Page 276 – Nejat Society

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

France

Under President Macron, France can play a pivotal role in Western relations with Iran

European counter-terror experts warn that as ISIS is pushed into a smaller and smaller theatre of operations in the Middle East, there will certainly be blowback as foreign fighters return to their own countries. In this context, the ISIS terrorist attacks in Tehran expose a much more complex situation which will have lasting repercussions in the West unless it is tackled at source. That includes zero tolerance for any messages promoting violent extremism.

What worries experts is that ISIS almost certainly gained the expertise it used to carry out the attacks in Iran from the exiled Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) organisation. The MEK has a three-decade history of terrorist violence against Iran and continues to cling to an agenda which promotes violent regime change. Whilst the MEK is widely regarded as a defunct force due to the age and health of its fighters, experts warn that although the MEK no longer constitutes a fighting force, the members remain fully radicalised and capable of acting as logistics facilitators and training and planning consultants for any other terrorist group. Certainly, they are all capable of conducting suicide missions.

Since America ensured the MEK were transferred from Iraq to Albania this danger has become more acute. Albania is still struggling to overcome the political and media corruption, drug crime, gun smuggling and people trafficking which will prevent it joining the European Union anytime soon. The presence of 3000 radicalised MEK members in a country known as a route between Europe and Syria for modern terrorist forces is not just controversial, it is dangerous.

Even so, the real danger does not lie in Albania; it is a NATO country dominated by the US and the MEK can and will, therefore, be contained and re-purposed for whatever the US needs them for. The recent visits to the MEK by John Bolton and Senator John McCain are an indication of this agenda.

Maryam Rajavi presents a list of anti-Imperialist MEK martyrs to Senator McCain in Tirana 2017

The real danger lies in France and Western Europe. The MEK has been headquartered for the past thirty-six years in Auvers-sur-Oise just outside Paris. This year, as always, the MEK will use its front name the ‘National Council of Resistance of Iran’ to hire the Villepinte salon outside Paris, pay disproportionate speakers fees to advocates and round up a paid audience to wave flags and dutifully applaud the ‘regime change’ speeches. This annual event is known inside the MEK as a celebration of armed struggle – the raison d’être of the MEK group.

This year the event is being held on July 1, but it was originally timed to celebrate the MEK’s challenge to Ayatollah Khomeini’s leadership on 30th Khordad (June 21, 1981). These dates matter. Analysts now say that the MEK has moved the date of the celebration to distance it from the association with defeat – after the coup d’état failed, senior MEK leaders fled to France with CIA backing and left the rank and file to face mass arrests and executions inside Iran. Instead the new date is closer to what the MEK regards as a major victory in its three decade long terrorist campaign against Iran. On the 7th Tir (June 28, 1981) MEK operatives blew up the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party in Tehran during a meeting of party leaders. Seventy-three leading officials of the Islamic Republic were killed.

The significance of this becomes clear when we link the MEK’s core beliefs to the recent terrorist attacks in Tehran. The message which the MEK event gives to observers is that the pattern of attacks by ISIS in Tehran was glorious and righteous and is a legitimate response to a scenario in which Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. (For the record, neither the MEK nor Saudi Arabia condemned the attacks.)

This scenario – Iran as the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism – has been promoted ad nauseam by the MEK throughout western political circles. The work of national parliaments as well as the European Parliament have been held hostage to this narrative. Normalisation of relations with Iran following the nuclear agreement have been stymied by the MEK. Indeed, MEK bullying and intimidation in pursuit of this agenda was recently discussed in the European Parliament. The MEPs concluded that Europe cannot properly challenge Iran’s human rights situation as long as a group which promotes regime change and abuses the human rights of its own members artificially imposes itself centre stage of these discussions.

