MKO rally calls for US and EU to legalize group

Hailing the recent decision by a British court to remove the MKO from the country's list of banned terrorist organizations, Maryam Rajavi (spiritual leader of the MKO) spoke to a packed convention hall of Iranian ex-pats in Paris and called for the US and EU to follow Britain's lead.

The BBC wrote a stunningly uncritical story on the event and the MKO's newly-legalized status in Britain. What is troubling about the BBC's short article is that it calls the MKO and their "supporters" (see below) the "Iranian opposition," which any analyst of the region worth their weight in grass clippings can tell you is simply incorrect.

MKO already legally operates as the National Council of Resistance of Iran--a so-called umbrella organization dominated by the MKO--which appointed Maryam Rajavi as its President-elect (she'll become the President of Iran for a transitional period after the current regime is overthrown, they say).

Although they are politically savvy, and have managed to gain the support of influential members of the regime-change lobby, the Mojahedin remain a marginalized group with little support among Iranian ex-pats and virtually no support in Iran.

The BBC's story doesn't even hint at this.

Luckily, Lisa Bryant at VOA actually did a little research into the event:

A number of analysts however, believe the People's Mujahedeen carries little weight inside Iran and critics liken the group to a sect.

Still, a number of people attending the rally did not appear to know much about the group. They said they had been flown or bussed in to Paris, with their expenses paid for to [sic] attend the rally.