Page 271 – Nejat Society

Turning Albania to a centre for ISIS/Mojahedin Khalq

Jihad 2.0: the Making of the Next Nightmare

You are about to enter the ultimate minefield.

Let’s start with 28 EU leaders discussing the Western Balkans at a recent summit and blaming – what else – “Russian aggression” in the EU’s backyard.

Cue to a Montenegro prosecutor raging that “Russian state bodies” staged a coup attempt during the October 2016 elections to stop the country from joining NATO.

And cue to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker warning that Donald Trump’s anti-EU rhetoric could lead to war in the Balkans. Juncker, condescending as ever, maintains that, “If we leave them to themselves — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, Macedonia, Albania, all of these countries — we will have a war again.”

The Balkans may be about to explode – all over again. Yet with a twist; unlike 1999, NATO won’t get away with bombing a defenseless Belgrade for 78 days. A new generation of Russian missiles would easily prevent it.

The 1999 tragedy in the Balkans was essentially stirred up by fake massacres in Kosovo set up by the BND – German intelligence — using local Albanians and BND agent provocateurs, who shot both sides to stir up a war and break up Yugoslavia.

All Eyes on Albania

What’s evolving at the current geopolitical juncture is even murkier.

The usual suspects do what they usually do; blame Russia, and damn any evidence.

So let a knowledgeable insider, Dr. Olsi Jazexhi, director of the Free Media Institute in Tirana, Albania, be our guide.

As Dr. Jazexhi explains, “after Brennan left Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, a close friend of George Soros, gathered all Albanian political parties in Macedonia and ordered them to support Zoran Zaev against Nikola Gruevski. Gruevski is seen as filo-Russian and anti-NATO, while Zaev is a lapdog of Soros. As a result, Gruevski was boycotted by Albanians and Zaev had their support to form a government. The promise of Zaev to Albanians is that Macedonia will adapt Albanian as an official language and create a third (half) Albanian state in the Balkans. Macedonians are resisting, but Tirana and Edi Rama are orchestrating Albanian political parties against Gruevski. The end game is to make Macedonia a NATO member.”

Jazexhi also details how, “in Albania, we have two major terrorist organizations being protected by the Americans and the Europeans.”

The first is what Ankara describes as the Fetullah Gulen Terror organization (FETO), allegedly instrumentalized by German intelligence; “Turkey is protesting why Albania hosts the FETO group but the Americans host them against Erdogan.”

The second is Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO), which fights against Tehran; “Albania is being turned into the center of MKO. John Bolton was recently in Tirana, with other international supporters of MKO, and they are attacking Iran and calling for regime change.”

The MKO’s wacky Marjam Rajavi has also visited Tirana, developing plans to “topple the Ayatollahs” in Iran.

The key issue, as Jazexhi emphasizes, is that “after turning the Balkans into a recruiting center for ISIS/Daesh during the Syria war, now the Americans are turning Albania into a jihad 2.0 state.”

Meanwhile, the European Union and the Americans, who want to de-radicalize the Wahhabi Muslims of Europe, keep mum about the Iranian jihadis.”

The “Invisible” Enemy

But then there is the “invisible” enemy that really matters.

In late March, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic went to Beijing in his last official visit before the April 2 elections. Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that economic cooperation with Serbia – and the Balkans at large – is a priority for China.

No question. In 2014, Beijing created a fund that will invest 10 billion euros in Central and Eastern Europe. Last year, China Everbright bought Tirana’s airport in Albania. China Exim Bank is financing highway construction in both Macedonia and Montenegro.

In Serbia, China Road and Bridge Corporation built the 170 million euro Pupin bridge over the Danube in Belgrade – a.k.a. the “Sino-Serbian Friendship Bridge”, inaugurated in 2014 and 85% financed by a China Exim Bank loan.

And the cherry in the (infrastructure development) cake is the 350 km, $2.89 billion high-speed rail line between Athens and Budapest, via Macedonia and Belgrade.

The EU has set off alarm bells on the flagship $1.8 billion Budapest-Belgrade stretch, investigating whether the Hungarian section violated strict EU laws according to which public tenders are a must for large transportation projects.

Inbuilt is the proverbial Western haughtiness, ruling that the Chinese could not possibly be capable of building high-speed rail infrastructure as well if not better – and for a lower cost – than in Europe.

Budapest-Belgrade happens to be the crucial stretch of the Land Sea Express Route that Beijing pledged to build, way back in 2014, with Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia. That’s the crux of the Southeastern Europe node of the New Silk Roads, now Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); a trade corridor between the container port of Pireus, in the Mediterranean – co-owned by China Ocean Shipping Company since 2010 – all the way to Central Europe.

