After Her Election as PMOI/MEK Secretary General, Zahra Merrikhi Pledges to Bring Freedom to Iran

Maryam Rajavi: This election will break the spell of repression and heralds the overthrow of the mullahs’ religious fascism

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI, (the Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK) held its annual Congress simultaneously in Tirana and five other countries. On the PMOI’s 52nd anniversary, the Congress elected Ms. Zahra Merrikhi as its new Secretary General. Ms. Zohreh Akhyani, the Secretary General since 2011, chaired the Congress.

According to the PMOI’s bylaws, the Secretary General is elected to a renewable term of two years. The election is held in three phases. In the first phase, members of the PMOI Central Council, and in the second the organization’s officials and cadres in different departments, cast their votes in secret ballots. In the third phase, at the PMOI Congress, all members vote by raising their hands.

In the first phase, on August 20, 2017, Ms. Merrikhi was elected from among 12 candidates by a majority of the Central Council members. The four leading candidates were put on the ballot for the second phase, which was held on September 3, 2017. Ms. Merrikhi received a majority of the votes cast in ten different PMOI centers. In the final phase, during the PMOI Congress, Ms. Merrikhi was unanimously elected Secretary General.

Previously, Ms. Merrikhi was coordinator for the offices of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and Vice-President of the PMOI’s Central Council.

Born in 1959 in the city of Qa’emshahr in the northern Province of Mazandaran, Ms. Merrikhi became acquainted with the PMOI during the 1979 anti-Monarchic Revolution and joined the PMOI after the Shah’s overthrow. She was soon appointed head of the women’s section in Qa’emshahr, and later became a member of the editorial board of the PMOI publication in Mazandaran, called Talavang.

In 1981, she was transferred to Tehran and acted as liaison between the PMOI and its branches in the forests of northern Iran. In 1984, she moved to PMOI bases in the border region with Iraq, and a year later became a member of the Central Council.

Her younger brother, Ali Merrikhi, was murdered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in 1988.

Ms. Merrikhi oversaw PMOI branches in Scandinavia and Germany for some time. In 1991, she became a member of the Executive Committee and was later appointed head of Radio Mojahed, Simay-e Moghavemat (the Iranian Resistance’s television network) and the publication Mojahed.

She became a member of the NCRI in 1992 and was appointed Chairwoman of the Public Affairs Committee.

Ms. Merrikhi had been the coordinator of the offices of Mrs. Rajavii since 2003 and the Vice-president of the PMOI’s Central Council since 2004.

Following her election as Secretary General, Mrs. Merrikhi was sworn in, placing her hand on the Holy Quran and paying her respects to the Iranian flag and PMOI emblem. She pledged to remain faithful to the enormous responsibilities with which she has been entrusted. Ms. Merrikhi vowed to devote all her abilities and those of the PMOI as a national treasure of the Iranian people, to establish freedom and democracy in Iran.

The new Secretary General expressed her appreciation for the efforts of her predecessor, Ms. Akhyani, and Ms. Mojgan Parsai, the President of the PMOI’s Central Council. She lauded their efforts and those of other PMOI officials over the past 14 years, during one of the most dangerous and tortuous periods of the Organizations history in camps Ashraf and Liberty.

“Today, the PMOI, with the help of the Iranian people, is prepared as never before to overthrow the clerical regime,” Ms. Merrikhi said, adding that the PMOI has now 18 co-Secretaries General (including seven former Secretaries General). Ms. Merrikhi also introduced Narges Azodanlou, 36, Rabi’eh Mofidi, 35, and Nasrin Massih, 39, as new deputies to the Secretary General.

