Page 267 – Nejat Society

Which occasion is Maryam Rajavi celebrating in Paris?

Letter of the families of members of Rajavi terrorist cult and the former members, to the new President of France, about the annual celebration of Maryam Rajavi in Paris

Mr. Emmanuel Macron, the honorable president of the Republic of France

With greetings, we wish to draw your attention to some interesting points.

You surely know the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO) and do know what occasion Maryam Rajavi, the leader of this group after Massoud Rajavi, celebrates in Paris every year. This group also appears under the names of the National Council of Resistance (NCR) and the National Liberation Army (NLA).

It is now 36 years since Massoud Rajavi first entered France and sought refuge in your country. It was towards the end of June 1981 that this group declared armed struggle against Iran and started a bloody campaign to gain power. Then Massoud Rajavi escaped to Paris and under the protection of your country and other western countries, directed the MEK’s terrorist activities inside Iran.

In the 80s there was no sign of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIL, and the west was not familiar with terrorism and its difficulties as today. But the people of Iran faced a vast amount of terrorist activities in those years that the west is just beginning to experience a limited amount in recent years. Perhaps the westerners now understand a little how the people of Iran suffered through these years of terror.

After five years residing in France and directing terror inside Iran, Massoud Rajavi while admitting defeat of the strategy of fighting in the cities, moved to Iraq as was directed by US and the west. You surely are aware that Massoud Rajavi had a prior undercover visit to France before the start of Iran-Iraq war. Later it was disclosed that this journey was aimed at making connections with the Iraqi regime and was mediated by France. It was agreed that the Iraqis from outside Iran and the MEK from inside of the country work together and destroy the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran.

What is the act of ‘cooperating with the enemy during a war’ considered as in your country? How do you explain such an obvious betraying and what verdict do you give for it? We do wish to know your opinion on this. Massoud Rajavi’s move to Iraq, while being at war with Iran and joining the Iraqi forces against the Iranian defenders, also happened to occur in June 1986.

Since 2000, the west became familiar with terrorism as it is known today, and groups misusing Islam emerged and committed widespread acts of violence and cruelty. We consider the MEK to be their godfather. Do you know that the MEK are proud of being the originators of suicide bombing and of inventing the exploding vest? Do you know that in those years that Massoud Rajavi was a special guest in your country, the MEK used this sort of terrorism inside Iran using many numbers of their brainwashed members? Do you know that the MEK recruited most of their forces from Iranians in the US and Europe and after they were brainwashed sent them to Iraq via Turkey and forced them into the war with Iran? Later ISIL copied the MEK and did the same.

We would like you to answer one question sincerely. If the leaders of Al-Qaeda or ISIL celebrate in Tehran the beginning of their terrorism against the west, what would the reaction of the people of New York, London, or Paris be? If a country gives refuge to your country’s war traitors and allows them to act freely against your country, how would you feel?

It is very difficult for us to relate these sorts of behaviors to the France’s claim of democracy and peace. Don’t you think that such issues damage the humanitarian appearance of France?

Do you know that the base of the MEK in Auvers-sur-Oise in the suburbs of Paris inside France operates under cultic rules, and the behavior, thoughts, beliefs, communications and emotions of the members are severely controlled? Aren’t you concerned about the presence of some brainwashed elements in your country, who are ready to commit self-immolation on a single command? Do your security authorities approve celebrations in your country commemorating the start of terrorism?

The MEK, just like all other terrorist cults in history, is condemned to failure. This cult has committed many crimes against the people of Iran, people of Iraq, and even against its own members. This cult was forced to leave Iraq. Have you ever asked the Iraqis why they were so insistent on MEK leaving their country? It is obvious, because Iraq found their presence a security threat. Now they have been moved to Europe and their headquarters is in Paris. How come France and other European countries ignore their threat? Can the conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran justify such negligence?