NATO’s official spin is that it must be planted in the Balkans to fight the “threat of terrorism.” According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, “I recently visited Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo, and I’m encouraged to see how focused they are on countering the threat of foreign fighters.”

Jihad 2.0 may be directed against Slavs in Macedonia, against Iran and against Turkey. Not to mention against the Russian underbelly. The invisible angle is that they can always be deployed to jeopardize China’s drive to integrate southeast Europe as a key node of the New Silk Roads.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.

Pepe Escobar, Sputnik news,

June 3, 2017 0 comments

Europe

Debate in the European Parliament ‘What is to be done about the Iranian Mojahedin Khalq (MEK)?’

A meeting in the European Parliament on 30 May discussed the problems associated with the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MEK) both inside the Parliament and across Europe and the wider world.

The meeting, which was attended by MEPs, researchers and analysts along with representatives of agencies outside the parliament such as security personnel, was organised by Ana Gomes, SND (Portugal) and seconded by Marietje Schaake, ALDE (Netherlands) and Michael Gahler, Christian Democrats (Germany).

All three have a clear record as outspoken critics of Iran’s human rights record and are concerned about the impact of MEK activity on this issue.

Two expert speakers were invited to address the meeting: Nicola Pedde, Director Institute for Global Studies, Italy and Massoud Khodabandeh, Director Middle East Strategy Consultants, UK.

Since all the participants have seen first-hand that the MEK spends enormous amounts of money for publicity and lobbying, the first issue to be discussed was ‘who funds the MEK and what is their agenda?’ It soon became apparent that the MEPs are fully aware that the MEK has never existed as an independent group and has benefitted over three decades from funding streams from specific circles which are trying to engineer regime change in the Middle East. The question then became whether these sponsors understand that the cost benefit of supporting the MEK is not giving positive returns but in fact has a negative result for them in their regime change agendas.

Further discussion by representatives revealed that the MEK has been shunned by almost every Parliament across Europe.

In spite of this, MEK members can still gain access to the European Parliament because it is an open institution. The problem this presents is the bullying tactics used by the MEK to intimidate MEPs and their staff. Several delegates at the meeting gave first-hand evidence of this. One MEP said that within ten minutes of taking one particular stance he was bombarded by mass emails some of which contained swearing and threats. Delegates agreed that this is incompatible with the fundamental principles of any Parliament in which representatives must be able to speak and act free from any pressure or intimidation.

Nicola Pedde described to delegates his work in the Italian Parliament where MPs are persuaded to sign petitions by bogus human rights campaigners. Pedde said that when he asked, many of the signatories were unaware that the MEK was behind the petition and didn’t realise that various sentences or paragraphs were added afterwards to give support for Maryam Rajavi and her agenda. Pedde said some MPs were even strongly against the MEK and were very angry about being deceived in this way. They had thought they were condemning human rights abuses in Iran, but their names were then misused to depict them as supporters of terrorists in Albania.

The discussion moved on to the problem of accepting the MEK as advocates of human rights for Iran. Ana Gomes said that when Iranian Nobel Human Rights Prize winner Shirin Ebadi visited the European Parliament, she was unequivocal in saying that the MEK do not have the right to be described as human rights activists. Quite the opposite, they are abusers themselves, she said. Massoud Khodabandeh reminded delegates that in a recent interview with AP, Reza Pahlavi – who wants to restore the monarchy to Iran – dismissed the MEK as a cult. In addition, every Iranian opposition group from the Greens to the Nationalists has rejected the MEK as human rights advocates and as a political entity.

More concerning for delegates is that the government of Iran is quick to use the MEK’s advocacy for human rights as a means to dismiss the issue, pointing out that the terrorist group murdered thousands of Iranian citizens and still commits human rights abuse against its own members. Massoud Khodabandeh gave an example from the UK House of Lords in which Haleh Afshar – a prominent Iranian feminist and academic who now sits in the House as Baroness Afshar – hosted a parliamentary debate about human rights in Iran. The challenging discussion, with valuable contributions from several informed members, was completely undermined by one of the MEK’s supporters who asserted that only Maryam Rajavi and her group could bring freedom and human rights to Iran. The government of Iran cannot be expected to even respond to such a debate said Khodabandeh.

Nicola Pedde made an interesting comment when he said that the MEK cannot be considered as a viable force because, as a result of its cultish behaviour, the MEK do not have a second generation. They have effectively killed themselves, he told delegates, because marriage and family are banned for all members.