In congratulating the election of Ms. Merrikhi as the new PMOI Secretary General, Mrs. Rajavi described it as a brilliant election, embodying the height of democracy, cohesion, and growth in the PMOI. It heralds the breaking of the spell of repression which will lead to the overthrow of the religious fascism ruling Iran, she added.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran

September 6, 2017

Source: After Her Election as PMOI/MEK Secretary General, Zahra Merrikhi Pledges to Bring Freedom to Iran

AFTER HER ELECTION AS PMOI/MEK SECRETARY GENERAL, ZAHRA MERRIKHI PLEDGES TO BRING FREEDOM TO IRAN

Maryam Rajavi: This election will break the spell of repression and heralds the overthrow of the mullahs’ religious fascism

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI, (the Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK) held its annual Congress simultaneously in Tirana and five other countries. On the PMOI’s 52nd anniversary, the Congress elected Ms. Zahra Merrikhi as its new Secretary General. Ms. Zohreh Akhyani, the Secretary General since 2011, chaired the Congress.

According to the PMOI’s bylaws, the Secretary General is elected to a renewable term of two years. The election is held in three phases. In the first phase, members of the PMOI Central Council, and in the second the organization’s officials and cadres in different departments, cast their votes in secret ballots. In the third phase, at the PMOI Congress, all members vote by raising their hands.

In the first phase, on August 20, 2017, Ms. Merrikhi was elected from among 12 candidates by a majority of the Central Council members. The four leading candidates were put on the ballot for the second phase, which was held on September 3, 2017. Ms. Merrikhi received a majority of the votes cast in ten different PMOI centers. In the final phase, during the PMOI Congress, Ms. Merrikhi was unanimously elected Secretary General.

Previously, Ms. Merrikhi was coordinator for the offices of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and Vice-President of the PMOI’s Central Council.

Born in 1959 in the city of Qa’emshahr in the northern Province of Mazandaran, Ms. Merrikhi became acquainted with the PMOI during the 1979 anti-Monarchic Revolution and joined the PMOI after the Shah’s overthrow. She was soon appointed head of the women’s section in Qa’emshahr, and later became a member of the editorial board of the PMOI publication in Mazandaran, called Talavang.

In 1981, she was transferred to Tehran and acted as liaison between the PMOI and its branches in the forests of northern Iran. In 1984, she moved to PMOI bases in the border region with Iraq, and a year later became a member of the Central Council.

Her younger brother, Ali Merrikhi, was murdered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in 1988.

Ms. Merrikhi oversaw PMOI branches in Scandinavia and Germany for some time. In 1991, she became a member of the Executive Committee and was later appointed head of Radio Mojahed, Simay-e Moghavemat (the Iranian Resistance’s television network) and the publication Mojahed.

She became a member of the NCRI in 1992 and was appointed Chairwoman of the Public Affairs Committee.

Ms. Merrikhi had been the coordinator of the offices of Mrs. Rajavii since 2003 and the Vice-president of the PMOI’s Central Council since 2004.

Following her election as Secretary General, Mrs. Merrikhi was sworn in, placing her hand on the Holy Quran and paying her respects to the Iranian flag and PMOI emblem. She pledged to remain faithful to the enormous responsibilities with which she has been entrusted. Ms. Merrikhi vowed to devote all her abilities and those of the PMOI as a national treasure of the Iranian people, to establish freedom and democracy in Iran.

The new Secretary General expressed her appreciation for the efforts of her predecessor, Ms. Akhyani, and Ms. Mojgan Parsai, the President of the PMOI’s Central Council. She lauded their efforts and those of other PMOI officials over the past 14 years, during one of the most dangerous and tortuous periods of the Organizations history in camps Ashraf and Liberty.

“Today, the PMOI, with the help of the Iranian people, is prepared as never before to overthrow the clerical regime,” Ms. Merrikhi said, adding that the PMOI has now 18 co-Secretaries General (including seven former Secretaries General). Mr. Merrikhi also introduced Narges Azodanlou, 36, Rabi’eh Mofidi, 35, and Nasrin Massih, 39, as new deputies to the Secretary General.