The fact is that over the past year the western political landscape has changed dramatically. Two distinct blocs have emerged: a cohort of anti-Iran countries including the US, UK, Israel and Saudi Arabia on one side blindly pursuing regime change against Iran apparently at all costs, and Europe – minus the UK after Brexit – (and incidentally Russia and China) pursuing rapprochement and trade opportunities.

In this context, the spotlight for action must fall on France, home to the MEK headquarters. We must ask the French government ‘these people belong to the regime change bloc, why do you continue renting your land to them after 36 years? What have the Americans or the MEK done for you that is worth the bad reputation attached to supporting this group? What is the cost benefit of having the MEK in your country? What implications does its continued presence have for your foreign policy and trade relations? How can the Republic continue to allow this group to promote violent extremism and terrorism on French soil?’

In the past, of course, it was pointless asking these questions – even though they were asked as permanent unresolved issues. Removing the MEK from France and other European countries was problematic – expelling them to Iraq was impossible because their human rights could not be guaranteed. But in 2016 the Americans facilitated the MEK’s removal from Iraq to safety in Albania. There is no reason to believe that Europe cannot similarly facilitate the safe removal of the MEK leaders from France and other European countries to Albania. The MEK leader Maryam Rajavi has already spent several weeks in Tirana. There is nothing to prevent her setting up a permanent headquarters there with further help from the Americans.

President Emmanuel Macron’s new centrist movement has won a large majority in the French parliament giving him a strong hand to play. He already revealed himself to be a shrewd and masterful challenger in international relations almost before opening his mouth when he out manoeuvred President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Brussels in May. Perhaps the time is finally ripe for a new appraisal of what zero tolerance means for France. The MEK’s messages promoting violent regime change should no longer be tolerated.

By Massoud.khodabandeh

June 28, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Letter of the families of the members of MEK in Albania to the UNHCR and the Albanian Interior Ministry

With regards,

According to evidence and the testimony given in recent years by over a thousand former members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK, Rajavi cult) inside and outside Iran, the MEK organization operates as a destructive mind control cult which denies all the most basic human rights to its own members.

For decades, this cult has deceived honest but inexperienced youth using different tricks, and taken them to Iraq where it has enslaved them both mentally and physically. Psychological techniques are used in this cult for brainwashing and mind control. The answer to any dissent or doubt is solitary confinement, torture, psychological and physical pressures, coercing members to commit suicide, and even murdering them.

Over the past decades, thousands of members have taken any opportunity open to them to flee from this destructive cult and separate themselves from it. Yes, that is right – the Rajavi cult is a place that people have to escape from. It is not easy to leave the group at all since they are held in conditions of modern slavery.

Now that the Rajavi cult, despite all the resistance and obstacles created not to leave Iraq, has been forced to settle in Albania, there is a chance for the families who could not visit their loved ones in Iraq to contact them in Albania.

We, the families, are certain that our children are under severe mind manipulation and brainwashing and therefore have no free will at all. Since their youth when they were first recruited they have been denied any form of contact with the outside world. After decades of this treatment they have lost all their hope for, even knowledge of, a normal life and therefore need their families to deprogram them and return them to normal society.

Based on reports given by countless former members, we are absolutely certain that more than 90% of the members are discontent and are seeking a way out of the cult. We also know that because of this the cult will not allow them access to the outside world and, in particular, contact with their families. Most of the members would like to be in contact with their families, but Massoud Rajavi, like all other cult leaders, is the enemy of the family and uses every propaganda and psychological trick to prevent members from having any contact with their families.

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.

We, the suffering families who in some cases have had no news of our loved ones for decades, urge the UNHCR and the Albania Interior Ministry to cooperate fully to arrange, firstly direct contact between us and our loved ones, secondly to deal with them individually and not as a group and pay their refugee allowances to them directly, and thirdly to ensure that the members are not imprisoned in any location where they have no contact with the outside world.