The third issue to be discussed was the MEK presence in Albania. Delegates heard how the MEK had been forced to leave Iraq and how the Americans arranged for the UN to be able to transfer them to Albania. The government of Iraq was relieved to be rid of three thousand MEK who had been part of Saddam Hussein’s repressive forces, but the problem has now simply been moved to Albania. The Americans promised help to de-radicalise the MEK members. But, as Massoud Khodabandeh pointed out, this did not happen and the group was allowed to re-group as a terrorist cult and treat its members as modern slaves.

Delegates discussed Albania’s candidature to join the European Union in light of this situation and agreed that this is not just incompatible but that having trained terrorists on the doorstep of Europe is already a security threat to Europe. Delegates stressed that European security services need to take this threat seriously from now.

Reports also described the human rights abuses inflicted on MEK members by their own leaders. They are living in conditions of modern slavery because the UNHCR is acting illegally by paying refugee allowances to the organisation instead of to the individual members. This means members are forced into dependency on the group and cannot leave. Members are also prevented from contacting their families or even other former members so they do not have any recourse to external help or support.

As the two speakers gave their expert analysis throughout the meeting, they also offered suggestions for solutions. Khodabandeh urged delegates to put pressure on the Albanian authorities and the UNHCR to resolve the hostage condition of MEK members in Albania.

Pedde said MEPs should be briefed about the danger of supporting human rights through using groups like the MEK.

At the end the meeting was also opened to the audience for discussion. Former MEK members, Ali Akbar Rastgou, Batoul Soltani, Reza Sadeghi and Ghorban Ali Hossein Nejad were able to join the discussion at this time.

In conclusion delegates discussed various solutions which are open to them. It was important, they said, to find ways to tackle these problems because parliament cannot be held hostage to bullies. A package of activities was agreed in order to curtail the MEK’s deceptive and intimidating activities in Parliament. Other solutions to the wider problems were also agreed and will be put in place throughout the rest of the year.

June 3, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US Media & The Terrorists Who Cried Wolf

Right-wing, anti-Iranian figures and media in the United States have begun circulating claims that Iran had violated the JCPOA that resulted from the P5+1 nuclear negotiations, and indeed has a nuclear weapons program. Various pro-Israeli and anti-Iranian voices in the US echoed this claim. Mark Toner was even asked about the allegations during a press briefing in April. The source for this allegation was the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a front group for the Mujahadeen E-Khalq (People’s Holy Warriors). Putting aside the group’s shady history, terrorism, and bizarre cultish practices, the claims should have immediately been discredited. Why? These exact same forces were caught lying back in 2015, with similar claims. In 2015, as the nuclear negotiations were nearing their completion, the NCIR published photos of a safe, claiming it was in Iran and contained materials related to a secret nuclear weapons program. The photo the NCIR released was proven to have been taken from a French website selling safes. The group was caught in an obvious lie.

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Iran’s nuclear energy program has never been proven to have any military uses. The International Atomic Energy Agency has watched over all of Iran’s nuclear activities, and following the negotiations in 2015, almost all of the peaceful nuclear energy program has been shut down.

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A Bizarre “Islamo-Marxist” Terrorist Cult

The 2015 photo flub was not the first time the MEK has been caught lying about Iran. Over the last ten years they have continued to make claims that they have proof of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. None of their claims have ever been verified. MEK did, however, cooperate with Israel’s Mossad to assassinate peaceful nuclear scientists teaching at Iranian Universities. Who is the source of all these fraudulent claims that continue to be treated with credibility in the US media? So, who is the MEK?The Mujahadeen E-Khalq is a religious/political cult formed in Iran during the 1970s. At the time Iran was led by a US backed dictator, the Shah. While various groups organized resistance to the Shah in the form of guerrilla warfare, strikes, and protests, the MEK conducted adventurist acts of violence and terrorism. In addition to Iranians, Americans were also victims of MEK’s terrorism prior to the Iranian revolution of 1979.

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The Mujahadeen E-Khalq calls its belief system “Islamo-Marxism.” The founder, Masoud Rajavi, claims to be a prophet brought to earth by God in order to usher in some kind of Islamic Communist revolution. MEK’s beliefs could almost be described as an Islamic version of Reverend Jim Jones “People’s Temple,” which reached its peak during the same time period. Like Rajavi, Jones also claimed to be some kind of prophet who could spiritually combine the world’s religions with soviet-style Marxism in order to foment global revolution. Also like the People’s Temple, many people have died as a result of Rajavi’s fanatical and violent organization.

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A History of Terrorism & War Crimes

After Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the MEK (also called People’s Mujaheddin) briefly aligned with [Ayatollah] Khomeini, hoping they could influence the Iranian revolution from within. After one of their allied clerics was deposed, the MEK launched a bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic. In 1981, the MEK bombed a meeting of Iran’s Islamic Republican Party, killing 72 people.

