The National Council of Resistance (NCR) describes itself on its Website as an organization opposed to fundamentalist rule in Iran and committed to the establishment of a pluralist democracy in Iran (Iran-e-Azad n.d.). The NCR also describes its structure as follows:

Massoud Rajavi is the president of the council which acts as the Iranian Resistance's parliament. It has a secretariat and five secretaries, who oversee its administrative affairs. Twenty five committees will serve as the basis of the future government (n.d.).

The NCR also lists the People's Mujahedin (PMOI) as one of its affiliated organizations (ibid.). The NCR was established in Tehran in July 1981 and moved its headquarters to Paris the same year (ibid.).

However, other sources such as the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism of Hertzlia, Israel (n.d.) and the April 2001 United States Department of State Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000 (Apr. 2001) state that the NCR, along with the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI), the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA) and the Muslim Iranian Student's Society, is one of the names that designate the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO). In October 2001, the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism of the U.S. Department of State listed the MEK as a "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (2001 Report on Foreign Terrorist Organizations 5 Oct. 2001).

An 11 July 2000 report in The Guardian states that the NCR is the political wing of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq. A 3 February 2001 AFP report states that the NCR is opposed to efforts by the West to operate a rapprochement with Iran. The same report also states that the U.S. State Department listed the NCR as a "foreign terrorist organization" because of its alleged links with the People's Mujahedin organization or the MKO. A 8 October 2001 M2 Presswire report quotes a spokesman of the U.S. State Department as saying that "the Secretary of State designated the MEK (and its numerous aliases) a foreign terrorist organization because of its long record of terrorist attacks." In June 2001, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that the State Department must give the NCR and the PMOI, both classified as terrorist organizations, the opportunity to be heard (ibid.).

During meetings of five opposition movements gathered in Baghdad in July 2001, the NCR, the umbrella organization for MKO-dominated Iranian opposition, stated that the resistance movement conducted 261 military operations inside Iran in 2000 and 180 during the first half of 2001 (AFP 29 July 2001). Increased clashes between Iraq-based MKO forces and the Iranian army have increased tensions between Iraq and Iran in 2001 (Jane's Intelligence Review 1 Jul. 2001). In May 2001, the MKO claimed responsibility for a "terrorists attack against the premises of the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization in northern Tehran (IPR 11 May 2001). The MKO claims to have fired five mortar shells near a Revolutionary Guard base in northern Tehran on 7 January 2001, five mortars near the border city of Musian, Ilam Province, on 19 November 2000, and five mortars at Kermanshah on 2 November 2000 (RFR/RL 15 Jan. 2001). The MKO and the Iranian forces exchanged fire in the Abadeh region of Fars Province on 15 November 2000 (ibid.)

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

2001 Report on Foreign Terrorist Organizations. 5 October 2001. Washington, DC: United States Department of State. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2001/index.cfm?docid=5258 [Accessed 4 Dec. 2001]

Agence France Presse (AFP). 29 July 2001. "Opposition Determined to Overthrow Tehran's 'Religious Dictatorship." Iranmania. http://www.iranmania.com/news/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=6279&NewsKind=Current+Affairs&ArchiveNews=Yes [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

_____. 3 Feb. 2001. "Iranian Government Should Face Human Rights Tribunal: Opposition." (NEXIS)

The Guardian [London]. 11 July 2000. John Hooper. "Berlin Lays Red Carpet for Khatami." (NEXIS)

IPR Strategic Business Information Database. 11 May 2000. "Mujahedin Prove a Point." (NEXIS)

Jane's Intelligence Review [Surrey, U.K.]. 1 July 2001. Roddy Scott. "Tensions Grow Between Iran and Iraq." (NEXIS)

International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), Hertzlia, Israel. n.d. "Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO)" http://www.ict.org.il/inter_ter/orgdet.cfm?orgid=24 [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

Iran-e-Azad. n.d. "National Council of Resistance of Iran." http://www.iran-e-azd.org/english/ncri.html [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

M2 Presswire. 8 October 2001. "US Department of State: Question taken at October 5, 2001 Daily Press Briefing - Iran: NCR Office in Washington - Office of the Spokesman." (NEXIS)

Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000. April 2001. Washington, DC: United States Department of State. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/index.cfm?docid=2450 [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [RFL-RL] Iran Report. 15 January 2001. Vol. 4, No. 2. "Extremist Groups Active." (NEXIS)

Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran [Tehran, in English]. "Iran: Radio Comments on Mojahedin-e-Qualq Attack in Tehran." (NEXIS)

The Washington Post. 9 June 2001. Final Edition. "Court Victory for Iranian Groups." (NEXIS)