Pompeo speaks at conference by controversial Iran opposition group
Slovenia's prime minister and other former US officials also speak at virtual event held by Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
Former Obama and Trump administration officials as well as Slovenia’s premier attended a Sunday event held by the controversial Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e Khalq, leading to criticism.
The organization's Free Iran 2021 World Summit began Sunday and concludes Tuesday. The virtual event focused on highlighting “the role the Iranian regime has played to spread chaos and destruction in the region and across the world,” according to a press release from the group.
The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, formed in 1965 as a Marxist organization, seeks to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran and is outlawed by it. The organization's soldiers fought alongside Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War, which damaged their reputation among many Iranians. Some call the group a cult.
Both the United States and the European Union previously listed the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq as a terrorist organization, though both designations have been rescinded. The group has worked to rehabilitate its image in the West in recent years with some success. Some hawkish critics of the Iranian government in the United States have warmed to the organization.