During the Iraq-Iran war, Saddam Hussein began funding and arming the MEK. The MEK formed an armed body called the Iranian National Liberation Army. In 1988, MEK fighters were airdropped into Iran by Iraqi aircraft. Its members proceeded to raze villages, slaughtering, men, women, and children, before ultimately being defeated by the Iranian military. It is estimated that tens of thousands of civilians were killed by MEK fighters during the Iraq-Iran war.

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After the war, MEK set-up shop in Iraq, being coddled by Saddam Hussein’s government. Hussein used the MEK as shock troops to suppress the Kurds and other uprisings against him during the 1990s.

MEK is now headquartered in France, with Maryam Rajavi, the wife of the cult’s founder, claiming to be Iran’s President in exile. During the 1990s, the cult ordered all members to divorce their spouses, as marriage was considered a distraction from achieving the cult’s goal of toppling the Iranian government. MEK’s base of operation, Camp Ashraf in Iraq, has been operated as a kind of mini-police state. According to Human Rights Watch, within Camp Ashraf, the death penalty and torture is frequently used against residents. Reports described individuals being dragged by ropes around their necks, among other routine atrocities.

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The Spirit of the Agreement

Throughout his presidency, the Tea Party and Republicans frequently accused Barack Obama of being a “Muslim” and a “Communist.” Ironically, however, the Mujahadeen E-Khalq is a favored group of the Republican Party, despite being self-described as “Islamo-Marxists.”With the support of Hillary Clinton, the MEK was removed from the list of designated foreign terrorist organization in 2012 by the US State Department. The decision was based on claims that MEK had “renounced violence.” However, at the very time the process of delisting was in the works, MEK assassinated Iranian Nuclear Scientists.The fact that the group was caught intentionally using a fake photograph against Iran in 2015, in addition to all of its terrorism and war crimes, should discredit its recent statements about Iran in the US media. However, despite their previous lies and horrendous record, certain US media outfits remain so biased and hostile to Iran, that they still repeat their claims.

While no evidence exists that Iran has violated the JCPOA, Donald Trump recently stated to the press that Iran had violated “the spirit of the agreement.” How does one define “the spirit?” Will Iran be punished for such a subjective crime, despite fulfilling all of its written obligations? Only time will tell.

Grean Villepost.com

June 1, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MKO Making False Claims against Tehran at Behest of Washington, Tel Aviv: US Scholar

An American political commentator in Madison said the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO also known as MEK) is making baseless allegations against Tehran’s nuclear program at the request of its “paymasters” in Washington and Tel Aviv.

“…when the MKO makes allegations against Iran’s nuclear program, it is undoubtedly doing so at the behest of its paymasters in Washington, DC and Tel Aviv, who want to put their false charges against Iran into the mouth of a supposedly ‘Iranian’ source,” Kevin Barret told the Tasnim news agency.

Dr. Kevin Barrett, a Ph.D. Arabist-Islamologist, is one of America’s best-known critics of the War on Terror. Dr. Barrett has appeared many times on Fox, CNN, PBS and other broadcast outlets, and has inspired feature stories and op-eds in the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Tribune, and other leading publications. Dr. Barrett has taught at colleges and universities in San Francisco, Paris, and Wisconsin, where he ran for Congress in 2008. He is the co-founder of the Muslim-Christian-Jewish Alliance, and author of the books Truth Jihad: My Epic Struggle Against the 9/11 Big Lie (2007) and Questioning the War on Terror: A Primer for Obama Voters (2009). His website is www.truthjihad.com.

The following is the full text of the interview.

Tasnim: The terrorist group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) recently claimed that the Islamic Republic is violating the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers by secretly conducting research on nuclear weapons components at the Parchin military site in Iran. The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) strongly dismissed the allegations by the terrorist group against Tehran’s nuclear program, saying the claims are of no value for the Islamic Republic. What is your take on this? What is behind such allegations?

Basirat: The MKO is one of the world’s craziest terrorist groups. Its combination of fanatical leftist extremism and irrational strategy and tactics is reminiscent of groups like the Red Brigades and the Baader-Meinhof gang, which we now know were run by the Pentagon’s Operation Gladio during the Cold War.

Like the Red Brigades and the Baader-Meinhof gang, the MKO has no popular support whatsoever. Iranians of all political stripes hate them, largely because MKO operators have murdered thousands of Iranians in terror attacks dating back to the 1980s, when the MKO was an ally of Saddam Hussein in the Imposed War against the Islamic Republic.

