Page 223 – Nejat Society

Open letter to European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and citizenship

Honorable Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos,

My name is Reza Jebelli. I am a former member of mek and a human rights activist living in Brussels. On June 1981, I was shoot and later arrested by Iranian security service and spent about five years in prison including of two years in solitary confinement. I was working in the financial section of mek in Canada and united states and spent many years in mek Camp Ashraf in Iraq.

I have followed the EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs in Tirana on October 5th, which have raised a few very important issues.

The Ministers acknowledged that terrorism and radicalization continue to be a common challenge for the European Union and the Western Balkans region.

Considering the mek past forty years records of assassinations and terrorist activities in Iran, Iraq and Europe and as a former member, I must emphasize that mek presence in Tirana and Balkans region is and will be one of the greatest threats to the European Union.

in 2003, French anti-terrorism officers raided a dozen locations northwest of Paris in Auvers-Sur-Oise, the mek headquarter, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Iran (1997-2012) and initially detained 165 people along with mek leader Maryam Rajavi who right after ordered few members to self-immolation in the street of Europe. ‘The attempts at self-immolation to protest against the arrest of Radjavi are proof of a fanaticism and terrorist group that not respect our laws and our values.

On December 12, 2017, when Maryam Rajavi the leader of mek was in the European parliament, two former mek members who were invited for a conference in the parliament were attacked and injured by Rajavi’s bodyguards when they tried to kidnap Mr. Khoshal and Ebrahimi right front of EU parliament.

At least two of these bodyguards came from Albania with fake documents, which their name has been given to the Belgium police and authorities.

Every day in the street of Tirana, the former members are being harassed by mek in order to prevent them to reveal the true face of this cult. Just recently, an Iranian Canadian national Mr. Mostafa and his wife Mrs. Mahbubeh Mohammadi who travel from Canada to see their daughter Somayeh were beaten by mek in Tirana.

Furthermore, every years mek smuggles many refugees from different camp all over Europe and Balkans region and take them to Paris for their anniversary of arm struggle against Iranian.

Dear Sir,

The Ministers underlined the key importance of the respect of rule of law and the threat of terrorism and here we have this terrorist cult smuggling people throughout European cities.

Despite Mojahedin assertions that the group has abandoned its extreme ideology and now favors a liberal democracy, you could see mek’s action towards its own member which has been disconnected from free world and even they not allowed to see their parents.

Moreover, the Mojahedin’s 40-year record of behavior does not substantiate its capability or intention to be democratic. Internally, the Mojahedin run their organization autocratically, suppressing dissent and eschewing tolerance of differing viewpoints. Rajavi, who heads the Mojahedin’s political and military wings, has fostered a cult of personality around herself. These characteristics have alienated most Iranian expatriates, who assert they do not want to replace one objectionable regime for another.

Let’s not forget, In the period leading up to the revolution and its immediate aftermath, the Mojahedin carried out their strategy of armed struggle. The results included the murder of Americans, support for the seizure of the U.S. embassy, and opposition to the release of U.S. hostages. The Mojahedin are known to have assassinated the following Americans in Iran during the 1970s:

Lt. Colonel Lewis L. Hawkins Killed: June 2, 1973

Air Force Colonel Paul Schaeffer Killed: May 21, 1975

Air Force Lt. Colonel Jack Turner Killed: May 21, 1975

Donald G. Smith Rockwell International Killed: August 28, 1976

Robert R. Krongrad, Rockwell International Killed: August 28, 1976

William C. Cottrell Rockwell International Killed: August 28, 1976

In 1981, mek started their armed struggle once again with seven suicide attack among them a fourteen years old girl named Adab Avaz Gohar-.

Reza Jabali Sadeghi, Payvand Rahaee,

October 25, 2018 0 comments

Albania

Albanian security officials concerned over the threat of the MKO

Albanian security officials are concerned about recent actions of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/MEK/PMOI) in their territory.

Maryam Rajavi together with a large number of her companions have been resided in Hotel National, Tirana, for two weeks now, according to a former member of the MKO who lives in Tirana. She has conducted some meetings there.

