Opposition divided: battle among Iranian regime’s opponents plays out on London streets | Iran

Wearing a fishing hat, blue Adidas hoodie and khaki shorts, Tony Mohraz, also known as 021kid, punches a friend in the chest in front of a memorial wall in Golders Green, north London.

Behind him, photographs of those killed while protesting the Iranian regime can be seen. Mohraz begins rapping as the large lion and sun flag used in Iran before the Islamic revolution flies above his head.

“Basij, one, two, hit. Revolutionary Guards, one, two, hit. Mujahideen, one, two, hit.”

The rap by Mohraz, a proponent of the return of the Pahlavi dynasty to the throne of Iran, specifically the exiled son of the late Shah, Reza Pahlavi, is a remix of a hip-hop battle anthem popular in Israel called Harbu Darbu (Hebrew slang for raining down hell on the opponent).

Basij, which he is trying to hit, is a paramilitary organization known as the “iron fist” of Iran.

The IRGC in question is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime’s most powerful political and military institution. And then Mujahideen is mentioned.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), more commonly known as the People’s Mujahedin (MEK), was part of the 1979 revolution against the Western-backed Shah, but became an armed opposition group in exile fighting against the new regime from Iraq.

Today, the MEK is openly moving away from its Shiite Islam and Marxist past and claims to speak both at home and abroad on behalf of those who want a democratic secular Iran rather than the return of the monarchy that ended with the exile of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi 47 years ago.

The aggressive drill music made by 28-year-old Mohraz, whose nickname 021kid derives from the telephone code in his hometown of Tehran, is only the clearest evidence of a war being played out on the streets of London not between supporters and opponents of the Iranian regime, but within the opposition.

It is a conflict that has been fueled by the hopes raised by the US and Israeli military campaign over the past three months, but is now a source of concern for the affected Iranian diaspora, as well as a headache for the British police.

Clashes that often require police intervention in protests against the Tehran regime are attributed to the tension between the parties to the debate, raising concerns that matters may escalate.

Laila Jazayeri, director of the British-Iranian Women’s Association in the United Kingdom and a leading supporter of the MEK in London, referred Mohraz’s video to the police, describing it as “an appalling and direct incitement to murder members and supporters” of her opposition group.

“Death to the mullah, the MEK and the leftists,” Mohraz rapped in his second music video, posted on his Facebook page earlier this month. He also filmed himself walking at the last UK rally organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The Metropolitan Police said the complaint against Cezayeri, who was twice sentenced to death in Iran for his activism, was taken seriously.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” wrote an inspector from Barnet’s community policing team. “I appreciate that the content you shared is particularly concerning to you and others within the MEK community, and I want to reassure you that it is being taken seriously.”

A Met spokesman said: “The Met police are assessing a report of threatening behavior in relation to a song posted online. Investigations are ongoing.”

Cezayeri claimed that the video was part of an intimidation campaign, and Cezayeri said he was “disturbed” to see “some supporters of Reza Pahlavi, the Shah’s feared secret police, parading in black jackets and T-shirts bearing the coat of arms of Savak.”

He said: “This is not harmless nostalgia. It poses a direct threat to democratic discourse and to those fighting for a free and pluralistic Iran. No one can credibly claim to defend freedom by glorifying symbols of authoritarian rule.”

Owners of restaurants and cafes around the Finchley road in north London, known as Little Tehran because of its large Iranian community, claim they are facing pressure from self-proclaimed pro-Pahlavi supporters to display the flag associated with the monarchy.

In March, a reception held by Conservative MP Bob Blackman in the Jubilee room at Westminster Hall for the Persian new year, or Nowruz, was subject to a noisy break-in by three men who described themselves as pro-Pahlavi, before being thrown out by security.

“Bob complained to the authorities, so the services are now aware of them,” said one of the MP’s aides.

IT technician Niyak Ghorbani, one of those who wanted to disrupt the event, explained his motivation in a TikTok post he made before entering the parliament building. “Today, we came to the Nevruz event organized by MEK here,” he said with a smile. “We have come to turn your holidays into mourning.”

Elahe Jamali, the second intruder, said: “Interesting; MEK is Islamist and Marxist and neither respects Nowruz.”

“However, when they need it, they usurp it for their own benefit. We came here to wish the guests happy Newroz and then enlighten them on whose side they will side with.”

When asked if they were at the event this week, Cemali told the Guardian they were being polite and were merely “informing people that there was a terrorist cult team called the MEK”. We see them as an extension of the regime. “Not only did they bring about the Islamic Republic, but they also used weapons against Iranian civilians during the Iran-Iraq War.”

The MEK was banned as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2008; Ministers cited assassinations of senior Iranian officials and mortar attacks on government buildings in Tehran as justification.

A week later, similar scenes played out outside the Iran Freedom Congress in London, where a handful of supporters who described themselves as pro-Pahlavi, attended by anti-regime activists and academics, challenged those leaving the Westminster venue. In a statement unlikely to defuse tensions, the MEK described it as “vile, despicable harassment and threats by shah-worshiping lumpen thugs.”

Ray Torabi, 44, who lives in Cologne, was once a MEK member but today sees Pahlavi as a potential transitional leader in Iran. He said he was aware that there were extremists among those who supported the Shah’s son, but that was not the whole story.

He said: “One of the things you can differentiate between the Pahlavi crowd and the MEK crowd is that the MEK is a cult, they have complete control over their supporters and members, and you know they are very well organised.

“That’s why you don’t see the sense of actually crossing the line and doing something, but on the other hand, the Pahlavi crowd is not organized in the same way; they’re not a sect, they’re individuals, mostly people who see the Pahlavi as the only hope for Iran. There’s a really extremist group, and then there’s the one that really worships the Pahlavi. Sometimes they take it too far.”

Haleh Blake, 39, an anti-regime protest organizer in the UK who believes Pahlavi is supported in Iran as a pro-democracy leader, said she condemned Mohraz’s words but said the harassment on social media went both ways. “I think there is infiltration into our crowd as well,” he said of the view among MEK supporters that the regime is trying to create hostility.

Sanam Vakil, director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program, said it was difficult to gauge support for either the PMOI or the Pahlavi movement in Iran, but the intimidation and harassment seen in London only helped fuel the Islamic regime’s narrative of a divided opposition.

“There’s a deep rivalry between these groups, and perhaps they see this as a moment of opportunity to gain some more credibility in a time of war and the perceived weakness of the Islamic Republic,” he said. “I know that the pro-Pahlavi faction uses a certain level of violence and intimidation. [supporters]…I think that backfires on them pretty badly.

MEK representatives deny that their organization is a cult. Mohraz, who has lived in England for eight years, declined to comment. Recently, Pahlavi separated himself when asked by CNN about harassment allegations. “I have always spoken out against any form of political violence or intimidation,” he said.