I used to enthusiastically draw that stupid logo as a kid (right after the revo and fall of the Shah). You can not imagine the propaganda that was put out and they all came across as noble geeks (the initial cadre were all engineers and engineering students) fighting tyranny.

Today, I recognize them as the Khmer Rouge of Iran. The Camp Ashraf business -- before US soldiers arrived -- is just mind boggling. Regrettably, a great deal of the witness testimonials are in Farsi, but googling around will turn up English versions too. It's something out of Brave New World: cradle to grave indoctrination with full control of the cadre (from head to toe, with a special focus on the sexual bits) by the leadership. Really bizarre stuff designed to completely defeat any urge of expression of self assertion and self regard. The real tragedy is the untold number of children of members who were forcibly taken from their parents, and are spread all over Europe and N.A. today. Beyond that, the human cost to Iranian nation in terms of a lost generation of our best -- these guys were pied pipers for the thinking set: doctors, engineers, academics (now mostly dead or emotionally damaged) -- was also quite significant.

Rumor -- who can verify this sort of stuff? -- is the whole damn thing was/is ultimately run by western (specifically UK) intelligence services. Perhaps there is something to it, as PMOI has enjoyed the vocal protection of Western elite from the 70s, starting from the push to save M Rajavi. And today, we have Secretary of State taking up the cause of this organization that specialized in killing American servicemen in Iran.