In congratulating the election of Ms. Merrikhi as the new PMOI Secretary General, Mrs. Rajavi described it as a brilliant election, embodying the height of democracy, cohesion, and growth in the PMOI. It heralds the breaking of the spell of repression which will lead to the overthrow of the religious fascism ruling Iran, she added.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran
September 6, 2017

Source:AFTER HER ELECTION AS PMOI/MEK SECRETARY GENERAL, ZAHRA MERRIKHI PLEDGES TO BRING FREEDOM TO IRAN

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, meets President Mahmoud Abbas

Maryam Rajavi,Mahmoud Abbas

On Saturday evening, July 30, 2016, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, met with Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, and they discussed the crises in the region.

President Mahmoud Abbas, at the meeting, reiterated the need to combat fundamentalism and terrorism in the region and informed Mrs. Rajavi of the latest developments in the Middle East, in particular regarding Palestine and France's initiative.

Mrs. Rajavi expressed gratitude for the solidarity of the Palestinian resistance and its leader with the Iranian people and Resistance. She congratulated the Palestinian government on its victories and expressed hope that the goal of the Palestinian people would be achieved. She reiterated that the Iranian regime is the main instigator of sectarian discord, fundamentalism and terrorism in the entire region, in particular in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine, but she added that today the mullahs' regime is at its weakest and most fragile and vulnerable state. This reality can be seen clearly in the hysteric reaction of the regime's officials and state media to the Iranian Resistance's July 9 gathering.

Mrs. Rajavi reiterated that the regime is above all fearful of the solidarity and unity between the Iranian people and Resistance and the countries and nations of the region. Therefore, the countries of the region and the Iranian people and Resistance ought to take the initiative to free the region from the scourge of fundamentalism.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

Maryam Rajavi,Mahmoud Abbas

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/president-elect/20798-mrs-maryam-rajavi-president-elect-of-the-iranian-resistance-meets-president-mahmoud-abbas

MARYAM RAJAVI: THE IRANIAN REGIME WILL COLLAPSE FOLLOWING ASSAD’S LEAVE FROM POWER

MARYAM RAJAVI

Maryam Rajavi interview with daily Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday, 17 April 2016

Huda Al Husseini

Paris-Maryam Rajavi, President of the “People’s Mujahedin of Iran” party, said that the Iranian regime is founded on three main pillars for it to prevail.

The three principals are assembling a nuclear deterrent, absolute oppression of the interior and the export of terrorism and extremism to the outside.

Rajavi, in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, said believes that Tehran’s strategy is established on the extent of interference it manages in affairs of other countries, the incitement of war and the exporting of terrorism; however, all the regime’s plots have failed after the Decisive Storm.

“The Iranian regime can be defeated once and for all in Bahrain if it was confronted with a decisive alliance formed by regional countries,” Rajavi said. She mentioned that the Iranian regime is close to drowned in the swamps of the Syrian civil war.

                                                                                  

Rajavi clarified the connection entailing that the Iranian regime would collapse consequentially should Syrian President Bashar al-Assad be toppled, which is why Iran has been stretching out an arm’s length for keeping Assad in rule.

“If Assad falls out of authority in Damascus, then the Iranian regime will evidently follow and collapse in Tehran,”Rajavi said.

“It’s dying,” Rajavi used to express the current state-of-affairs on the Iranian regime; “It has faced defeat in Yemen. Fronts in Syria and Iraq are in effective escalation, the regime has sent 60 thousand Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers and affiliated militia to fight in Syria,” Rajavi added.

When asked about nuclear danger looming in the horizon, Rajavi explained that the Iranian regime has only “temporarily” lost its ability on manufacturing a nuclear arsenal and will soon resume what it had long planned for.

“The Iranian regime is skilled with the art of keeping to its confidentiality and vagueness of its activities. It hasn’t revealed all its cards, and one must say that the international community was not firm enough, because the international community could have taken away everything from the regime,” Rajavi said.

On the topic of the recent ballistic missile activities and violations, Rajavi clarified that all corners to the Iranian governing system are the same, seeking internal oppression of the people and terrorizing regional nations.

The missile program, according to Rajavi, is an attempt for establishing missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as a part of a plan on frightening the region and raising the morals of its supporters.

The full text of the interview was published in Arabic on Page 10 of the Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday, April 17, 2016

Iranian Resistance, Syria