This has worried the security officials of Tirana. They complained about the MKO’s recent actions in Albanian territory to the political authorities.

Seemingly, the group intends to concentrate the majority of its members from all over Europe, in Albania. The group officials have bought about 1000 computers and imported to Albania, the source revealed.

The MKO’s presence in Albania has always been a security issue for the Albanian Police and security bodies

Other defectors of the MKO speak of increasing complications inside the group’s camps, in Albania. Dissatisfactions of members and dissent against the group’s attitudes is on the rise. Maryam Rajavi’s trip to Albania seems to be the sign of the critical situation of her cult-like group.

October 25, 2018 0 comments

USA

A sharp decline in America’s power

Everything began from a memory; a memory of the future of the reality of US policies and some officials.
Secretary of the National Security Council, Mr. Shamkhani, quoted a memory of his Educational period which is Remarkable.
The content of this memory is that he faces an interesting phenomenon in helping his classmate in the exam session, which is that the classmate attached Shamkhani’s help sheet to his exam sheet, and the result is the failure of both.

The reason for attaching the help sheet was that the classmate had a meeting with his fiancée and has done this because of the lack of time.
Shamkhani attribute this memory to Bolton, the national security advisor to Trump and said:” Apparently John Bolton also has an appointment. ”

He also said that:” It is a shame for a government to basing Bolton for Strategic Decision Making against Iran, the person who cooperates with MKO. At least, change the words”
The compliance of the US government with a terrorist cult of the MKO does not mean increasing the power of this cult, but it means a sharp decline in America’s power.

The country that claimed to have a superpower on a day and regarded itself as the only power of the world, now is in a position to ask for help from terrorist sects such as the MKO to achieve its goals.
A country that claims to operate the world order and seeks to establish peace and human rights, it has to shelter to sects, which are the ultimate mirror of assassination and violence.
According to many experts, the national and strategic documents of a country represent the horizons of a country’s vision.

Also, most of these documents are prepared and drafted by experts and on the basis of current and future prospects, but take a look at the US strategic documents.
Recent comments by Mr. Shamkhani, secretary of the National Security Council about the unchanged texts of the MKO in the US strategic document and quoted by some US officials, such as John Bolton, are not.
This deniable truth makes America’s strategy doesn’t include the realities and the desirable future.
The question is, who is the reference of US news and strategic texts about Iran and what are the characteristics?
The answer to this question can tell the American authorities the misconception about the facts.

According to evidence, the terrorist sect of the MKO impose their views by communicating with some naïve US officials And presents the obvious news inside Iran as secret and strategic texts.
But history should reminded to these naïve authorities to understand this terrorist cult better and not simply accept their words.
The MKO, with a history of the assassination of 17,000 innocent people in Iran, has always been a part of the disgusting group of public opinion, and they always will remember this.
A sect known for treason, assassination, war, and has always faced a strategic mistake in its judgments about the Iranian nation, how can present these realities to American officials?

The sect has committed historical mistakes including “the leftist conception of the Islamic Revolution, the idea of the people’s companionship with them, the conquest of Tehran in a few days, electoral predictions and, eventually, the collapse of today and tomorrow in the Islamic Republic of Iran” and to get out of this swamp, it has turned to imaginary and repeated strategies, how can help with American strategies against Iran?
But a desirable future;

According the facts that the US decision-making systems are considering, is there a desirable future?
American historical behavior shows that they have always failed to predict their future toward Iran.
Interestingly, these failures have been the product of long and widespread American think-tank experts; these failures seem to be persistent and even worse.

Because in the past there were some reason and logic, but what would be the bigger catastrophe for the United States that to know behind the scenes, there were some statements and decisions of the MKO.
If there is an impossible assumption of a wise American attitude, it is better to change its course and begin to relocate to those who have always been with the terrorists and then review their strategic texts with more realistic literature.

