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The Tasnim News Agency, a known mouthpiece for the IRGC Quds Force, recently published an article warning of what it describes as a “media surge aimed at whitewashing” the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The piece, published on April 1, 2025, underscores the regime’s concern over the MEK’s increasing influence, particularly among the younger generation.
The article claims, “The MEK has been attempting to whitewash its record by using human rights, women’s rights, and media outlets to influence public opinion, particularly among the younger generation who may not be as familiar with the MEK’s past actions.”
By singling out the MEK’s human rights advocacy and outreach to youth, the regime inadvertently reveals its anxieties about losing control over an increasingly disillusioned population. The Tasnim piece insists that the MEK remains “one of the main players in confrontation, terrorism, and sanctions against Iran.”
“MEK Is the Undeniable Core of Iran Revolution,” State Media Warnhttps://t.co/fx3cJqaThY
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 25, 2023
The regime’s accusation of a “whitewashing” campaign by the MEK is revealing in itself. When a mouthpiece of the IRGC Quds Force claims that a media effort is underway to reshape perceptions of the MEK, what it inadvertently confirms is that a positive word-of-mouth about the MEK is circulating in society. In the regime’s rigid media landscape, where all state-run outlets—regardless of their factional affiliations—are united in their enmity toward the MEK, any favorable portrayal of the organization is unthinkable.
What Tasnim is warning against is not a systemic media effort orchestrated by the MEK, but rather, it can be translated into a genuine, organic social tendency. It reflects a grassroots interest and recognition of the MEK’s message that the regime cannot control or suppress. The fact that even regime-controlled outlets feel compelled to address this phenomenon demonstrates the traction the MEK is gaining, especially among Iran’s younger generation.
Former MOIS Interrogator Warns Against #MEK Influence in #Iran, Calls for Internet Restrictionshttps://t.co/FKQS8AGR8F
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 10, 2024
As the Iranian regime’s domestic crises deepen and dissatisfaction grows, the regime’s sensitivity to opposition messaging—particularly the MEK’s—becomes all the more apparent.
Furthermore, when the regime loudly asserts that the MEK has “never repented for its past,” this message resonates more than it repels. As multiple popular uprisings since 2017 have shown—where socio-economic grievances turned into calls for “Down with Khamenei” and “Down with the dictator”—the people and the youth will feel nothing but praise for a sixty-year-old movement that has never backed down from its call for regime change. For many, the MEK’s steadfastness in opposing the dictatorship is seen as a badge of credibility and resilience.