Maryam Rajavi

Maryam Rajavi
مریم رجوی
“President–elect” of the National Council of Resistance[1]
Assumed office
22 October 1993[1]
Preceded by Abolhassan Banisadr[lower-alpha 1]
“Co–equal Leader” of the People's Mojahedin Organization[3]
Assumed office
27 January 1985[3]
Serving with Massoud Rajavi[lower-alpha 2]
Personal details
Born Maryam Qajar–Azodanlu
(1953-12-04) 4 December 1953[5]
Tehran, Iran
Political party People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran
Spouse(s)
Children Mostafa (b. 1980)
Ashraf (b. 1982)[5]
Religion Islam

Maryam Rajavi (born Maryam Azodanlu, مریم قجر عضدانلو, on 4 December 1953) is the President of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, an organization trying to overthrow the Iranian government. Rajavi is also the President elect of National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) since 1993. She is the wife of Massoud Rajavi, founder of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI).[7]

Early life and education

Rajavi was born on 4 December in in Tehran.[5] She was raised there as the daughter of a middle-class civil servant descended from a member of the Qajar dynasty.[8] She attended the Sharif University of Technology in Iran, earning a B.S. in metallurgy.[9]

Political career

Rajavi has stated that her political activism started when she was twenty-two after her sister Narges's killing by Shah Muhammad Reza's secret police.[8] Then she became a member of the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and began her political career.

Rajavi served as an organizer of the anti-Shah student movement in the 1970s and in 1979, became an official of the social section of the PMOI/MEK, where she served until 1981. During that time, Rajavi was a parliamentary candidate in 1980. In 1985, she became Joint-Leader of the PMOI and served in that capacity until 1989 when she became the Secretary General until 1993.[9][10]

In 1982, Rajavi was transferred to Paris, where the political headquarters of the Mojahedin was located, the principal opposition movement at that time.[11]

In 2003, Rajavi's offices were raided by French police. She was placed under arrest and the assets of the NCRI were frozen by the French government. Rajavi's supporters protested her arrest by demonstration until her release."[12]

Rajavi congratulated Zohreh Akhyani's election as the new Secretary General of the PMOI on 7 September 2011.[13]

The Supreme Court of the UK reiterated Rajavi's travel ban on 12 November 2014. Originally put in place in 1997, Rajavi is not excluded from any other European country and engages regularly with parliamentarians in the European Parliament.[14]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Banisadr who was affiliated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran from 1981 to 1984, was considered as the "President of Iran" in the claimed government by the council.[2] The office was vacant after Banisadr.
  2. ↑ Since 2003 Massoud Rajavi has disappeared and leadership of the group has practically passed to his wife Maryam Rajavi.[4]
  1. 1 2 Kenneth Katzman (2001). "Iran: The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran". In Albert V. Benliot. Iran: Outlaw, Outcast, Or Normal Country?. Nova Publishers. p. 97. ISBN 1560729546.
  2. ↑ Kian Parsa (July 2008) [Tir 1387]. "شورای ملی مقاومت، بنی‌صدر و رجوی، از ائتلاف تا جدایی". Shahrvand Magazine (in Persian) (52). Archived from the original on 3 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 Steven O'Hern (2012). Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat That Grows While America Sleeps. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 208. ISBN 1597977012.
  4. ↑ Stephen Sloan; Sean K. Anderson (2009). Historical Dictionary of Terrorism. Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest (3 ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 454. ISBN 0810863111.
  5. 1 2 3 "Maryam". Maryam-rajavi.com. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  6. 1 2 Connie Bruck (2006). "Exiles: How Iran's expatriates are gaming the nuclear threat". The New Yorker. F-R Publishing Corporation. 82 (1–11): 54–55.
  7. ↑ XENAKIS, JOHN J. "World View: Iran Furious at Palestinian Meeting with Iran Opposition Group". Breitbart. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  8. 1 2 Smith, Craig S. (24 September 2005). "Exiled Iranians Try to Foment Revolution From France". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  9. 1 2 "Maryam Rajavi". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  10. ↑ "A Brief on the Life of Maryam Rajavi". Usfliberty.org. U.S. Foundation for Liberty. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "A Brief Biography of Maryam Rajavi". www.iran-e-azad.org. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Graff, James (14 December 2006). "Iran's Armed Opposition Wins a Battle — In Court". Time Magazine.
  13. ↑ "Maryam Rajavi lauds election of the new Secretary General of the PMOI". NCR. 7 September 2011.
  14. ↑ "Parliamentarians lose Maryam Rajavi court battle". Hillingdon & Uxbridge Times. Hillingdon & Uxbridge Times. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Masoud Rajavi
as Leader of People's Mujahedin of Iran		 Co-Leader of People's Mujahedin of Iran
1985–present
Served alongside: Masoud Rajavi		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Vacant
Title last held by
Abolhassan Banisadr
as President of Iran		 President of National Council of Resistance
1993–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.