France had an excuse in the past for keeping the Rajavi cult in Paris that they have nowhere to go. But now Maryam Rajavi spent several months with her forces in Albania and can easily reside in Tirana with her followers. There is a security problem now and that is they are expanding their activities towards European countries as well as Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, and Iran. But everyone, including those responsible for security in Europe, knows that they would soon be problematic in Europe. They do not belong to European countries, they do belong to some warmongering Americans and therefore their presence in France can be very dangerous for your country and the whole Europe.

We, the suffering families and the former members, urge you as the highest representative of the Republic of France, do not stick the MEK in our eyes anymore and at least for the sake of your own county’s reputation do not give in to the criminals and traitors. Expelling or at least limiting the MEK terrorist cult in France can of course be in the path of countering terrorism and cults and also seeking democracy and peace and developing human rights.

Families and former members of MEK

July 5, 2017 0 comments

People take to Twitter to proclaim Iran hates MKO

A picture posted by a follower of #IranHatesMEK (an acronym for the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization, or MKO) depicts a portrait of MKO ringleader Maryam Rajavi against a backdrop of the US flag.

A hashtag uniting those who detest the anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) is accumulating a significant following on Twitter.

Online users are hotly debating a recent annual gathering of the anti-Iran terrorist group, which turned out to have gathered largely a disinterested audience as mere extras.

The MKO has a dark history of assassinations and bombings against the Iranian government and nation. It notoriously sided with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror.

The terrorist group also helped Saddam in his brutal crackdown on his opponents.

Ticket to Paris

The gathering of the group last Saturday featured a ragtag crowd of youths, who would keep seizing opportunities to escape the venue for a snack or a nap.

Later, some of them revealed they could not make much or any sense of what was being talked about at the event.

“They invited you?” one was asked. “Yes, of course, like everybody here,” he answered.

“Have you been inside? And… you don’t understand [what is being talked about]?” he was again asked.

“No, nothing. [Just] speaking, speaking…, and I wanna sleep. And we come outside, drink, eat, relax…,” he said.

“You came all over here just for the meeting?” a female was asked.

“Yes, and to Paris…”

“They paid for the whole trip, right?”

“No, we have to pay something, but a small amount of money. I think it is a strategy to bring us here, and because it’s Paris, and they made it very cheap so they can have their rally,” she said.

The ticket to Paris also reportedly wooed in many Afghans, who said they knew naught about Iranian politics.

Also present at the meeting were Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the US House of Representatives and a close associate of US President Donald Trump, as well as former US official John Bolton, who are two habitués to anti-Iran gatherings.

Preaching democracy

Some European and Saudi officials, including former Saudi Arabian spy chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, also addressed the meeting.

Paris had hosted a previous convention of the MKO, which Faisal also attended.

During the events, MKO ringleader Maryam Rajavi and Faisal have been campaigning for the “establishment of democracy in Iran.”

This is while elections are held in Iran regularly, as opposed to Saudi Arabia, where an absolute monarchy rules and where the ruling family has put its name on the country.

Online reactions

Those contributing to #IranHatesMEK — MEK is another acronym for the MKO — are reminding the world of the atrocities and are questioning Paris, Riyadh, and Washington’s sponsorship of the group’s continued existence.

“The Last One”‏ uploaded a picture of Maryam Rajavi and wrote, “Not any thief has mask on his/her face! Not any terrorist has gun in his/her hand!”

“Good old days: #MEK leader received shelter & fund from Saddam when he was a US ally in 1980s,” wrote another user, who incorporated a picture featuring a handshake between former MKO head Massoud Rajavi and Saddam Hussein.

Another user posted a picture purportedly showing an MKO member “burying Iraqi Kurd children alive.” (See below)

“Traitors that sided with a foreign country to attack their own no longer have the right to call themselves Iranian,” read another tweet.

“If France was going to react to the massacres committed by #MEK, the #EiffelTower would blackout like forever,” and “Hey France! You are shelter of our murderers, can we judge you?” read two other tweets.

July 5, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

From Paris: Regime Change Calls by Arab Princes and American Lobbyists and Paid US Politicians

Mujahideen Khalq, MKO, MEK is [a]n Iranian organization with a long history of switching sides and shifting alliances.