Some families of the members of MEK in Albania

June 24, 2017 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 194

++ Many former MEK members have written personal memories of the events of 30 Khordad, 7 Tir and the 2003 self-immolations. They remind us that this is what is behind the Villepinte event – it is a celebration of armed struggle and violent extremism. Others have exposed further information about Villepinte over the past few years: how the MEK paid the audience, speakers and how the recruitment drives were organised and by whom. Most writers remark that the money spent now is nothing compared to the days of Saddam Hussein and that year on year it is getting less as the MEK’s money dries up. Some, however, comment that while this is true, the money the MEK does spend comes from Saudi Arabia and Israel and is intended to create hysteria against Iran. The lesson we can take from this though is that the anti-Iran pundits have no other tool to spend their money on or they would not be so silly.

++ Several former MEK members write regularly from Albania for Iran Interlink and Sahar Family Foundation. Some are completely out of the organisation, others have separated but are still dependent on the MEK for accommodation and living expenses and therefore write underpseudonym. The latter have informed us that the MEK held an Iftar gathering for them. Everyone who attended was taken aside by the MEK and asked individually to become an informer on the others. The MEK will pay, they are told. They are asked to say if anyone is in contact with Iran Interlink, Sahar or their own family. If they are, the MEK will cut their payments. As a result, some ex-members have been identified as team leaders of these informants working for the MEK. Their names have been published to warn everyone who they are. (The same situation developed in the American run TIPF in Iraq.) The situation is now chaotic since nobody trusts anybody else at all. Ironically though, everyone has learned to trust Iran Interlink and Sahar. ‘If you want to talk to anyone who will not sell you to the devil, it is Iran Interlink’ people are saying.

++ In Albania, the MEK has put up posters in the places that formers accumulate – including round the UNHCR offices – showing drug addicts and homeless individuals who left the MEK, sometimes fifteen years ago, with the message ‘this is what will become of you if you turn your back on your leaders’. The person who sent this information to Iran Interlink said: “We don’t see this as the MEK’s work. Instead we believe that McCain and the Pentagon and the UNHCR are behind this”.

++ In Albania the MEK have named the price they will pay to former members (current members have to do it for free) if they publicly denounce their families. This is especially aimed at those whose families are actively trying to contact them. Iran Interlink has issued a message saying ‘don’t worry, if you are desperate and need the money then go ahead and do this, your families will understand, they know what is happening there. We had the same experience in Iraq and we gave the same message then. Many of those who did this are now established in Europe as normal citizens with families of work and homes of their own. When they wrote bad things about their families in Iraq not a single family – including Iran Interlink – complained or did not understand. It became standard that when the members escaped, their families would immediately joke with them, asking ‘what were the worst things you said about me? Let’s laugh about it!’

++ This week’s political joke: After Iran launched its missile attack against ISIS in Syria and after every news agency in the world reported it, the MEK came out three days later with a statement claiming the [fake] missile attack was a bluff by the Iranian regime because they were shaking in their shoes over US sanctions. This attracted a lot of ‘Crying with Laughter’ reactions on Facebook.

In English:

++ Mazda Parsi for Nejat Bloggers examines remarks made by American Congressman Rohrabacher following the ISIS terrorist attack in Tehran. It is no surprise that Rohrabacher is an advocate of the Mojahedin Khalq as are several other Congressmen and Congresswomen. Their support for regime change in Iran ‘allows’ them to give vocal, public advocacy to groups (proxy forces) which use extremism and violence for political aims. Parsi concludes that such activity only causes the Iranian people to become more united.

++ A former MEK member who cannot be named asked Massoud Khodabandeh to publish his analysis of similarities between ISIS terrorist attacks in Iran with those of the MEK over the past thirty-five years. The writer concludes that while the MEK were not involved in the incidents, ISIS clearly drew on MEK expertise to conduct the attacks.

