Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

MUJAHIDEEN • 4553. Mujahideen-i Inqilab-i Islami: In March 1979, seven Islamicguerrilla groups that had fought against the Pahlavi regime beforeand during the Islamic revolution in Iran formed themselvesinto one militia group, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Revolution(MIR), a nonstate group enjoying Iranian state sponsorship thatassisted the Islamic Republic of Iran in both its external revolutionaryagenda and its internal repression of dissent. While some of itsmembers had once been part of the People’s Mujahideen of Iran(MKO), the new group steadfastly avowed its belief in the leadershipof the Shi’ite clergy, in particular the leadership of AyatollahKhomeini.This group was instrumental in the physical takeover of the U.S.embassy on 4 November 1979. The most prominent member of thegroup was Behzad Nabavi, who served as one of the chief Iraniannegotiators in ending the holding of the U.S. hostages and who laterbecame minister of heavy industries in the Islamic Republic. TheMIR included mainly laymen who rejected the quasi-Marxism of theMKO but nonetheless favored a form of state capitalism and nationalizationof basic industries and foreign trade that characterized themore radical wing of the Islamic Republic Party, led by Prime MinisterHussein Musavi. The group split into factions, one aligned withthe more radical hard-liners of the Islamic Republic Party and otherssupporting the more pragmatic group led by Hujjatulislam Rafsanjani.When the infighting of the group became a scandal, Khomeinicommanded that the group disband itself for the sake of revolutionaryunity; accordingly, on 6 October 1986 the MIR dissolved itself,as the Islamic Republic Party had done earlier on 2 June 1996. UponKhomeini’s death in 1989, however, the radical factions within theIslamic Republic found their own base of support shrinking and accordinglyrevived the MIR, which functions now in effect as a radicalfundamentalist political party. In 1997 the MIR formed a proreformcoalition with the Combatant Clergy Association and the Iran ParticipationFront that became known as the 2nd of Khordad Movement.This coalition came under attack by Islamic hard-liners in theregime, with key leaders being imprisoned or driven into exile. Most2nd of Khordad candidates intending to run for seats in the IranianMajlis, or parliament, were disqualified by the Council of Guardiansfrom running in the 2005 elections, thus allowing hard-liners to wincontrol of the Majlis.