Iranian Victims' Families Condemn Italian Parliament's Award to MEK Member

The protest follows the Italian Parliament’s decision to present the “Women of Courage Award 2025” to a member of the so-called Association of Iranian Youth in Italy, a group linked to the MEK terrorist organization. The award was handed over by the parliament’s vice president.

The following is the full context of the aforementioned letter:

The news that the Italian Parliament has chosen to present the so-called “Women of Courage Award 2025” award to a member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) terrorist group has brought profound pain to many Iranians, especially the families of the 23,000 victims of terrorism in our country.

This award was presented by the Vice President of the Italian Parliament to a member of a front organization affiliated with the MEK, known as Association of Iranian Youth in Italy. In her acceptance speech, the recipient openly acknowledged her and her family’s membership in and political commitment to the MEK. She expressed support for the terrorist and destructive activities of the MEK’s so-called "Rebellious Units," whose mission involve sabotage and use of homemade bombs targeting government and religious sites in Iran. She further endorsed the leader of this terrorist group and echoed his hateful rhetoric. This is not the first instance of Italian authorities lending support to a front group tied to the MEK. In late 2022, the regional government of Piedmont, Italy, similarly awarded its annual Human Rights Prize to a member of this same association!

The MEK is a terrorist organization that, over more than five decades of its existence, has massacred countless Iranian citizens through a range of brutal methods, including suicide bombings, explosive attacks, mortar fire, abductions, torture, and both targeted and indiscriminate assassinations.

Thousands of Iran’s 23,000 victims of terrorism lost their lives to the atrocities committed by this group.

Beyond Iran, the MEK’s repugnant record includes the murder of American and Iraqi citizens and its mercenary service to Saddam Hussein from the 1980s until his downfall. The group’s history is so steeped in darkness that, for years, it was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

While regrettable political maneuvers by these nations eventually led to its removal from those lists, the Iranian people and the families of terror victims will never forget the bombings, assassinations, and murders committed by this group.

Instead of representing its own people and defending their rights, the Italian Parliament has, regrettably, chosen an unjust and inhumane path by supporting and rewarding a notorious terrorist group and its members. This is not an isolated incident; sadly, the consistent backing of the MEK by certain parliamentarians and Italian officials has become a routine occurrence.

It is highly unlikely that the Italian people and the voters who elected these representatives would condone such repulsive acts, which stems either from ignorance or from complete disregard for morality.

The families of Iran’s terrorism victims call upon the Italian Parliament and its representatives to adopt rational, just, and humanitarian policies, to cease their support for this terrorist group and its members, and to redirect their efforts toward serving their own citizens.

Habilian Association (Iranian Families of Terror Victims)

March 11, 2025