Massoud Rajavi was born in 1947 in Tabas, a town in eastern Iran. He came from a family of intellectuals and attended Tehran University, where he earned his degree in political science. As an adolescent, Rajavi became acquainted with the teachings of Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani, a progressive cleric. He was also a supporter of the Freedom Movement of Iran, an organization aligned with Mohammad Mossadegh, the popular Iranian prime minister who nationalized Iran’s oil industry in 1951.
Massoud Rajavi became acquainted with the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) while he was a university student when the MEK was still a very young Iranian opposition movement. He was drawn to the principles and ideals espoused by its members and leaders, and to their dedication to achieving freedom and democracy in Iran.
Rajavi joined the PMOI/MEK in 1967 and began working with Mohammad Hanifnejad, its leader and founder. Hanifnejad appointed Massoud Rajavi to the MEK’s ideological group, where he helped in researching and documenting the organization’s ideological principles. Not long after that, Rajavi became a member of the PMOI/MEK’s Central Committee. He influenced the PMOI's modern interpretation of Islam with his knowledge of revolutionary theory, religion, and history.
Massoud Rajavi has been known as the key strategist and leader of the MEK. He is also one of the most popular politicians in Iran’s contemporary history because of his dedication to freedom and democracy, and to the humanitarian morals which the Iranian nation is known for.
