Long-standing PMOI member Alireza Madanchi passed away due to a brain aneurysm, leaving behind a shining legacy marked with 50 years of relentless struggle for freedom against both the Shah’s and the clerical regime’s dictatorships in Iran.
Alireza Madanchi, born in 1949 in Hamedan, was also a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
In 1970, while studying medicine at Shiraz University, he was arrested for his political activities against the Shah’s dictatorship. Upon his release, he was expelled from the university and exiled to forced military service in Ahvaz.
During his military service in 1972, he established contact with the PMOI through PMOI martyrs Asghar Sharifi and Hassan Kabiri. After completing his service, he took the university entrance exam and was admitted to the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Tehran.
In 1974, Alireza Madanchi was arrested again for membership in PMOI. He was transferred to the infamous Joint Committee detention center, run by the Shah’s secret police (SAVAK) and the police force, where he was subjected to interrogation and torture.
After three years of imprisonment in Evin and Qasr prisons, he was released in 1977. He immediately rejoined the PMOI to continue the fight against the shah dictatorship, despite threats from his interrogators that if he resumed his activities, he would be killed.
After the victory of the 1979 revolution and the overthrow of the Shah dictatorship, Alireza Madanchi became a commentator on Iran’s national radio. He also made television appearances, where he was responsible for live daily political commentary, reaching millions of listeners across Iran.
In July 1979, as Khomeini’s regime began suppressing freedoms, he bravely used a live radio broadcast to expose the censorship and repression imposed by Khomeini’s agents, addressing the people directly.
During a live broadcast, he declared: “I refuse to continue collaborating with this system of censorship, forgery, and distortion. Based on my pledge to you, I hereby announce that this so-called ‘Islamic’ radio and television has lost its legitimacy, and I am no longer willing to work for this institution of lies and deception.”
He further exposed Khomeini’s operatives and those who had hijacked the revolution, stating: “A group has now taken control of the radio and television whose sole function is to censor the truth and deceive the people. They have no connection to the revolution—they are its enemies.”
Alireza Madanchi then became a member of the editorial board of Mojahed (the PMOI newspaper) from its very first issue in July 1979.
Following the regime’s brutal crackdown on dissidents on June 20, 1981, and the start of nationwide revolutionary resistance, he played a professional role in establishing and broadcasting Radio Mojahed in the border region of Kurdistan.
From the outset, he was one of the editorial leaders of Radio Mojahed, amplifying the voice of the PMOI and the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom.
Alireza Madanchi authored thousands of articles, speeches, and analyses exposing the crimes and brutality of the religious dictatorship ruling Iran. He also provided insights on revolutionary resistance, the struggles of freedom fighters, and the political activities of the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance.
Within the PMOI, Alireza Madanchi was a model of revolutionary ethics, humility, and responsibility, inspiring his fellow resistance members.
Today, his legacy lives in his fellow PMOI members, the brave Resistance Units, and the great family of the Iranian Resistance inside Iran and across the world.