How can a group with no popular support continue to operate and garner attention? By serving as a front for Iran’s external enemies, led by the US and Israel. So when the MKO makes allegations against Iran’s nuclear program, it is undoubtedly doing so at the behest of its paymasters in Washington, DC and Tel Aviv, who want to put their false charges against Iran into the mouth of a supposedly “Iranian” source.

Tasnim: It seems that the new US administration has breathed new life into the terrorist group. Republican US Senator John McCain praised the head of the MKO, in a recent meeting in the Albanian capital, Tirana. What do you think? What is terror group looking for under Trump?

Barret: The mercenaries who run MKO undoubtedly want to extract as much money from the US government as they possibly can. And Trump and McCain, despite their personal differences, both take a very hostile anti-Iran line. So this is a marriage made in hell between the terrorist mercenaries and the anti-Iran extremists in the US. The Trump Administration, dominated as it is by Jared Kushner and other followers of Netanyahu, will probably waste more money on the MKO than the Obama Administration did. Strategically, this is a stupid move, because it will harden the resolve of the Iranian people. But Trump’s and Bibi’s people are not very intelligent strategists. They probably imagine they can destabilize Iran using the MKO in the same way the US and its regional “allies” destabilized Libya and Syria using proxies from those countries. What they seemingly don’t realize is that the forces of destabilization did have some support within Libya and Syria, but the MKO has zero support inside Iran. So the only accomplishment of this anti-Iran campaign will be to unite Iranians against the MKO and its backers.

Tasnim: As you know, more than 17,000 Iranians, many of them civilians, have been killed at the hands of the MKO in different acts of terrorism including bombings in public places, and targeted killings. Why do Saudi Arabia, US, and certain European countries continue to support the anti-Iran terror group despite its heinous crimes?

Barret: That is a good question. Why do these backers continue to prop up a failed, fanatical communist terrorist group that all Iranians hate? As I said, the MKO is a strategically counterproductive tool in the hands of Washington and Tel Aviv. Why would Iran’s enemies keep shooting themselves in the foot? I suppose the answer is that the MKO’s backers are deceiving themselves. They get their information about Iran mainly from Iranian exiles in Los Angeles, especially the wealthy, well-connected ones who were often close to the Shah’s ruling circles. Some of these wealthy exiles harbor fanatical hatred for the Islamic Republic. They want to hurt it. And their instinctive hatred leads them to think and act irrationally and to give bad advice to their American and Zionist masters.

May 31, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MKO Seeking to Provoke US to Attack Iran: Ex-CIA Officer

A former military intelligence officer with the CIA said MKO works closely with the Israeli spy agency Mossad, noting that the terror group is seeking to create a “false narrative” about Tehran’s nuclear program in a bid to provoke the US to attack Iran.

“MKO (Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, also known as MEK) works closely with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad and is also supported by many pro-Israel American former and current officials as well as congressmen. It has frequently surfaced documents, laptops and false information produced by the Israelis to convince the public that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon and is cheating on the agreement to limit its nuclear research program. Its ultimate objective is to create a false narrative that would encourage the United States to attack Iran, killing Americans and Iranians but serving Israeli foreign policy objectives…,” Philip Giraldi told the Tasnim news agency.

Philip Giraldi is a former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a columnist and television commentator who is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a group that advocates for more even handed policies by the US government in the Middle East.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Giraldi: MKO works closely with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad and is also supported by many pro-Israel American former and current officials as well as congressmen. It has frequently surfaced documents, laptops and false information produced by the Israelis to convince the public that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon and is cheating on the agreement to limit its nuclear research program. Its ultimate objective is to create a false narrative that would encourage the United States to attack Iran, killing Americans and Iranians but serving Israeli foreign policy objectives. Iran does not, in fact, threaten either Israel or the United States.

Giraldi: I fear that the Trump administration, which has already warned Iran several times and is currently undertaking a policy review, will prove to be extremely hostile to Iran. Some congressmen like McCain and Lindsey Graham will be part of this process, using fabricated information provided by MKO to make a case that Iran must be treated as an enemy and dealt with accordingly. This propaganda is also coming directly to Washington from Saudi Arabia as well as Israel.

Giraldi: MKO has also killed Americans and was until four years ago on the list of US recognized terrorist organizations. That MKO has killed many thousands of innocent Iranians is not reported in the western media, so no one knows about it. Those who support MKO do so because they believe it to be a legitimate opposition group to the Iranian government, which is a cause that they support. They fail to recognize that it continues to use terror as a weapon and that it operates as a cult that actually brainwashes and even kills its followers when they step out of line. It is a useful tool for the Iran haters.

May 31, 2017 0 comments

Albania

For the attention of former MEK members in Albania: What is to be done?

