MEK also operates as PMOI, MKO, the People’s Mojahedin, and its political front NCRI.
According to the U.S. State Department, the group was involved in the killing of American citizens in Iran in the 1970s and in an attack on U.S. soil in 1992. The United States designated MEK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization from 1997 to 2012. When it was removed from that list, the State Department said it did not overlook or forget those past acts.
U.S. and historical records also state that after 1979 the group based itself in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, fought against Iranian forces, and in 1992 carried out coordinated attacks on Iranian missions in multiple countries, including the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York.
A name change does not change that record. Many Iranians reject them because they sided with Saddam against Iran.
#RegimeLobbyingMEK
Sources:
State Department delisting notice, 28 Sept 2012
2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs…
Guardian Q&A on the U.S. terrorist designation
theguardian.com/politics/201…
CFR backgrounder
cfr.org/backgrounders/mujaha…
CRS report on MEK and PMOI
congress.gov/crs-product/R48…