We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.
This week, from 2018: They fought for the Iranian revolution – and then for Saddam Hussein. The US and UK once condemned them. But now their opposition to Tehran has made them favourites of Trump White House hardliners.
By Arron Merat. Read by Lucy Scott. Read the text version here. Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/longreadpod.
Arron Merat was a Tehran correspondent for the Economist between 2011 and 2014. He has covered Iran for the Guardian, the Sunday Times and Vice News.
Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images
Explore more on these topics: MEK (People's Mujahedin of Iran), The Audio Long Read, Iran, Middle East and north Africa, US foreign policy, Albania, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