Where does the UNHCR refugee allowance of individual MEK members go?

One humanitarian issue which the international humanitarian and human rights organizations unfortunately totally ignore, of course for political interests, is the situation of former MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq,Rajavi Cult) members in Albania.

According to a deal made in Geneva between the UNHCR and the MEK, the entire refugee allowances due to individual MEK members who are resident in Albania is being paid to the MEK leaders to be spent as they wish and not paid to the individual members for their personal support.

During Saddam Hussein’s era in Iraq, Massoud Rajavi used to receive per head allowances from the Iraqi government. Rajavi used to exaggerate the number of individuals in his organization in order to get more money. Even those living in Europe and America or even the dead were included in the list. Members were brought into Iraq for training sessions or meetings and their arrival was registered, but their departure was not and by doing so the numbers for claiming payments was increased.

At the present time, the Rajavi cult has included even those who have defected the organization and those living outside Albania in the list it gives to the UNHCR. In this way, it receives extra refugee payments. It also means that those who have left the organization do not receive the allowance they are entitled to. In the cult’s list, there are some who have left the cult and even gone back to Iran, but the MEK still gets their allowances. It is doubtful that the UNHCR does not know about this.

Before members were transferred to Albania from Iraq, the Rajavi cult insisted that members sign letters asking for their monthly allowance to be paid directly to the MEK instead of to them as individuals. These letters were in English, so most members are unaware of the content of what they signed. And of course, those who have subsequently separated from the MEK are also included in this scheme. Such members were intent on gaining security and freedom and wrote and signed anything so they could escape their current circumstances in Iraq.

By this trick, the Rajavi cult managed to keep control of everyone wishing to leave the organization. What can someone do in an alien country, without any facilities, no job or money and not knowing the language? To those who leave the MEK, the cult only pays half the amount available to them as refugees, which does not cover even their most basic necessities. They are forced to depend on the MEK for housing and food. The allowances of some of these dissenting members have been cut on the false pretext that they contacted their family in Iran which, according to the cult, is equal to contacting the Iranian regime.

The other trick used by the Rajavi cult, which is always used inside the organization for controlling the members, is to place spies everywhere to report the conversations and actions of the others. These individuals in Albania get more allowances than the others even though everyone is entitled to the same amount. The same thing used to be done in the TIPF in Iraq to create differences between the defectors and generate an atmosphere of distrust amongst them.

Lawfully, the UN or the UNHCR have no right to have any direct relationship with organizations. No group can be considered as refugees, in particular if it is a political organization and even worse a terrorist cult. The UN or the ICRC or any other official international organization cannot play the role of benefactor for any organization against a country which is a member of the UN. The use of US gangs today, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the past, created from the MEK in which the members are considered individually as refugees is unlawful and against the regulations of the UN.

The UNHCR must deal with each refugee in person. The relationship of the UNHCR with the Rajavi terrorist cult is in contradiction to the UN’s internal regulations and is not acceptable. Of course in the past, in Iraq, the UN and the UNHCR committed this breach of rules both in Ashraf garrison and in Liberty camp. Even if refugees rescind their right to receive the allowance directly and ask for it to be passed to someone else, the UNHCR should not agree to this.

At the present time, regarding the advantage given to the cult by the UN, the members and the former members are alike under the control of the cult. They are all forced to obey the demands of the cult leader.

Maryam Rajavi has told those wishing to leave the organization: “do not suppose our hands are tied here in Albania”. She has emphasized that: “here is the land of the Pentagon and we are part of the Pentagon and our power now is even greater than when we were in Iraq under Saddam Hussein”, and by saying so she wanted to prevent members from leaving the group and tried to cover up her cult’s present weaknesses.

Once again it is worth noting that withholding or reducing a refugee’s allowance by the MEK is against the law, particularly when the cult asks them to spy on others and write and sign whatever is wanted to establish the payments.

The present situation in Albania

For some time now anti-corruption activities have escalated in the country. For some months this year the parliamentary representatives of the Democratic Party refused to attend the assembly and boycotted the parliament. They demanded that the Prime Minister resign before the election since he might cheat. The parliament has appointed its speaker as the new President. He has announced that the election must go ahead but has given no guarantees to the opposition. The ambassadors of the US and western countries say that the elections, with or without the Democrats, must be held on the 18th June.

In the next few weeks some demonstrations and even street conflicts are expected in Albania since the Democrats have been ignored by the west but they have popular support and it seems there might even be violent clashes. The latest news is that the government and the opponents have reached an agreement but they did not reveal its contents. There is a possibility that they postpone the elections in order to sort things out beforehand.

