Biography Maryam Rajavi was born in 1953 to a middle class family in Tehran.She has a degree in metallurgical engineering. Mrs. Rajavi became acquainted with the anti-shah movement in 1970. She later became a leader of the student movement and joined the People’s Mojahedin of Iran. She has a daughter born in 1982. The shah’s regime executed one of her sisters, and Khomeini's regime murdered another, who was pregnant at the time, along with the sister’s husband.

Mrs. Rajavi says: "I have dedicated my life to a better future for the people of Iran"

A well organized leader

Mrs. Rajavi was active in the social department of the Mojahedin, and played a key role in attracting and recruiting university and high school students to the movement in the post-shah Iran. She was a candidate for parliamentary elections in Tehran in 1980, she received more than a quarter of a million votes.
June 20, 1981, Khomeini unleashed his terror on Iranians. Tens of thousands were arrested or executed. During this period, the Revolutionary Guards Corps raided her places of residence several times, but she managed to survive these encounters.
In 1982, Mrs. Rajavi was transferred to Paris, the political headquarters of the movement. She rose rapidly and soon became the most capable and qualified woman member of the movement. She was eventually elected as the Mojahedin’s joint leader in 1985 and four years later. In 1989, she became the Secretary General of the organization.