Career
After leaving Iran in 1981, he resided in France and Iraq. Since the American 2003 invasion of Iraq, he has not made any public appearances. Massoud Rajavi is a graduate of political law from Tehran University.
He joined the MEK when he was 20 and a law student at Tehran University.
Later on he was arrested by SAVAK (the Shah"s secret police) and was sentenced to death. He was released from prison during the Iranian revolution in 1979.
Upon his release, Rajavi assumed leadership of the Islamic MEK, reclaiming the name from the Marxists. Rajavi and the MEK actively opposed the Shah of Iran and participated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Following the removal of the Shah, MEK pursued its objective of establishing democracy in Iran.
The group clashed with Ayatollah Khomeini"s government. By the time Iran’s first presidential election took place in January 1980, MEK had gathered significant support in Iran, including support from Jews and Kurds. Rajavi was one of the candidates for Iran"s presidential elections.
However before the final result of the election was announced, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered Rajavi"s name omitted from the list of candidates.
When Rajavi was barred from running for office, many Kurds, who widely supported Rajavi, also boycotted the election. In a speech in June 1980 at Tehran’s Amjadieh Stadium, Rajavi criticized government leaders, especially Ayattollah Khoimeini, about the suppression of liberties.
In 1981, when Ayatollah Khomeini dismissed President Bani Sadr and a new wave of arrests and executions started in the country, Rajavi and Bani Sadr fled to Paris from Tehran"s airbase. In 1986 Rajavi moved to Iraq and set up a base on the Iranian border.
Rajavi was welcomed in Baghdad by then-Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Following the American invasion of Iraq, Massoud Rajavi disappeared. In his absence, Maryam Rajavi has assumed his responsibilities as leader of the MEK. In 2011 NCRI posted an article which described Rajavi as being "in hiding"., though this has not been independently verified.
