Ali Reza Jafarzade

The Mojahedin-e Khalq’s Hambastegi Meli website reflected Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph reports quoting Mr. Alireza Jafarzadeh (a member of the Mojahedin’s international relations section) saying "Iran conducted 14 big projects and several small ones last year."

Since the MKO’s report was aimed at demonizing Iran’s nuclear programs, I thought it would be better to review and analyze the sentences one by one:

1. Imam Hussein University has a Nuclear Physics section– It should be noted that Imam Hussein University was established after the revolution without any foreign help and having a section for Nuclear Physics is not a crime at all; in fact, it should be considered a scientific and technical achievement for Iran after the revolution.

2. Fereidoon Abbasi, 48, who was present in Iraq-Iran war fronts, is the head of this section– He studied inside Iran and participating in fighting against the enemy during the war can’t embarrass him. In fact conversely, participating in the war, but on the other side of the borders and beside Saddam Hussein the aggressor, cannot bring honour for the MKO and its leaders!

3. [Abbasi] supervised the transfer of a number of nuclear experts from other institutions to Imam Hussein University– Is there any problem with this? If yes, I am really interested in knowing the reasons.

4. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, 45, nuclear expert, is one of the key elements– He also studied inside Iran and I don’t think it’s a crime to be nuclear expert.

5. Mansour Asghari, 48, is a laser specialist– He has also studied inside the country and no one can accuse him for his specialty.

6. These two teach at Imam Hussein University– I couldn’t find any problem with this! More explanation may be needed for those who couldn’t get this.

7. They are based in the Defense Ministry’s Center for Technological Preparations– First, what’s the problem? Second, if they teach at that university, how are they based at another location?

8. Where the Iranian regime has not allowed inspections of by IAEA– As news reports indicate, the IAEA has no problem with Iran’s nuclear programs and it has always announced that Iran has cooperated with the IAEA on inspections. This is of course the political request of the US, Israel and the MKO who, against the will of all Iranians, ask for the suspension of even nuclear research in Iran; they say even research at Iranian universities should be stopped.

9. Fereidoon Abbasi has recently supervised experiments on strong neutron’s radiations from a neutron generator– I couldn’t find any problem with this. It’s natural that there are a series of experiments in the nuclear physics section of a university.

10. Other works focus on Beryllium Oxide, laser enrichment, nuclear trigger, and neutron experiments on other parts of a nuclear bomb– So, this is what he wants to say: that Iran is producing a nuclear bomb. However, the MKO has not given the details, just as the details of its third option were never revealed. It appears that the MKO thinks Iranians are its own members who accept anything without details. Or, Iranians may have been omitted entirely in the MKO’s comments and the only thing important for Mojahedin is to win the attraction of the West, particularly the US.

11. Iranian regime is advancing a covert parallel nuclear military program– I don’t think there’s any other opposition group that claims Iran is advancing a covert nuclear military program! The targets of this statement are the US and Israel, the main addressee’s of the third option.

12. According to sources in Iran, Revolutionary Guard Corps is building underground installations to be used in the case of destruction of Iran’s nuclear sites– In this part, Mojahedin directly asks the US to attack Iranian nuclear sites and destroy them, or maybe (as far as MKO’s concerned) the license for this has been issued. MKO has even warned that destruction of Iran’s existing nuclear sites will not be the end for the US and that they should go further and attack and occupy Iran under the pretext of destroying underground installations.

13. Iran conducted 14 big projects and several small ones last year– The Iranian nation is proud of its young men and women who have achieved such success without foreign help.

14. Some of them have been considered for creating nuclear sites and others for guarding weapons dumps– There’s no doubt that no one inside the country would welcome this MKO’s war drumming and invitation for a US war on Iran. Rather, these moves increase the hatred toward the MKO and its policies, as happened when the MKO went to Iran to stand along the enemy in fighting the Iranian people.

In the end, I’d like to address Alireza [Jafarzadeh] and other former partners and advise them out of my own experiences. We are used to doing what others dictate to us. I believe there’s no problem if you try to know the positions and stances of other opposition groups (whether inside the country or abroad) and analyze them. You judge! Have you ever seen monarchist Rightists encourage Americans to take military action against Iran, destroy nuclear installations and justify such actions, as you do?

Have you ever asked yourself whose interests are being met in the international levels by your policies and functions? Are the current policies of the MKO consistent with the policies I was attracted to? How many of Iranians do you think support MKO’s policies on Iranian nuclear programs? If you know the answer and yet, you choose the current way, then I have nothing to say. But the problem is that members in the MKO don’t allow themselves to even think about question, let alone questioning about them. My only advice to my friends is "think about what you are going to say, open your eyes and see whose interests you are following". The strategy of investing in the Iran-Iraq war failed. There will be no interest in investing in the gap between Iran and the US. Isn’t it better to resort to MKO’s early trainings and rely on God and the people, not on desperate hopes and the enemies of Iran?

Ebrahim Khodabandeh  –  May 10, 2006