During the rule of the Shah of Iran, the MEK/MKO were a radical group that targeted Americans.

They were part of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and had a role in the storming of the American Embassy in November of that year and the taking of American hostages.

In the early 1980s they broke with the ruling theocratic clerics (under Khomeini) and their leadership left Iran, but some remained and waged a guerilla-style war against the mullahs. A large number of them moved to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq next door, where they switched sides and served him faithfully in the war against their own country, Iran, as well as against the Kurdish rebels. That was fine by the Arab oil kings and potentates: at that time they also financed Saddam’s wars.

As soon as Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990, the MEK/MKO became pariahs along both sides of the Persian Gulf. During the Desert Storm and its aftermath, they were reportedly helpful in crushing rebellions against the Baath rule in southern Iraq.

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq by Western powers, with strong Arab help, the MEK/MKO moved to a huge camp outside Baghdad. When the Iraqi elections brought a Shi’a-Kurdish-dominated government, the MEK/MKO found new sponsors and financiers: Arab kings and princes. They also were eventually, and painstakingly, forced to move out of Iraq.

Ever since, the organization has been close to the Al Saud rulers, eventually they also got close to the Israeli Mossad. The Iranian regime often accuses MEK/MKO agents of committing acts overseas for which the regime gets blamed. Eventually Hillary Clinton and various Republican and Democrat politicians in the USA helped take the Mujahideen off the US government terrorist list a few years ago.

Since then, the organization has suddenly become rich and generous with money towards American politicians. It can afford lobbyists in Washington, and it can buy former and current American politicians. Its leaders for life, the Rajavi couple, live in the Paris area. They hold occasional huge conferences called “Iran Liberation” conference. The emphasis at these “conferences” is on photo-ops with famous American politicians, current and former. And they pay well for these photo-ops. The list of famous Americans who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, allegedly for “speaking” but really for showing up includes: Newt Gingrich, his wife Callista (a new face at this year’s conference), Rudy Giuliani, General Wesley Clark, Bill Richardson, Howard Dean, Joe Lieberman, John Bolton…… Among many others (just wait until Trump leaves office).

They all probably know that this organization has little if any support or credibility inside Iran, that its siding with Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime was probably an unforgivable act. So, it is a waste of American time and money to emphasis it. But the money received is too good for them to resist.

Speaking of the money: a has-been Saudi prince (Turki Al Faisal Al Saud) now attends every conference of this organization, no doubt assuming that this bestows some Neocon-type “legitimacy” on it among American officials. Of course the reaction to the use of this un-elected absolute Saudi prince inside Iran is obvious. Even the lousy self-styled Palestinian leader, the Mayor of Ramallah, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) attended the previous conference.

The self-delusion about Iran and the Middle East during and after these conferences is breath-taking. They actually seriously talk about “regime” change in Iran, meaning outside action to change the regime. It almost matches the self-delusion inside the US Congress (both houses, both parties) on the same topic.

They all must know it is pure nonsense, but the again money is too good for all participants, and the futile message sounds good to many extreme right-wing US media outlets. Besides, the Israeli Lobby and the newly influential Saudi lobby and the sources of oil money in Washington like it.

Cheers

By Mohammed Haider Ghuloum, Arabia Deserta

July 4, 2017 0 comments

Iran

Iran Should Give France Ultimatum for MKO Gathering

An Iranian analyst says Tehran-Paris relations need to be redefined after the French capital recently hosted the annual gathering of the notorious anti-Iran terrorist group MKO.

The editor-in-chief of the Iranian Diplomacy news website has, in an analytical piece, talked about the recent gathering of the terrorist Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO or MEK) in the French capital of Paris.

Sergei Barseghian has underlined the need for a redefinition of Tehran-Paris ties given the European side’s support for the anti-Iran terrorist cult.