One internal problem in Albania is corruption. The Albanian deputy interior minister Elona Gjebrea is an MEK lobbyist who is also devoted to the Neocons in the US. She has recently visited the UK in her role as the Albanian anti-trafficking coordinator. She was invited to the US before that and she follows US policy in this regard. Even the Albanian media is dissatisfied with her and question whether she is a deputy minister in the Albanian government or the MEK lobby, in particular when the elections are ahead.

A link to one example of protest against the deputy interior minister of Albania, who even says “I am a Mojahed-e Khalq”, can be read below.

A po fusin terroristët e njohur si “muxhahedinë” deputetë në parlamentin shqiptar?

The American paper Huffington Post has also written about Elona Gjebrea – responsible for countering slavery in Albania – giving support to Maryam Rajavi’s modern slavery. This has also been covered by the Albanian media. This article can be read in the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/albanias-anti-trafficking-coordinator-elona-gjebrea_us_591c7b35e4b0da7850311cc8?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004

The translation of the above mentioned article in the Albanian press can be reached in the link below.

Elona Gjebrea përgëzon Marjam Raxhavin për mbajtjen e skllevërve modernë në Tiranë

When the Albanian government of Edi Rama agreed to host the MEK, an agreement was reached that no cost and no problem would ensue for the country and that everything would be under the supervision of the UNHCR. The agreement indicates that responsibility for all the members is with the UN and there should be no burden left on the shoulders of the people of Albania. The US promised the Albanian government that the MEK members transferred to Albania would all be under control.

What to be done?

One of the things can be done is that the former members show in different ways that they are not controlled by the cult and they are free. By doing this the promise made by the US to the Albanian government that everyone transferred into the country is under the control of the MEK and there is no need for direct involvement of Americans and Albanians, is broken. The same thing happened in Iraq and the US had to establish TIPF for the separated members with separate costs.

The former members in Albania do recognize that although the cult has taken away their UNHCR allowances, but at the same time it is very afraid of their freedom of action, particularly interviewing the press. They would even pay more if there is a chance of media coverage on these issues. Therefore, the formers can be encouraged to adopt a more active role instead of their present passive part.

The Rajavi cult has given letters to some former members stating that their allowances would be cut on the excuse that they have contact with the Iranian regime and has even published these letters in the cult’s websites. These are documents which could be used against the MEK and the UNHCR and even the Albanian government which must be held responsible for it. The Rajavi cult has exploited these individuals for their whole life and now refuses to pay them their minimum rights. The MEK should not be the intermediary for this payment.

The will of the former members is that a center under the supervision of the UNHCR and the Albanian government be established to deal with the refugees individually and not as a group. This wish must find its way into the media in the country. The former members can approach the UNHCR in Tirana and ask them why there is a breach of law and why their affairs have been left for the cult to deal with. They can give the result of their activities to the media to inform Albanian public opinion.

Any media pressure by the former members in English or Albanian on the UNHCR – which has illegally given their allowances to the MEK – and on the Albanian government, particularly the interior ministry which has become a lobby for the cult, will be useful and would have an effect on the elections.

The Rajavi terrorist cult has a pressure lever called the UN allowances, and of course the former members have an even more useful lever which is the public opinion and the special situation of the cult in Albania before the elections which can help them to gain their rights from the MEK.

Please let us know your opinions.

saharfamily@yahoo.com

May 29, 2017 0 comments

Albania

Letter to the Head of the UN High Commissioner

Dear Mr. Filippo Grandi,

I am Mohammadvali Gholizadeh. I am the father of Ali. I ask your Excellency to help our dear children who are under the severe mental and physical control of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Cult.

The Cult’s leaders have denied us to have a visit or even have a short contact with each other now for long years.

After the MKO members relocated to Albania, the UNHCR entitled a monthly payment for each MKO member. However the MKO Cult put our children under pressure and do not give them the money they are entitled to. They put our children under severe pressure and give them a very small amount of that financial support in order that they do not be able to leave the group and repatriate to Iran.

I beg you to consider our plea and compliant. I ask you to facilitate a condition that the financial support be given directly to our children in order not to be used as a pressure tool against them by the MKO cult leaders. Please help our children to be able to decide for their own fate freely.

I ask you to help me as an ailing, aged father who has suffered a lot waiting to see his dear son once more.

Sincerely Yours,

May 28, 2017 0 comments

Iran

Next ballistic missile to be named ‘Dezful’: IRGC

IRGC aerospace commander says next ballistic missile will be named after city of Dezful to mark its resistance during 8 years of Holy Defense.Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Commander of IRGC Aerospace Force, who was addressing a gathering in city of Dezful, hailed the resistance of people of the city during Saddam’s war against Iran.

