Despite all the efforts to remain in secrecy, in the 1970s, Mohtadi was arrested three times. The last time he was arrested, Abdullah was sentenced to more than three years in imprisonment for his activism against the Shah regime. Since was unable to provide any evidence regarding Mohtadi's political actions, he was released from prison and now, his party should cope with its most important era of the pre-Islamic Revolution Iran. When Ayatollah Khomeini ordered a massive onslaugh in   August 1979, Mohtadi emerged as a leader of the Kurdish resistance movement. 