October 25, 2018 0 comments

Maryam Rajavi

Maryam Rajavi went to Tirana from France.‎

She is staying at the Tirana’s International Hotel and has meetings with top and senior officials; ‎Meetings with European authorities have also been arranged.‎
The recent presence of Maryam Rajavi in Tirana, in addition to foreign visits, seems to have no ceremonial reasons and it focuses more on the internal issue of the organization and organizes the status of its members.
Also, another reason that eliminates the integrity of the organization is Bolton’s promise to overthrow the Iranian regime before the fortieth anniversary of the revolution.

Because of the failure to realize this, the collapse of the system in the eyes of the members of the organization at Camp Ashraf 3 is a very far-reaching dream and this has caused internal organizational challenges, and the organization is trying to justify this issue.

October 25, 2018 0 comments

Albania

Eduard Kukan MEP refutes Iranian Mojahedin claim

The Mojahedin organization of former Iranian terrorists has managed to publish FAKE NEWS in the Albanian media. MEK’s false news claims that a group of European MPs are concerned about the fate of MEK in Albania and have written an open letter in which they seek their protection. This false news which is published here and has been distributed to Albanian media by a fake Mojahedin account is refuted by Member of the European Parliament, Eduard Kukan. Asked by an Albanian journalist, Kukan says he has not signed the letter and is not aware of the content of a letter of this kind.

This is not the first time the Mojahedin have published false news. Al-Jazeera and other international media have shown in recent weeks this organisation’s cultic and criminal nature and the Fake News activity they produce from their jihadist camp in Manze. Several days ago, they had a letter to the online media published, a letter which was also published by the Albanian print newspaper, claiming that MP Dashamir Shehi had visited the Mojahedin camp and stated that Iranian agents were threatening the MEK. Mr Dashamir Shehi has told journalists who contacted him that he has not written any such letter or made any statement of this kind.

But the ultimate claim from the Iranian mujahideen – which claims that 9 Members of the European Parliament made a statement supporting them – is one of the latest scandals that prove the extremist nature and slanderous nature of the Iranian Mojahedin. Misuse of the names of European MPs is a scandal that is not well received in the European Parliament, but unfortunately some of this manipulation has also reached some Albanian media. Below is the false news that MEK has spread in the name of Eduard Kukan, while the above serves as the answer that Mr Kukan has given to returned to the investigative journalist who is investigating the MEK’s manipulation of European MPs:

E-mail sent from the office of MEP Eduard Kukan, which testifies that he did not sign any letter on behalf of MEK.

“Situation of Iranian dissidents in Albania

October 16, 2018

Brussels- 16 October 2018

We are concerned about the Iranian regime’s terrorist plans against its main opposition. They include plots to blow up the Persian New Year gathering of Iranian refugees, members of the PMOI/MEK, in Tirana in March 2018, and the Free Iran Grand Gathering in Paris on June 30, 2018, as well as an intelligence gathering operation against PMOI members in the U.S. by two agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) arrested in August 2018.

By plotting to blow up the Paris gathering attended by some 100,000 people as well as hundreds of European and U.S. dignitaries, including several members of the European Parliament, the regime crossed all red lines. An Iranian diplomat in Vienna personally handed the explosives to other agents. German police arrested him on 1 July and he was handed over to Belgium on 9 October to face trial. On 2 October, French officials announced that the plot to attack the Paris gathering had been organized by Tehran’s intelligence services. France has seized assets belonging to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. As such, the efforts by the regime and its lobbies trying to attribute this plot only to rogue elements within the regime to save the so called “moderates” in the government, failed.

The new wave of terrorism reflects the regime’s inability to deal with a nationwide uprising that began in late 2017 and has continued to date. Tehran blames the PMOI for organizing the protests and strikes. The ongoing strikes in the Tehran Bazaar and many other cities as well as the continuing strike by hundreds of thousands of truck drivers, are the latest in the series of protests.

Coupled with crackdown at home and terrorism abroad, the Iranian regime has stepped up its sinister campaign of demonization against the Iranian opposition by using the services of its operatives, who have infiltrated several western media outlets. The aim is to portray the opposition as an insular and dangerous sect, which would be worse than the current regime if it were to assume power in Iran.

