Soona Samsami: The MEK’s blacklisting was a manifestation of the West’s policy of appeasement toward the Iranian regime
On September 28, 2012, the U.S. State Department revoked the designation of the main organized Iranian opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The landmark decision, which followed a unanimous June 1, 2012, ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, marked the culmination of a 15-year legal and political battle and a historic victory for the Iranian Resistance.
The court ordered the Secretary of State to act on the MEK’s delisting petition within four months or face the court setting aside the designation. The verdict underscored the politically motivated nature of the 1997 blacklisting, which a senior U.S. administration official at the time told the Los Angeles Times was “intended as a goodwill gesture to Tehran and its newly elected moderate President Mohammad Khatami.”
The ruling followed the court’s 2010 determination that the State Department had violated the MEK’s due-process rights in maintaining the designation. A bipartisan House majority initiative had previously rejected the designation, recognizing the MEK as “a legitimate resistance movement” and warning that such a “wrong-headed policy” would only embolden the regime.
The MEK’s delisting was the culmination of a series of landmark legal victories in which the rule of law triumphed over political expediency:
- In November 2007, the United Kingdom’s Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission rejected the MEK’s proscription, leading to its official deproscription by the UK government in June 2008.
- In December 2008, the Court of First Instance of the EU forced the European Union to remove the MEK from its list of banned terrorist organizations in January 2009.
- In May 2011, the antiterrorism department of the Paris judiciary dropped all terrorism charges against the MEK, acknowledging its activities as legitimate resistance.
Ms. Soona Samsami, Representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in the United States, said: “The 2012 revocation was a testament to the resilience of the MEK and the broader Iranian Resistance and to their unwavering commitment to a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear republic in Iran. It also represented a major legal and political victory for the Iranian people, removing a designation that had imposed severe legal, financial, and political restrictions on the principal organized opposition to the clerical regime.”
She added: “The MEK’s blacklisting was a stark manifestation of the West’s misguided policy of appeasement toward the Iranian regime. The repercussions of this policy severely affected the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and peace, prolonging the regime’s longevity.”
– NCRI-US Staff