Several tens of thousands of MeK members and their families who had escaped Iran and certain death, if caught by the security services, had sought refuge in neighboring Iraq, where Saddam Hussein was only too happy to oblige. After the U.S. invasion in 2003 the MeK surrendered its weapons, including artillery and tanks, to U.S. forces. Since then, the members of MeK has been living Camp Ashraf in Iraq, under U.S. protection.

On Monday at 4.23 pm, local time, Camp Ashraf was the target of a missile attack launched by the Islamic republic, when "Grad" missiles were launched against the Iranian resistance, an attack that was described by a spokesman for the resistance as "an act of war." The missiles, which caused no injuries, were engraved with the date of manufacture, "24-5-1384" which corresponds to August 15, 2005 according to the Persian calendar.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention attacking persons under the protection of the Geneva conventions is considered a war crime.

The MeK has issued calls for the United Nations Security Council, the multinational force in Iraq and the Iraqi government to adopt punitive measures and evict the Iranian regime's representatives from Iraq.

But given the close relationship the Maliki government enjoys with Tehran, any such move is highly unlikely.

The attack comes just three weeks after the definitive judgment of the UK Court of Appeal to remove the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, the PMOI (as the MeK is known in Britain) from the terrorist list.

Sources in the Iranian resistance believe that following the regime's failure to prevent the annulment of the terror label, Tehran has ordered its embassy in Baghdad to plot against the residents of Ashraf as a priority.

"Attacking residents of Ashraf who are all "protected persons" under the "Fourth Geneva Convention" is a clear violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the Geneva Conventions. It is clearly considered a war crime," said Ali Safavi, an official in the resistance.

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran has issued calls to the international community to exert pressure on the regime in Tehran by closing down its embassy in Iraq. They are also asking that the commander of the Qods Force in Iraq, Kazemi Qomi, be expelled. Also unlikely to happen.

Meanwhile, somewhere between supporters of Iran's revolution working in the shadows to strengthen Tehran's foothold in Iraq and the former Marxists turned pragmatists now toiling to overthrow the mullahs, are American soldiers and Marines who continue to fight and sometimes to die in a war which is growing in complexity with every passing day.