Iranian dissidents in Albania are the primary focus of this demonization campaign. The regime is furious over the safe and secure relocation all PMOI members to Albania as it failed to annihilate them in Iraq or force them to surrender and return to Iran. By concocting absurd lies such as claiming that the PMOI has set up a government within a government or that it is holding its members against their will, Tehran is clearly setting the stage for further terrorist actions against them.

We are fully aware of the falsity of these claims, disseminated in a well-orchestrated and simultaneous chorus in some media outlets.

Since 2005 several European Parliament delegations travelled to Camp Ashraf, Iraq, privately met with Ashraf residents and published their own reports on the visits. Some of us have also visited the new PMOI site in Albania and have met its members personally.

Our two-decade-long experience with this opposition makes it clear that this movement is a genuinely democratic, responsible and reliable movement, whose only aim is to establish democracy and human rights in Iran. It deeply respects the people and laws of Albania and has forged amicable relations with the host nation. As acknowledged by Albanian leaders, by accepting these refugees, Albania has found a new standing within the European Union and around the world. The members of the PMOI are working to free their homeland voluntarily and freely. No one is being kept in Albania against his/her own will.

Back in 2004 at the European Parliament, Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, declared that the only solution regarding the Iranian problem is a changing of the regime by the Iranian people and the Resistance. She has called on the international community to end the policy of appeasement and to adopt a firm policy vis-à-vis the regime. We have endorsed Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point-plan for the future free Iran, which coupled with this movement’s proven commitment to democratic principles gives us enormous hope about the future.

Accordingly, we underscore the following:

Given its undisputed role in terrorism, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry should be placed on the European Union’s terrorism list and the U.S.’s Foreign Terrorist Organisations list.
Consistent with the Council of European Union ratification in April 1997, “visas [should] not be granted to Iranians with intelligence and security functions” and “Iranian intelligence personnel from European Union Member States should be expelled.”
The regime’s agents pose a major threat to Iranian dissidents in Albania. These agents work under various pretexts, especially as journalists. The most urgent step in protecting these refugees is to expel Tehran’s intelligence operatives by the Albanian Government. Experience has shown that when the spies and agents of Iran are tolerated, the host countries’ security would be jeopardised.

Signatories:

Tunne Kelam, Member of European Parliament from Estonia
Eduard Kukan, MEP, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia
Jozo Radoš, MEP, Former Minister of Defence of Croatia
Heinz Becker, Member of European Parliament from Austria
José Bové, Member of European Parliament from France
Julie Ward, Member of European Parliament from UK Labour Party
Anthea McIntyre, MEP, Vice Chair of UK Conservative Party
Petri Sarvamaa, Member of European Parliament from Finland
Ryszard Czarnecki, MEP, former Minister of Europe of Poland
Jan Zahradil, Member of European Parliament from Czech Republic”

Translated by Iran Interlink

October 23, 2018 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Mona and Zeinab Hosseinnejad meet each other after 36 years

Mona and Zeinab Hosseinnejad meet each other in Athens, Greece for the first time.

Mona and Zeinab are the daughters of former member of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi) Ghorbanali Hosseinnejad. As a newborn, Mona was left behind when her parents and Zeinab went to Iraq to join the MKO.

The mother of the family was killed in the MKO’s military operation, Forough Javidan. When Mona was grown up, she decided to meet her father and her sister at Camp Ashraf, Iraq. She traveled to Iraq several times but she was not allowed to see her father and sister by the group leaders.

The father, Ghorbanali defected the MKO about 7 years ago. Mona was happy to meet her father but she was still looking forward for the release of her sister, Zeinab.

After the MKO’s relocation in Albania, Zeinab could manage to leave the group. Finally the family succeeded to reunite on October 20^th, in Athens Greece.

October 22, 2018 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MEK is a tool for playing its masters’ dirty games

Let´s look at the cult like group that has been supported and backed by SA, Israel, and CIA : This group is known as the Mujahedin Khalq Organization ( the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Or The Cult of Rajavi ) It´s about the MEK, a tool for Regime Change, terror attacks in Iran, for spying on the Iranian nuclear program, for sabotage acts, for things that the enemies of the Iranian government have to be ashamed of and do not wish to ta talk about them.

