The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) have resided in two separate camps (Ashraf and Liberty) in Iraq from 1986 to 2016. This article will tell the story from 1986 until 2009.
In 1986, in addition to MEK members and sympathizers from Iran around 1,000 MEK members from France to Iraq to build a new operations base for the Iranian Resistance. They were granted a small patch of barren land in the desert, near to the Iranian border, with only a handful of deserted and partially-constructed buildings that had no running water or electricity. It expanded rapidly as MEK supporters from the West, mainly students and professionals travelled to the remote area with hopes of bringing democracy to Iran.
Iran-Iraq War
This was during the Iran-Iraq war, which the MEK, Iraq, and the people of Iran wanted to end. The mullahs, however, pushed on in the hope that they could turn Iraq into an Iranian province. Thus the MEK formed the National Liberation Army (NLA), which eventually resulted in a UN ceasefire to the war.
Following the war, the MEK build Camp Ashraf into a 14-square-mile city with a university, mosque, museum, bakeries, shopping centre, four Olympic size swimming pools, zoo, and various social and other sports facilities. However, they still remained committed to their objective of bringing democracy to Iran.
During this time, Ashraf was often the subject of attacks by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), but thanks to the MEK’s secure bunkers, casualties were minimal.
Gulf Wars
The next time that the MEK faced off with the Iranian Regime on a large scale was after of Saddam Hussein’s defeat in the first Gulf War. The IRGC crossed into Iraq, which was still in chaos, with the intention of eliminating the MEK. However, the MEK was prepared and caused Iran’s forces to retreat in defeat with huge losses.
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