The following is the full text of article:

The gathering of MKO ringleader Maryam Rajavi’s cult in Paris was a repeat of last year’s show; there were even no new faces among the VIP guests, who included former officials of different countries. In other words, the MKO had failed to attract any new individuals. Turki al-Faisal, Bernard Kouchner, Newton Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Joe Lieberman, John Bolton, etc., all have delivered speeches at MKO gatherings before. However, no new member has joined their clan, which means a failure. The presence of former French President Bernard Kouchner at this year’s gathering and his delivering a speech must be strange. However, it was not the first time he made comments about Iran’s political system. He had made similar remarks during Iran’s 2009 post-election unrest when he was foreign minister. Turki al-Faisal’s comments should not be taken seriously, either. This Saudi prince, who claims Iran’s presidential elections are undemocratic, has objected to Riyadh’s handing over the throne to Mohammad bin Salman. The former US officials attending the gathering are the same individuals present in previous events. Bolton, Lieberman and Giuliani are the same people who wrote a letter to US President Donald Trump urging him to cooperate with the MKO against Iran.

The Associated Press and Fox News reported in early 2017 that Newton Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani had benefited from the MKO’s “generosity” for delivering speeches against Iran. Incumbent US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has confessed that he received $50,000 for delivering a five-minute speech. Still, Rajavi has failed to entrap any new bribees.

But what is important is that the MKO gathering was held just hours after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Paris. Of course, in reaction to the gathering, Zarif said the MKO get-together was a “moot point in relations” with France, and quoted French officials as saying that Paris has no relations with the MKO. But a terrorist group holding a gathering in another country attended by former officials of some other countries and marked by speeches against the legal and official system of a certain state (Iran) is something beyond a moot point, and is regarded as a “move against” international law, which the Iranian foreign ministry and embassy should not easily ignore. Moreover, the timing of Zarif’s trip is under serious criticism given that the date of the MKO’s gathering had already been announced. And there is some doubt about the French officials’ giving assurances that they have no connection with the MKO, especially at a time when they remain silent in the face of a gathering that the former French foreign minister calls a “family meeting.”

The issue cannot be settled simply by summoning the French ambassador or charge d’affaires in Tehran to the Foreign Ministry. Kouchner has claimed that “You were oppressed in my country, France, and I feel guilty for that.” By “being oppressed” he meant the French government’s attack on the MKO’s headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, in mid-2003. Some 300 members of the terror group were arrested in the raid on charges of planning to carry out terrorist operations. But France seems to have changed its approach toward the MKO since 2003, so much so that it hosts the terror group’s annual gathering.

The raid on the MKO’s base came a few days after then Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi hit out at his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin, saying it was unacceptable and not understandable that a terrorist organization was present in France and operating there.

“It seems these terrorists, who have dealt a blow to us in Iran, enjoy a sort of immunity in Auvers-sur-Oise,” Kharazi had noted at the time.

MKO members claim de Villepin had told Kharrazi that “I can tell you that Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing an operation in this regard.” If this admission by MKO terrorists is accepted, then the Iranian diplomacy will assume a much more important role. Perhaps here we should change the diplomatic language from a “moot point” to the “element of accusation”. Governments which have fallen victim to terrorism “enjoy the legitimate right to defend themselves against armed operations conducted by non-governmental dissident groups in a third country.” Under the current circumstances, Iran-France relations need a serious ultimatum and should be redefined, given that Paris has hosted an MKO banquet for former politicians with a past rife with failures. Another point is that not even one election has been held at the MKO while the terror group claims that there should be “elections and freedom” in Iran.

The MKO is the most hated terrorist group among Iranians because of its dark history of assassinations and bombings and for siding with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.

One of the MKO’s deadliest terrorist operations was carried out on 28 June 1981 when a powerful bomb went off at the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party of Iran in Tehran, while a meeting of party leaders was in progress. Over 70 top Iranian officials were killed in the bomb blast.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror.

Iran Front Page (From Iranian Diplomacy),

July 4, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Iranian Opposition Group Says ‘Represents People’s Will’ Even as ‘Iran Hates MEK’ Trends

NCRI”President-elect”Maryam Rajavi greets international speakers as she arrives at the”gathering for a free Iran”on July 1.