And who is behind changing the peaceful protest in Iran into the violent one. Do Iranians wish to change the peaceful protest into a violent one and get imprisoned for their legal demands?

Maryam Rajavi’s call for uprising and the support she voices for the alleged Iranian teachers’ and truck drivers’ strike indicates her collaboration with Saudi Arabia, the warmonger party of the US, and the Israeli government for destroying the Iranian nation instead of democratizing it.

The Mujahedin are the proper tool for the SA-US-Israeli alliance because of their long standing capacity for spying, fighting as a proxy force for the former Iraqi Baath regime and launching terror acts against the Iranian civilians and government officials.

Today, the MKO is charged with a new task, this time in the social media, particularly twitter. About a month ago Aljazeera reported that a widespread campaign of social media manipulation by actors who are opposed to the government in Tehran has had many analysts eyeing Iran’s enemies for clues to who might be behind the project. [1]

Most of the accounts identified had only a few dozen or a few hundred followers and used generic profile pictures. The vast majority tweet almost exclusively in opposition to the Islamic Republic with many exhibiting sympathies with an exiled Iranian dissident group, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK). [2]

The report was widely covered and analyzed by the news media. MKO’s camp in Albania was called by the Balkan Post as “secret MEK troll factory” that uses “modern slavery”. [3] Al-monitor, in its turn called the group’s base in Manez, Durres near Tirana as the “MEK’s troll farm”. [4]

The defectors of the MKO who were interviewed by certain media to clarify the case, confirm that the MKO members are used as a tool to run the group’s propaganda in the social networks.

“Overall I would say that several thousand accounts are managed by about 1,000-1,500 MEK members,”former MEK member, Hassan Heyrani, told The Listening Post.”It was all very well organized and there were clear instructions about what needed to be done.”[5]

The MEK online unit was especially active during several weeks of protests beginning in December 2017. Members were ordered to emphasize the anti-regime nature of the demonstrations, according to Aljazeera. [6]

“Our orders would tell us the hashtags to use in our tweets in order to make them more active,”says Hassan Shahbaz, another former MEK member.”It was our job to provide coverage of these protests by seeking out, tweeting and re-tweeting videos while adding our own comments.”[7]

Gordon Duff of Veteran Today describes MKO’s keyboard warriors as “terror trolls who are paid by the US”. “CIA run troll factory in Albania busted for influencing media with fake Twitter trends, personal attacks and even terror threats,” he states. “CIA troll farm is in a former Soviet military base. From Albania, the MEK has joined with the Albanian mafia, running weapons and drugs into Europe.” [8]

Elliot Gabriel of the Mint Press News also writes, “The group has long enjoyed the backing of the Iranian government’s enemies, ranging from toppled dictator Saddam Hussein to Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” [9]

Gabriel states that the group, which have also been described as “skilled manipulators of public opinion,” are said by ex-members to tolerate little internal dissent and are seen by many as little more than a well-funded, mafia-style cult commanded by self-styled “Iranian President-in-Exile” Maryam Rajavi and backed by her friends across Western and Gulf capitals.

Gabriel might be right to consider that the troll farms of the MEK will remain an important weapon in the arsenal of those seeking to manufacture the illusion of widespread anti-government fervor in an Iran under the gun of economic sanctions, media terrorism, and the low-intensity warfare of sustained “regime change” efforts.

By Mazda Parsi

References:

[1] Aljazeera, Faking the online debate on Iran, September 16, 2018.

[2] ibid

[3] Khodabandeh, Massoud & Ann, Secret MEK troll factory in Albania uses modern slaves, Balkan Post, September 22, 2018.

[4] Al Monitor, Iranians respond to MEK troll farm: #YouAreBots, September 17, 2018.

[5] Aljazeera, Faking the online debate on Iran, September 16, 2018.

[6] ibid

[7] ibid

[8] Duff, Gordon, The Fake Iranian Resistance, US Paid Terror Trolls, Veterans Today, September 17, 2018.

