Iranians hardly ever agree on anything. But there’s at least one thing on that most Iranians share a common view, and that is their dislike of the Iranian opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).
For this reason, talk of removing the group’s designation as a terrorist organization, which the United States is currently considering and which the European Union did in 2009, is sure to spark protests from Tehran.
But the issue also draws protests from a less likely source — members of Iran’s Green Movement who themselves are critical of the exiled group and are wary of attempts by the MKO (aka People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran) and by the Iranian government to portray them as allies in opposition.
And Green Movement members also warn that removing the MKO’s terrorist designation could inadvertently send a negative signal to people in Iran and tarnish their view of the United States.
Labeled As Traitors Among Iranians
The MKO’s involvement in a series of violent acts in the 1970s and 1980s in Iran, and its decision to side with Iraq during the bloody 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, led to the group being labeled as traitors among Iranians.