He pointed to the achievements of Iran in aerospace industry, particularly missiles and drones, to be in highest levels of the industry and its self-sufficiency in air defense, electronic warfare, radars, etc. “today, whole materials for missiles, from its body to fuel and other parts are made domestically by Iranian experts,” he emphasized.

Gen. Hajizadeh described that if enemies demand Iran to stop its missile program is because they know that this capability turns Iran into a power. “Security of our people is redline for both Army and IRGC and we continue to increase our missile power,” he said and continued to remind that “we never forget the United States supported Saddam’s Baath regime in its war against Iran, shut down our passenger flight, backed MKO, created ISIL and fueled war in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.”

He vowed that Armed Forces will never allow bittering events like Iraq war would occur again and stressed that expansion of missile and defense programs will continue in the future. “In future, the first ground to ground ballistic missile created will be named ‘Dezful’ after the city.”

He also noted recent arms deal between the US and Saudi Arabia and emphasized that it was of no concern for Iran as “we are sure in future the same weapons will be sued against the Zionist regime.”

May 27, 2017 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 191

++ The MEK’s reaction to Iran’s presidential election has elicited comments from many and various quarters. The common theme, however, is ‘You don’t know what “election” means and your benefactors, whether Saddam or Saudi Arabia, don’t know what a ballot box is either’. When Maryam Rajavi sent a ‘special’ message to heads of Arab countries gathering with Trump in Riadh, commentators said ‘as if they hadn’t suffered enough humiliation and degradation by having to attend the gathering, the last thing they needed was a message from you’. In an article for Iran Interlink, Saber from Tabriz wrote to express how cringe-worthy her message is. He concludes ‘no wonder that in a world where, as they say in Farsi, they have tied up the stone and set the dog free, Iran has every right to defend itself’. Fanous has written an analysis of the situation of the Saudis as the new benefactors of MEK (as they have been for three decades, nothing new there, and as the Saudis are benefactors for Daesh). Neither the Saudis nor the MEK will do as they are told, or asked to do – they always bite the hand that feeds them. Zarif is right, Trump has been there to milk the cow, the problem with these kind of cows is that they kick you in the face as well.

In English:

++ An article by Behnam Gharagozli, Jon Roozenbeek and Adrià Salvador Palau in The New Arab (Rouhani’s landslide quells risk of escalation, despite Trump’s hostility – High voter turnout was key to Rouhani’s victory), asserts that “The high turnout also serves to consolidate the Islamic Republic against dissident exile groups. The Iranian general public has overwhelmingly ignored calls for regime change and a boycott of the presidential elections such as the Reza Pahlavi (son of the last Shah of Iran), and Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), also known as the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI).

“Having backed Saddam Hussein against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, their support for human rights violations and their cultish activity has cost MEK enormous legitimacy and popularity both in Iran and in the expat community.”

++ Nejat Society held a meeting in Sistan & Baluchestan to discuss the cultic features of the MEK as well as its background of terrorism and treason. Ebrahim Khodabandeh and Ms. Mirbagheri, two former members of the MEK cult, addressed the audience. Comparing the MEK and Daesh, Khodabandeh said the group’s natures are alike. He identified ”exploiting Islam, the use of violence and using Turkey as a transit route” as similarities between the two terrorist cults.

++ Nejat Society reported that Raoof Faramarrzi had, after 29 years, managed to escape the MEK in Albania and has since repatriated to Iran where he is now happily reunited with his family. The Faramarzi family was in contact with Nejat Society and did their utmost to free their beloved son. In Albania, they were finally able to make contact with Faramarz and ensured him of their everlasting love towards him. The Faramarzi family efforts paid off and he liberated himself from the physical and mental barriers of the cult.

May 26, 2017

May 27, 2017 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Recently defected member talks about the Cult members’ situatiin in Albania

Abbas Mohammadpour recently returned to Iran from Albania. He had been with the MEK for two decades and was in Tirana for over a year. In Iran, he has been meeting families in Khuzestan province and other places. He talked about what is happening inside the MEK and for the ex-members in Tirana. Members have no access to information and are under a huge amount of pressure from the MEK. Alongside that, reports from Sahar Family Foundation and ex-members in Tirana reveal that the MEK has increased pressure on members and ex-members by saying the MEK has the patronage of the CIA and Pentagon and they are free to do what they like. When one ex-member asked, ‘why don’t you give me the UNHCR money that I’m entitled to?’ The MEK replied ‘this is Albania, you are not entitled to anything unless we or the CIA say so. That includes your breathing as well.’

Recently defected member talks about the Cult members' situatiin in Albania

May 25, 2017 0 comments

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