[9] Gabriel, Elliot, As Twitter Purges Real Iranians, US-Backed MEK Cult Revealed to Run Anti-Iran Troll Farm, MintPressNews, September 19, 2018.

October 21, 2018 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

The Fake Iranian Resistance, US Paid Terror Trolls

CIA run troll factory in Albania busted for influencing media with fake Twitter trends, personal attacks and even terror threats.

CIA troll farm is in a former Soviet military base.

From Albania, the MEK has joined with the Albanian mafia, running weapons and drugs into Europe.

Behind this all, as the CIA’s primary contractor, is Google Jigsaw, Google Idea Groups, Twitter and Facebook, and Israel’s huge lobby inside the fake news media.

By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor, Veteran Today

October 18, 2018 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

As Twitter Purges Real Iranians, US-Backed MEK Cult Revealed to Run Anti-Iran Troll Farm

While “actual” Iranians face social media bans, countless bots and anti-government accounts belonging to the US-backed former terror group, MEK, have been permitted to run rampant across Twitter and other platforms.

TIRANA, ALBANIA – Iran is once again being subject to double standards as part of an ongoing effort to deprive it of access to media platforms where it can influence audiences overseas – in this case, on Twitter.

The effort has seen hundreds of Iranian accounts allegedly tied to Iranian pro-government “propaganda” efforts subject to a massive cull across platforms owned by Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc., and Google parent company Alphabet Inc.

Those purged from the platforms include profiles, channels, and accounts belonging to Iranian nationals who have been accused of involvement in alleged “coordinated manipulation” of information related to Middle Eastern events and ”divisive social commentary.”

On YouTube, this has included accounts belonging to media entities owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the state media corporation that operates such channels as the English-language PressTV and Spanish-language HispanTV.

Watch | Al Jazeera on Albania’s Iranian Regime Change Bot Factory

Yet while “actual” Iranians face bans from social media, countless bots and anti-government accounts belonging to U.S.-backed opposition groups posturing as the “Iranian people resistance” have been permitted to run rampant across the web.

#YouAreBots

Last month, nearly 800 accounts based in Iran were suspended by Twitter for allegedly violating the network’s policies, per an investigation alongside “industry peers” that allowed the social media giants a better “understanding of these [Iranian] networks.” Twitter hasn’t been forthcoming about the methods it used to investigate the networks tied to such alleged “Iranian interference,” but users including patriotic university student SeyedMousavi7 and Press TV journalist Waqar Rizvi were among those suspended.

SeyedMousavi7 was banned from Twitter after a major censorship campaign claiming he is part of a “propaganda ring.” He’s actually a student from #Iran and came to discuss politics just like everyone else. When it comes to voicing opinions, he says the platform is rigged. pic.twitter.com/StSI8caMp7— iranmilitaryvlog (@irmilitaryvlog) August 23, 2018

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Zarif directly addressed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a tweet aiming to highlight the contradiction:

Hello @Jack. Twitter has shuttered accounts of real Iranians, incl TV presenters & students, for supposedly being part of an ‘influence op’. How about looking at actual bots in Tirana used to prop up ‘regime change’ propaganda spewed out of DC? #YouAreBots”

Another tweet by Iranian legislator Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi addressed to the Twitter chief said:

You suspended my official account as MP of Iran for my violation of not determined twitter rules, but why you have not blocked bots of MEK in Tirana, a group that killed 17000 Iranian people, used to prop up ‘regime change’ propaganda? #YouAreBots”

The tweet followed a report by Al Jazeera English which detailed how monitors and researchers were able to pinpoint a sharp uptick in a trend of actual social media manipulation.

The Wizard Behind the “Resistance” Curtain – Maryam Rajavi and the MEK Cult

The report connected the growing phenomenon to the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) or People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), a cultish group of Iranian exiles that was listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. until 2012 and have been based in a camp outside the Albanian capital, Tirana, since the U.S. began openly backing it in 2013.

