Mojahed (newspaper)

Persian-English political publication (1979–1981)

For the Algerian newspaper with the same name, see El Moudjahid.

Mojahed

Mujahed (newspaper) - year 1980

Type| Weekly
Format| Tabloid
Launched| 23 July 1979 (1979-07-23)
Political alignment| People's Mujahedin of Iran
Language|

* Persian
* English

Ceased publication| 30 June 1981 (1981-06-30)
Relaunched| 2 December 1982; 42 years ago (1982-12-02)
Country| Iran
Sister newspapers|

* Iran Liberation[1]
* Iran Zamin (1995–98)[2]

OCLC number| 52053082
Free online archives|

* University of Manchester Library (1979–81)
* Iranian Opposition Archive (1979–84; 2005–07)

Mojahed (Persian: مجاهد, romanized: Mujāhid, lit. 'The [holy] warrior') is the official newspaper of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), first printed in 1979 on a weekly basis. The newspaper published its last issue inside Iran on 30 June 1981 and after a hiatus resumed publication in exile on 2 December 1982.

* Media of Iran
* List of newspapers

Mojahed (Persian: مجاهد, romanized: Mujāhid, lit. 'The [holy] warrior') is the official newspaper of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), first printed in 1979 on a weekly basis. The newspaper published its last issue inside Iran on 30 June 1981 and after a hiatus resumed publication in exile on 2 December 1982.

## History

[edit]

Mojahed staff spent months to prepare for launching it, before it was first published in late July 1979.[3] The paper was used to publicize the MEK's political campaigns and programs.[4] While trying to suppress the MEK, the Iranian regime banned the Mojahed on 2 November 1980 on orders of the Chief Prosecutor who said the paper was "spreading slanderous lies". However, it continued to print via clandestine printing press and was distributed underground.[5] According to Dilip Hiro, the newspaper sold about 30,000 copies by mid-1981.[6] Ervand Abrahamian said that Mojahed's circulation had surpassed Jomhouri-e Eslami of the Islamic Republican Party and reached 500,000 around the same time.[7]

After exile, the MEK established printing presses both in Europe and North America and in December 1982, the newspaper reappeared.[8] In 1983, Mojahed became available throughout an international network in several capitals and in some issues contained over seventy newsprint pages.[1] Members of the MEK were encouraged to read the publication in their spare time.[9] As of 2000, the newspaper continued publication for the MEK's cadre.[10]

In June 2003, French police raided the MEK in France and also banned publications of the Mojahed.[11] Group members denied any wrongdoing and accused French intelligence of working with the Iranian government to tarnish the group.[12]

## Content

[edit]

Ervand Abrahamian said that the MEK used the Mojahed paper to move "the issue of democracy to centre stage" and to accuse the Iranian regime, which it described as a "dictatorship of mullahs", of "betraying the Islamic Revolution".[13]

Anthony Hyman identified the newspaper as being "devoted to the personality cult of Masud Rajavi, the leader of this authoritarian party".[14]

## References

[edit]

* Iran portal
* Journalism portal
* Politics portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mojahed.

### Footnotes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Abrahamian 1987, p. 248
2. ^ Buchta 2000, p. 115
3. ^ Abrahamian 1987, p. 175
4. ^ Abrahamian 1987, p. 194, 206
5. ^ Abrahamian 1987, p. 212
6. ^ Hiro 2013, p. 189
7. ^ Abrahamian 1987, p. 207
8. ^ Abrahamian 1987, p. 244
9. ^ Abrahamian 1987, p. 250
10. ^ Buchta 2000, p. 104
11. ^ Howard 2004, p. 200
12. ^ "New warships to join Iranian Navy's southern fleet". Reuters. 17 September 2014.
13. ^ Abrahamian 1987, p. 209
14. ^ Hyman 1990, p. 26

### Sources

[edit]

* Abrahamian, Ervand (1987), Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin, I.B. Tauris, Yale University Press, ISBN 9781850430773
* Hyman, Anthony (1990), "Iran's press — freedom within limits", Index on Censorship, 19 (2): 26, doi:10.1080/03064229008534794, S2CID 143865652
* Hiro, Dilip (2013), Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals), Routledge, ISBN 978-1135043810
* Howard, Roger (2004), Iran in Crisis?: Nuclear Ambitions and the American Response, Zed Books, ISBN 9781848137110
* Buchta, Wilfried (2000), "The Militant Iranian Opposition in Iran and Exile", Who Rules Iran?: The Structure of Power in the Islamic Republic, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, ISBN 9780944029398

* v
* t
* e

People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran

Organizations|

* People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran
* National Council of Resistance of Iran
* Quintuple Coalition
* National Democratic Front (Iran)
* Organization of Iranian American Communities

People|

* Maryam Rajavi
* Massoud Rajavi
* Zahra Merrikhi
* Mousa Khiabani
* Ashraf Rabiei
* Habib Khabiri
* Kazem Rajavi
* Mehdi Abrishamchi
* Mohammad-Reza Kolahi
* Hassan Nayebagha
* Somayeh Mohammadi
* Abdolreza Rajabi
* Mahnaz Samadi
* Masoud Keshmiri
* Jafar Kazemi
* Alireza Jafarzadeh
* Pouran Bazargan
* Abdolreza Rajabi
* Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani
* Zohreh Akhyani
* Jafar Kazemi
* Marjan (singer)
* Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei
* Hedayatollah Hatami
* Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca

Events|

* 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners
* Trial of Hamid Nouri
* Execution of Ali Saremi
* Operation Mersad
* Operation Forty Stars
* Operation Shining Sun
* Iranian Revolution
* 1980 Iranian presidential election
* Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution
* 1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum
* 1981 in Iran
* 20 June 1981 Iranian protests
* 2003 invasion of Iraq
* List of people assassinated by the People's Mujahedin of Iran
* 2013 Camp Ashraf massacre
* Albania–Iran relations
* Timeline of the Iranian Revolution
* Background and causes of the Iranian Revolution
* Foreign relations of Iran
* 2011 raid on Camp Ashraf
* 2023 Tirana camp raid

Media|

* Mojahed (newspaper)
* List of works about the People's Mujahedin of Iran
* Simaye Azadi

Locations|

* Camp Fallujah
* Camp Ashraf
* Camp Liberty
* Camp Ashraf 3

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