On Saturday, Paris played host to an annual “Free Iran” gathering organized by an Iranian opposition group.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) or the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, and its political branch the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), arranges the yearly event, which draws high-profile international speakers.

The NCRI claimed in its run-up that “the July 1 gathering represents the will of the people of Iran,” and that hundreds of expressions of support for the group had taken place within Iran, CNS news reported.

However, the hashtag #IranHatesMEK, which flooded Twitter with hundreds of messages against the exiled opposition organization over the weekend, might suggest otherwise.

MEK is designated a terrorist organization by Iran and Iraq and, until recently, it was also considered as such by the US and EU. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton removed this classification in 2012, citing the group’s renunciation of violence in 2001.

The state department nonetheless indicated at the time:”With today’s actions, the Department does not overlook or forget the MEK’s past acts of terrorism…The Department also has serious concerns about the MEK as an organization, particularly with regard to allegations of abuse committed against its own members.”

Involved in the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, two years later the MEK had turned against Ayatollah Khomeini and begun conducting attacks against the new Islamic government.

In 1981 it bombed first the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, killing 74 senior officials and 27 members of parliament, then a meeting of Iran’s national security council, killing Iran’s president and the prime minister. Bombings targeting “agents of the regime” continued into the early 1990s.

It was by backing Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war, however, that they lost the majority of their popular support in Iran.

The event on Saturday was attended among others by former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton (labeled below, right), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (second right), former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (center), former Saudi ambassador to the US Prince Turki Al-Faisal (center) and former Democratic senator Joe Lieberman (left).

Speaking at the event, Giuliani, who is now an informal adviser to President Trump, expressed his hope that the new administration would take steps to “not only implement a new approach toward the regime in Iran, but to embrace the Iranian opposition in tackling a common problem.”

There is an irony in such US support for the MEK, albeit coming from figures no longer in positions of power. The organization took an aggressive anti-US and anti-Israeli stance in the 1970s, enthusiastically backing the taking of hostages at the US embassy, according to some reports. In fact, they are accused of being behind the killings of six Americans during that period.

Added to that, a 1992 state department report indicated that”exploiting western opprobrium of the behaviour of the current government of Iran, the (MEK) posit themselves as the alternative”

“To achieve that goal,” the report continued, “they claim they have the support of a majority of Iranians. This claim is much disputed by academics and other specialists on Iran, who assert that in fact the MEK have little support among Iranians.”

That may have been 25 years ago, but yesterday Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s”president-elect”, said at the gathering that “the ruling regime is in disarray and paralyzed as never before.

“Iranian society is simmering with discontent and the international community is finally getting closer to the reality that appeasing the ruling theocracy is misguided,” she added.

Framing her organization as the popular opposition ready to take over – the”parliament in exile”- Rajavi continues to draw upon dislike of the current Iranian regime to gain support for MEK in the West. This, despite a 2011 US state department report placing membership at just 5,000-10,000.

Yet, on top of its problematic past, some have suggested that Western support for the MEK could undercut the efforts of more mainstream Iranian opposition groups. These include the Green Movement, which drew out large numbers of protesters following the 2009 presidential election.

It is not clear to what extent this social media trend represents Iranian public opinion – freedom of expression is limited, after all. Still, when combined with several reports suggesting limited enthusiasm for this opposition, the hashtag”Iran hates MEK”seems to speak for itself.

By albawaba.com

July 3, 2017 0 comments

Iran

Iranian FM decries France green light to MKO activities

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has expressed regret that the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) has been given permission to carry out its activities in France.

The presence and activities of the MKO in France are regarded as “a moot point” in relations between Tehran and Paris, Zarif told IRIB in an interview published on Saturday, a day after he wrapped up his two-day visit to the French capital.

“During our talks with the French officials, we raised this issue as a moot point in our relations and they also emphasized that they have no connection with this group (MKO),” he said.

He added that the MKO’s terrorist nature is not hidden to anybody, saying all regional and European countries are aware of the group’s acts of terror.

