October 1997: The U.S. Department of State includes the MEK in the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. A senior Clinton Administration official told the Los Angeles Times on October 8, 1997, that the decision was a “goodwill gesture to the newly elected moderate President Mohammad Khatami.”
1997-1998: The MEK files a petition with the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia.
October 1999: State Department redesignates the MEK in the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations and adds the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to the list as an “alias” of the MEK. Martin Indyk, the then Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, tells Reuters that the NCRI was added to the list because “the Iranian regime drew our attention to it.”
1999: The MEK files a petition, as does the NCRI, with the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia.
March 2001: The UK adds MEK to its terrorism blacklist.
June 2001: The Court rules that the NCRI’s constitutional rights have been violated, and since it is the alias of the MEK, the same applies to the MEK. It says the MEK’s right to a fair hearing has been violated.
October 2001: The Secretary of State redesignates the MEK and the NCRI in the FTO list.
May 2002: The EU adds MEK to its blacklist, based on the UK case.
Aug. 2003: The Secretary of State issues an Executive Order to designate the NCRI’s US Representative Office, which, until then, was considered by the administration and the court a separate entity from the MEK and the NCRI.
October 2003: The Secretary of State redesignates the MEK and the NCRI in the FTO list.
June 2006: Sixteen members of Britain’s House of Commons and nineteen members of the House of Lords apply to the UK’s Secretary of State to de-proscribe the MEK.
December 2006: The EU Court of First Instance rules the 2002 listing was unlawful. European Council ignores the ruling.
November 2007: English court determines the MEK was not concerned in terrorism and rules unlawful the UK’s government decision to keep MEK listed.
December 2007: The UK court reaffirms the November ruling and rejects the government’s appeal.
April 2008: The EU Court of First Instance says the EU should have delisted MEK in or shortly after December 2006.
May 2008: The U.K. government loses its final appeal and delists the MEK the following month.
July 2008: European Council ignores the de-proscription in the UK and votes to keep MEK on the EU list.
July 2008: The MEK files a petition with the United States Secretary of State for revocation.
October 2008: The EU Court of First Instance rules the EU was wrong to blacklist the MEK.
December 2008: The EU Court of First Instance, for the third time, rules that EU countries must delist the MEK.
January 2009: The State Department maintains the MEK on the FTO list, prompting the MEK to file a petition with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for revocation.
January 2009: The European Union finally adheres to three court rulings and removes the PMOI from its blacklist.
July 2010: The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rules unanimously that the Secretary of State erred in refusing to grant the MEK’s petition to have its terrorist status revoked, strongly suggesting that the Department should remove the group from the FTO list.
July 15, 2011: A year later, the State Department has yet to announce its decision on the MEK’s status, ignoring the statute-mandated 180-day deadline.
February 27, 2012: The MEK files a petition for a writ of mandamus to enforce the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
February 29, 2012: Prominent US officials file an Amici Brief for MEK’s Mandamus.
April 10, 2012: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered that this matter be scheduled for oral argument on May 8, 2012.
June 1, 2012: The U.S. Court of Appeals orders that “the Secretary of State either deny or grant PMOI’s petition not later than four months from the date this opinion issues. Should the Secretary fail to take action within the four-month period, the petition for writ of mandamus setting aside the FTO designation will be granted.”
Sept. 21, 2012: The Washington Post reports that the State Department is preparing to remove the PMOI/MEK from the U.S. government’s terrorist list.
Sept. 28, 2012: The MEK is officially delisted. In a letter to the US Court of Appeals, the US Department of Justice informs the Court that the Secretary of State has revoked the MEK’s designation.