Twenty-eight years ago, on June 20, 1981, after almost two years of friction between the Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) – a militant revolutionary group – and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini – the Iranian leader of the 1979 revolution – the dispute escalated into armed conflict. The ayatollah attacked the MKO leaders and followers as non-believers and “monafeq” (hypocrites hidden inside Islamic society). He encouraged people to confront the movement. The MKO was driven underground, but the fierce campaign, which cost the lives of hundreds of the MKO’s followers, crushed and rooted the organization out of the country. Now, history is repeating its terrible self. However, misleadingly, while the two events look similar on the surface, there are fundamental differences.