The Iranian foreign minister expressed regret that some “reactionary regimes in the region are once again capitalizing on this group as they did so in the past.”

Zarif added that the Islamic Republic is aware that Saudi Arabia has been colluding with the MKO and providing it with financial support since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980s.

The Al Saud regime has decided to publicize its cooperation with the terrorist group since last year by attending its meetings, he said.

On Saturday, the MKO terror group held a meeting in Paris, which was attended by some of the former US, European and Saudi officials, including former Saudi spy chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, who also delivered a speech.

On July 9, 2016, Paris hosted another annual meeting organized by the MKO terrorist group, which was also attended by Faisal.

Zarif emphasized that all such moves show the desperation of the Islamic Republic’s opponents who had no option but to resort to groups with no place among the Iranian nation in order to achieve their own “ominous objectives.”

The MKO is the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians because of its dark history of assassinations and bombings and for siding with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror.

The terrorist group also helped Saddam in his brutal crackdown on his opponents.

July 2, 2017 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 195

++ News has emerged that Rajavi has made desperate efforts to persuade Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to attend Villepinte on Saturday, 1st July. Many Farsi open letter writers have been warning him not to sell the Palestinian people for Saudi money. Abbas met with Rajavi last year and was widely and severely criticised for taking money from the Saudis to do their bidding. His representative in Tehran later tried to perform damage limitation, but stopped short of apologising. Instead it was said that Abbas had no choice but to do this as he was under serious pressure from many sides.

++ This week marked the 30th anniversary of Saddam Hussein and Massoud Rajavi dropping chemical weapons on the Iranian Kurdish city of Sardasht. Documents have emerged which reveal that the Americans now admit they supported this bombardment. They also admit that if they had not supported Saddam and Rajavi, the next chemical attack on Halabja (in Iraqi Kurdistan) would not have happened. Many have linked this with current American support for ISIS and the MEK as well as the use of chemicals by terrorists in Syria which the Americans claim, without direct evidence, are being deployed by the Syrian. Commentators remind us that it was claimed Saddam didn’t bomb Sardasht and that the Iranians were dropping bombs on themselves.

++ Many families have expressed their disgust with the French government for harbouring Rajavi and allowing the glorification of terror and violence from Paris.

++ Over this week, daily picketing and leafletting has taken place in various locations across Paris to expose what is really going on in Villepinte on Saturday. Former members also attended a couple of meetings in the European Parliament.

In English:

++ Nejat Society published the letter of the families of the members of MEK (Rajavi cult) in Albania to the UNHCR and the Interior Ministry. They say, “We learned that the Rajavi cult is trying to replicate the conditions it imposed on the group in Iraq and wants to move all the members to a remote location in Albania where they can be kept in total isolation. This means that their contact with the outside world and the families would be almost impossible.

“We also learned that the individual UN refugee allowances of all the members who have been accepted into Albania as refuges are being paid directly to the MEK organization, and this even includes those who have left the cult. This means that these people are forced still to be dependent on the cult and have to obey the cult’s dictates as before.”

++ Press TV Documentary broadcast a video on YouTube called ‘The Insanity Season’. The film deals primarily with a newly-produced Iranian movie called “Midday Event” which portrays the MKO terrorist group after the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979.

++ Massoud Khodabandeh writes in Huffington Post ‘Under President Macron, France can play a pivotal role in Western relations with Iran’. The article focuses on MEK involvement in the recent ISIS attacks on Tehran and asks how a group with links to current terrorism, which advocates for violent regime change can be allowed to broadcast its propaganda from France. With a new President in France and the possibility to send them to Albania, writes Khodabandeh, there may be a chance at last to expel the MEK from Auvers-sur-Oise.

++ Another piece from Massoud Khodabandeh in the Huffington Post questions the veracity of claims by MEK supporter Gérard Deprez that 265 parliamentarians support Rajavi’s MEK. Where is the list of signatories, he asks.