The group has long enjoyed the backing of the Iranian government’s enemies, ranging from toppled dictator Saddam Hussein to Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hiding behind various front groups like the France-based “parliament-in-exile,” The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the MEK has sought to depict itself as a representative, democratic coalition that speaks for all of Iran’s religious, ethnic, and political groups proportionately” and is committed to a secular, pro-market, and free Iran.

The group has paid a number of top Trump administration officials to speak at its functions and echo its calls to enact a “regime change” in Tehran, including former New York City Mayor and top White House lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and National Security Advisor John Bolton, among a long list of U.S. lawmakers and officials.

Yet the group, which have also been described as “skilled manipulators of public opinion,” are said by ex-members to tolerate little internal dissent and are seen by many as little more than a well-funded, mafia-style cult commanded by self-styled “Iranian President-in-Exile” Maryam Rajavi and backed by her friends across Western and Gulf capitals.

#FreeIran is our goal for our homeland #Iran! 1500 Iranian American delegates and leaders from 40 states will be in NY on 09/22. #FreeIran is only possible by the help of organized resistance led @Maryam_Rajavi. #FreeIran2018 @SecPompeo@nikkihaley @USAdarFarsi @fox5ny @VOAIran pic.twitter.com/iBCxFyTZ0x

— OIAC (@OrgIAC) September 18, 2018

Some who escaped the MEK and remain stranded in Tirana spoke to Al Jazeera and described the manner in which the cult orchestrated what appeared to be a trending wave of support for the group and its anti-regime message toward the end of last year, when Iranians took to the streets to protest adverse economic conditions largely caused by a mixture of domestic legislation and intense pressure by Washington.

Much of this trend was clearly fueled by bots – accounts that are often fraudulent and behave in an automated fashion, amplifying messages through swarm-like behavior such as retweeting, liking, and republishing videos and articles posted alongside hashtags such as #FreeIran and #IranRegimeChange.

In many cases these trends – which sought to focus, variously, on the plight of Iran’s national or religious minority groups ranging from Kurds to Christians, women’s rights groups, and dissidents –grew as a direct result of work by MEK members toiling away in an Albanian troll farm to boost their group’s online propaganda.

Former MEK militant Hassan Heyrani told the outlet:

Overall I would say that several thousand accounts are managed by about 1,000-1,500 MEK members … It was all very well organized and there were clear instructions about what needed to be done.”

Another former “keyboard warrior,” Hassan Shahbaz, added:

Our orders would tell us the hashtags to use in our tweets in order to make them more active … It was our job to provide coverage of these protests by seeking out, tweeting and re-tweeting videos while adding our own comments.”

Working with our industry peers today, we have suspended 284 accounts from Twitter for engaging in coordinated manipulation. Based on our existing analysis, it appears many of these accounts originated from Iran.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) August 22, 2018

Useful Tools in the Age of Trump

Journalist, writer and scholar Azadeh Moaveni told Al Jazeera that the 2016 election of former real estate mogul Donald Trump, who surrounded himself during his campaign with a range of zealous anti-Iran and pro-Israel hawks, was a turning point in such anti-IRI media operations.

“Once it became clear that there would be heightened hostility with Iran, there was a profusion of new accounts, anonymous accounts who were single-mindedly and purposefully going after people who wrote about, talked about Iran with nuance,” she noted.

Whether the report, or Iran’s demands, will have any impact on the continued backing of MEK by Iran’s opponents remains yet to be seen. In the last year alone, a bevy of U.S. figures including late Senator John McCain, former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, and various senators have visited the Rajavi cult’s compound in Albania as U.S. rhetoric against Iran’s “regime” has escalated and the U.S. has unilaterally withdrawn from the six-party Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or nuclear accord.

In the meantime, social media networks like Twitter and Facebook have squirmed as the same U.S. lawmakers have sought to crack down on alleged Russian and Iranian “interference” online.

Without a doubt, the troll farms of the MEK will remain an important weapon in the arsenal of those seeking to manufacture the illusion of widespread anti-government fervor in an Iran under the gun of economic sanctions, media terrorism, and the low-intensity warfare of sustained “regime change” efforts.

