Name calling

Name calling is a well known propaganda technique to disparage an opponent. It is used to misinform, falsely label, or smear an individual or group’s reputation. The People’s Mojahedin has long been a target of name calling. SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police, mischaracterized the resistance organization as “Islamic Marxists” to undermine its support by the Iranian public, which is highly devout. The Shah feared the PMOI because of its potential to mobilize Iranians, particularly young people, against the monarchy. After the 1979 Revolution, the mullahs – and later the Ministry of Intelligence and Security – continued the fraud in their propaganda, mislabeling the Mojahedin as godless Marxists. Its resort to name calling is on a much larger scale than SAVAK. The mullahs consider the PMOI to be an existential threat and are similarly alarmed by its popularity. Another name-calling tag employed by the MOIS to vilify the Mojahedin is “cult.” Whenever the MOIS mentions the resistance organization, it nearly always adds the false attribute, hoping by repetition the deception will come to be viewed as the truth. From its early history, the Mojahedin has been maligned and misbranded by its opponents. Many people know the organization only from the negative propaganda. To set the record straight, this website provides information on the false descriptions of the PMOI perpetrated by SAVAK and the MOIS to damage the organization’s reputation, and presents and overview of the PMOI’s political views and its modern interpretation of Islam.