June 30, 2017

July 2, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

The West must realize that the MKO is not popular

As the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/the cult of Rajavi) is holding its so-called annual grand gathering in Paris, its supporters try to be grateful for their luxurious trip to Paris donated to them by the group.

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Department of the United States, Tom Ridge is a well-paid advocate of the MKO. Together with a number of his colleagues, Ridge has been paid thousands of dollars for his speeches in support of the group as well as his first class flights to France and his luxurious hotel rooms in Paris every year.

Therefore, the hefty payments have convinced him to forge the truth. In his recent article, published by Arabnews, just two days before the grand gathering he claims that “many Iranians have boycotted the presidential election” in Iran! He claims that the large voter turnout is the “regime propaganda” while the entire world-wide media have admitted that the Iranians’ participation in the recent presidential elections was great. Aljazeera, for instance described the election as “a massive voter turnout”. “Long queues were seen outside polling stations across the country, and voting time was extended by five hours”, according to BBC.

However, Mr. Ridge prefers to neglect the truth and instead call for support for the MKO declaring his plan to attend the group’s rally in Paris, ”which is expected to draw upward of 1000,000 Iranian expatriates from around the world, and will be broadcast live to millions of Iranians.”

He seems to be so naïve that he cannot recognize the huge number of non-Iranians who are bused to the so-called grand gathering from around Europe including college students, African and middle eastern refugees and a lot more irrelevant people who have been promised a free trip to the lovely memorable French capital, Paris.

He claims that millions of Iranians watch the MKO’s masquerade show live while the 80-milllion Iranian population who almost all have access to the Internet and satellite TV channels, hardly ever know the MKO or even if they know the group they do not sound eager to know about it or to follow its news.

Mr. Ridge’s is made forget the violent background of the MKO. Ironically, he advises the international community to “encourage the democratic transformation of Iran by supporting democratic alternatives to the current regime”. This is an alarming sign of his poor judgment about the MKO and its situation among the Iranian public opinion.

Indeed, various sources emphasize that the MKO enjoys very little support in Iranian public because of its cooperation with Saddam Hussein during the eight years of Iran-Iraq war and moreover due to its violent bloody struggle against the government that took the lives of thousands of Iranian civilians.

“The group is wildly hated inside Iran and has almost no support in the Iranian diaspora”, writes Daniel Larison of the American conservative. “It is widely unrepresentative to what most Iranians in Iran and elsewhere want for their country.”

Mazda Parsi

July 1, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MEP Gérard Deprez claims 265 parliamentarians support Rajavi’s MEK. Really?

A week before the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) holds its annual regime change rally at Villepinte in Paris next Saturday, Belgian MEP Gérard Deprez, Chair of the Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament has issued a statement which he claims has been signed by 265 parliamentarians. As well as expressing concern over the role of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the statement also mentions “Rouhani’s minister of justice is a self-confessed murderer who was a member of the Death Committee, ordering the execution of over 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, mostly from the main opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). He concludes his press briefing by stating: “In order to express our solidarity with the Iranian democratic opposition, I will attend the FREE IRAN gathering in Paris on 1 July where I will present the support of 265 members of the European Parliament for this joint declaration…” I wonder how many MEPs would actually sign any statement so obviously meant as a show of support for the MEK.

MEP Gerard Deprez and Maryam Rajavi

To find out, I spoke with the offices of several MEPs who are concerned and actively involved in the issue of human rights in Iran. None of them knew anything about such a statement, but said that with such widespread support it is something they definitely should have been aware of.

Perhaps there is good reason for this. Like many statements and petitions over the years which mention the MEK this looks like fake news. Anyway, it would have been much easier to pass this off as genuine if Deprez had also published the names of the 265 signatories. As parliamentarians, it is doubtful they would feel endangered by publicly announcing their views in this way.

Unless, of course, they had spotted the factual errors and grammatical mistakes typical of documents written by the MEK themselves. The MEK has history. For years the MEK has interfered in this way – claiming huge numbers of supporters among politicians – in national parliaments across Europe, particularly in the UK. It got so ridiculous that several British MPs complained about these fake numbers and it was stopped. Let’s hope the European Parliament will take similar steps.

