Iraqi military attack Iran“s Ashraf camp

Over 300 people were injured in an attack of Iraqi military against the People“s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) at Ashraf camp, north-east of Iraq. 31 people died, RIA Novosti cites a spokesman of the organization Shakhin Gobadi as saying.

The camp was attacked by 1,500 Iraqi troops, supported by armored vehicles.

Gobadi expressed confidence that the attack was ordered by the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei.

A member of the Iraqi hospital at Baakub, administrative center of Diyal, said that only three members of the PMOI died and 13 were injured and 5 military died.

The PMOI was established by Iranian students in 1965. Their goal is to overthrow the pro-US regime of the sheikh and build a socialist republic. They supported Ali Khamenei. The organization split after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Ayatollah Bekheshti played one of the key roles in the revolution. He was killed by the PMOI.

The organization was banned in 1982 and moved to France. It moved to Iraq in 1986. It was supported by Saddam Hussein. It was carrying out sabotage operations during the Iranian-Iraqi war of 1980-1988. Iranian authorities say that the organization killed over 12,000 Iranian and over 25,000 Iraqi citizens.


The US State Department put the PMOI on the list of terrorist organizations in 1997. Washington accused the organization for cooperating with Al-Qaeda. The US forces in Iraq destroyed the organization. However, it made a peace agreement with the US.

The EU put the PMOI off the list of terrorist organizations in January 2009, where it occurred in 2002. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the EU decision violates the international law and obligations to fight terrorism.