Top Photo | Iranians surf the Internet at a cafe in Tehran, Iran, Sept, 17, 2013. Ebrahim Noroozi | AP

Elliott Gabriel is a former staff writer for teleSUR English and a MintPress News contributor based in Quito, Ecuador. He has taken extensive part in advocacy and organizing in the pro-labor, migrant justice and police accountability movements of Southern California and the state’s Central Coast.

by Elliott Gabriel, Mint Press

October 17, 2018 0 comments

Iran

Iran Summons German Envoy over Extradition of Diplomat to Belgium

The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the German ambassador to Tehran to voice protest at Berlin’s extradition of an Iranian diplomat to Brussels over alleged plotting of a bomb attack on a recent meeting of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCRI) terrorist group in Paris.

The director-general for Europe affairs at the foreign ministry met Michael Klor-Berchtold to convey the Islamic Republic’s strong opposition to the arrest, detention and extradition of the Iranian diplomat, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday.

He added that the move was part of a manufactured plot by those opposing Iran-Europe relations and was planned by the MKO itself.

It was stressed during the meeting that “this ploy is in line (with attempts) to damage Iran-Europe ties”, and was a show to compensate for the failures of the terrorist group as well as those of the Israeli regime, Qassemi said.

He added that the treatment of the Iranian diplomat was in contravention of the accepted rules of diplomatic law, and said Tehran demanded the immediate repatriation of the diplomat.

Qassemi said that to “help protect the basic fundamentals of international law and to fight various forms of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to follow up on the issue through legal and political channels and will implement a proper decision in due time”.

Germany extradited to Belgium an Iranian diplomat suspected of plotting a bomb attack in France, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Back in June, Belgian authorities claimed that the Iranian diplomat had been arrested along with a 38-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, suspected of plotting a bomb attack on the MKO meeting in Paris attended by US President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and several former European and Arab ministers.

They added that Belgian police intercepted the two suspects in Belgium with 500 grams of the homemade explosive TATP and a detonation device found in their car.

The diplomat, 46-year-old Assadollah A, was arrested in Germany, suspected of having been in contact with the two arrested in Belgium.

Three other people were also arrested in France in connection with the case, two of whom were released.

Senior Iranian officials have dismissed the claims against the diplomat, saying they were part of a plot to harm Iran-Europe ties as the two sides seek to bolster cooperation.

Qassemi once again on Wednesday voiced Iran’s deep regret and dissatisfaction over the German government’s extradition and pledged the Islamic Republic’s determination to the plot behind the diplomat’s arrest and extradition.

Iran “will firmly and through diplomatic channels follow up on the case of this diplomat, who has fallen prey to a plot by those opposing further constructive ties between Iran and Germany and other European countries, until the truth will out and until the clarification of the terrorist groups’ malicious move,” he said.

The anti-Iranian currents in the European countries have a long history of terrorist activities and it is not so difficult for them to design such scenarios, he added.

The MKO, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly-established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by the MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who argued for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in September 2012, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under the US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with the American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

In September 2012, the last groups of the MKO terrorists left Camp Ashraf, their main training center in Iraq’s Diyala province. They have been transferred to Camp Liberty. Hundreds of the MKO terrorists have now been sent to Europe, where their names were taken off the blacklist even two years before the US.

The MKO has assassinated over 12,000 Iranians in the last 4 decades. The terrorist group had even killed large numbers of Americans and Europeans in several terror attacks before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Some 17,000 Iranians have lost their lives in terror attacks in the 35 years after the Revolution.

Rumors were confirmed in September 2016 about the death of MKO ringleader, Massoud Rajavi, as a former top Saudi intelligence official disclosed in a gaffe during an address to his followers.

Rajavi’s death was revealed after Turki al-Faisal who was attending the MKO annual gathering in Paris made a gaffe and spoke of the terrorist group’s ringleader as the”late Rajavi”twice.

Faced with Faisal’s surprising gaffe, Rajavi’s wife, Maryam, changed her happy face with a complaining gesture and cued the interpreter to be watchful of translation words and exclude the gaffe from the Persian translation.

October 15, 2018 0 comments

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