justice for Victims of the 1988 Massacre

In August 2016, Mrs. Rajavi announced the formation of a movement for justice for the victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran. The movement demanded the prosecution of all masterminds and perpetrators of the 1988 Massacre; publication of the names, information, and places of burial for all victims of the massacre; and announcement of the identities of all those involved in planning and executing the deaths.

The Call for Justice movement grew quickly both inside and outside of Iran. After 28 years of silence, the regime’s leaders have had to speak up and try to justify this crime against humanity. The families of victims have followed the call and are working to publish the names of those who were murdered by the regime in the summer of 1988.

International lawyers, activists, and human rights organizations have condemned the 1988 Massacre and called for those responsible for the atrocity to be tried in the International Criminal Court.

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