Mohammad Hanifnejad

Mohammad Hanifnejad was an agricultural engineer and the principal co-founder of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), established on 6 September 1965 alongside Saeed Mohsen and Ali-Asghar Badizadegan. A former member of Mehdi Bazargan's Freedom Movement, he became convinced that a more radical approach was needed to challenge the Shah's regime. The three founders spent 1965–1969 recruiting cadres and developing the MEK's ideology, blending progressive Islam with anti-imperialist politics. He was arrested by SAVAK in 1971 and executed on 25 May 1972 along with his two co-founders.