The Bush administration identified the MEK as being a terrorist organization supported by Saddam Hussein. Controversy erupted when it was revealed that John Ashcroft, a Senator at the time, had pushed for the delisting of the organization as a terrorist group after extensive lobbying efforts by Jafarzadeh. The designation was removed in 2012 as a result of a decision by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. MEK members in Iraq had been disarmed after the Iraq War. The decision was made after the organization agreed to help with removal of its members from Camp Ashraf in Iraq and their resettlement to other countries.