The MEK are expert at manipulation and misuse of democratic institutions – both the systems themselves – writing self-promoting statements and then faking signatories – and by using intimidation against persons inside the parliament. Corruption is wormed into parliament along with every MEK visit.

The MEK’s agenda is not unknown. The group advocate violent regime change against Iran. What is not so obvious is how they are able to infect parliamentary work with this agenda. This statement is a typical example. Their supporter Gérard Deprez has used his own website to announce the seemingly popular statement. It is then fed through various outlets, from MEK supporters to EUReporter until it takes on the appearance of genuine news. If we dig a little deeper into EUReporter’s Sponsored Posts though we find many paid for articles promoting the MEK. (For those who don’t know, the MEK uses a front, ‘the National Council of Resistance of Iran’ to disguise its activities. It’s just names.)

Still, it’s worth looking a little more carefully at the timing of this statement, a week before a ‘grand gathering in Paris calling for regime change in Iran’. It might have something to do with the usual list of paid speakers who are willing to turn out to such a controversial (advocating violent regime change on French soil) event. Past speakers include John Bolton, Rudi Giuliani and Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud . No Iranians. Even the audience, far from being “tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates” is largely made up of non-Iranians offered a cheap trip to Paris on condition of attending the event; refugees, students, even actors. (It’s worth querying Deprez’s veracity as a purveyor of news since he also claims that 100,000 people will fit into Villepinte for the rally.)

By Massoud Khodabandeh,

June 29, 2017 0 comments

Iran

Statement of MEPs in support of MEK worthless (No signatures, no names?)

FM spox: Statement of MEPs in support of hypocrites worthless

In response to statement of some European Parliament members, FM Spokesman Ghasemi said such false claims have no credibility or value for being based on deception and wrong assumptions.Bahram Ghasemi, who made the remarks in reaction to a recent statement by some Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) against the Islamic Republic of Iran, said “a limited number of European parliamentarians, known for their ties with some hypocrite cults such as MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization aka MKO), have tried to abuse their position by making false claims about human rights situation in Iran.” paid advocacy for Mujahedin-e Khalq

Ghasemi added that MEK terrorists, similar to the past, have published the same statements and statistics with the names of some MEPs as its sponsors without their knowledge and signature; “meanwhile, many active representatives of the European Parliament who are familiar with issues of Iran and the region, have consistently refused to accompany the statement for being aware of the nature of the non-professional and immoral act.”

FM spokesman deemed the measure as an attempt to influence process of engagement, cooperation and growing relations between Islamic Republic of Iran and European countries, which has had very constructive and positive effects in all areas for the parties.

Ghasemi emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran, condemning such psychological and promotional tactics, believes in a constructive interaction based on respect for the European Union in all areas of interest to the parties, including issues such as how to expand bilateral cooperation on environmental issues, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, human trafficking and organized crime, human rights and other issues affecting the international community.

“We believe that issuing such unfounded statements undermines the status and dignity of the European Parliament and expect MEPs to exercise necessary sensitivity against these measures with careful scrutiny and take action against designers and perpetrators of the recent statement,” he underscored.

He went on the note that, without a doubt, any attempt to bring specific values of a country or region to other societies with different cultures, customs and traditions is an effort to revert to old and outdated paradigms in international relations. We regard such claims based on deception as inappropriate and unconscious assumptions without any credibility or value.

At the end of his remarks, Bahram Ghasemi, emphasized determination of the Islamic Republic of Iran to combat the terrible phenomenon of terrorism adding “Iran has spared no effort in eliminating roots of terrorism, insecurity and instability in the region, and has fought the ugly scourge with all strength and power; as such, effective actions of armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially those by IRGC, will continue unabatedly by fighting against Takfiri and terrorist movements of the region, regardless of the rumors created by supporters of terrorists’ crimes.”

June 29, 2017 0 comments

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