To anyone used to the slovenly ways of Middle Eastern armies, the National Liberation Army of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran comes as something of a shock.
When we arrived at this desert camp at 8 a.m., as the ordinary collection of mainly middle class dissidents united by a hatred of the Teheran regime. It is perhaps the only military organisation in the world which uses women as combat troops; all-female tank-crews took part in recent operations against Iranian troops.
They are currently playing a major role in a series of clashes with Iranian troops on Iraq's eastern border as Iran seizes the opportunity provided by Iraq's post-war weakness to stir up trouble behind its old enemy's lines....
The Mujahideen themselves are also a target. In March and April, they say, they repulsed two full-scale incursions by Revolutionary Guards aimed at besieging their border bases in the area around Kifri and Jalula, north-east of Baghdad.
The Mujahideen claimed about 5,000 Iranians were killed (against losses of 43 on their side), and showed visitors video tapes of battle-fields dotted with corpses. Almost all are in civilian clothes, which captured Iranian prisoners say was a ploy to disguise responsibility for the attacks.
The clashes have bolstered the already impressive morale of the Mujahideen. "We believe that our military capabilities have increased markedly as a result," said Ali Akbar Anbaz, operations officer of an armoured unit which took part in the fighting. "We are preparing ourselves for bigger battles in the future."
The commander of the base, Hossein Abrishamchi, a small energetic man who was imprisoned for five years by the Shah, declared: "Our strategy is a war of liberation, overthrowing the Khomeini regime by armed force......"
The camp is a model of military efficiency. But there is no doubt about their eagerness to fight. Ashraf Camp, 90 kilometers west of the border, is one of five logistics and supply bases supporting Mujahideen front-line positions. It is a model of military efficiency. ...
The Mujahideen say it was built from scratch five years ago when their leader Massoud Rajavi, and his formidable wife and deputy commander, Mariam, moved operations to Iraq after being expelled from France....
They are coy about their numbers and equipment. But the volunteers at the base, members of an armoured unit returned from the front, showed a determination and energy which bordered on zealotry. In the tank repair shop women soldiers sprawled over the hulls of T-54s and Soviet made APCs, replacing gun fittings and gearboxes against a thunderous background of revving engines and clanking machinery.
Zahra Adili, 25, has a physics degree from a Canadian university. "I gave it up for something better," she said. "I wanted to free Iran...."