++ Patrick Henningsen in 21st Century Wire, quotes Massoud Khodabandeh (from the article mentioned above), in a long analysis of what the repercussions will be for the US after Iran launched a missile attack against ISIS in Syria last week. Under the heading ‘Tehran Attack: Who Did It?’ Henningsen says that “The MEK factor is extremely worrying because it signals a new leg in Washington’s asymmetric war in the region. History shows us that when great powers sow this level of chaos, the chances for a multi-country conflagration becomes more likely.”

June 23 2017

June 24, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Mr. Bidari at Nejat Society office

Mr. Abbas Bidari whose brother is hostage of Mujahedin-e Khalq Cult visited Nejat Society – Khuzestan branch – on Wednesday June7th.

Nejat Society members defined the current situation of the MKO Cult in Albania. They also clarified the condition of the Cult members as well as those who managed to defect the group.

Referring to the cult manipulation practices, Mr. Bidari said that the cult of MKO has relied its existence on the members’ unawareness from the outside world so that it denies members to have any contact with the outside world and the families.

Mr. Bidari at Nejat Society office

June 22, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Reacting to the Tehran Attacks in Europe and the US

The European Parliament started its plenary session last week with a minute of silence to honor the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in London and Tehran. In this way, the EP has joined a number of other institutions, as well as leaders of the EU and its member states, in offering sympathy to the Iranian people.

For a country like Iran, which cannot boast of an abundance of international support and empathy, such a gesture from a leading Western institution was extremely valuable. The news and pictures of the minute of silence spread through the Iranian media immediately and boosted the good will towards the EU among the officials and general public.

There is a deep democratic significance for a parliament to offer its solidarity to a fellow parliament that was a target of a terrorist attack. In this particular case it also conveys a symbolic recognition by the European Parliament of the legitimacy of the Iranian parliament as a relatively democratic pillar of the Iranian political system.

This matters, given the background of intense efforts over the years to de-legitimize the Iranian institutions, including the elected ones, with the aim of building support for regime change. The well-financed exile dissident group Mojaheddeen-e Khalk (MEK), in particular, has developed a strong lobby in the European Parliament promoting this cause.

The times, however, are changing. The images of Iranians voting in the last presidential elections, in a region where few other populations go to the polls, and re-electing their moderate president in a landslide, have certainly made an impact. They have also debunked, once again, the MEK’s claims that the Iranian elections are void of any meaning. In fact, such efforts are provoking a growing backlash among the Euro MPs.

In this context, the fact that the European Parliament perceived the minute of silence dedicated to Iran as completely “normal” and appropriate is itself a testimony of the changing climate in EU-Iran relations.

Contrast this with the attitude in the United States. Although the State Department did issue a proper statement, the majority in the Senate rejected the proposal of Senators Bernie Sanders and Diane Feinstein to postpone the consideration of new anti-Iran sanctions. Instead, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the measures the week after the attacks in Tehran—despite a warning from former Secretary of State John Kerry that it could jeopardize the nuclear agreement with Iran.

Such an attitude reflects Washington’s dominant view of Iran as a country unworthy of minimal sympathy even in such tragic circumstances. Hence, Trump’s infamous words about states becoming targets of the “evil they promote.” The sheer ignorance and insensitivity of these remarks is highlighted by the fact that the “evil” that hit Iran was also responsible for the terrorist attacks in America on 9/11 and in subsequent years in Paris, Brussels, London, Madrid, Manchester, and so on. Such attacks are not inspired by anything that has to do with Iran, but rather an extreme version of Wahhabism, the official creed of Saudi Arabia, whose vision for the Middle East Trump seems to have eagerly embraced.

In an irresponsible escalation shortly after the attacks, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has endorsed the idea of a regime change in Iran. He issued his comment, ironically, on the same day that his State Department released documents pertaining to the role the US played in overthrowing the popular government of Mohammad Mossadeq in 1953, an event to which today’s poisoned state of the US-Iran relations could arguably be traced.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, by contrast, has reaffirmed once again the EU’s strong commitment not only to the nuclear agreement, but also to a deeper engagement with Iran in diverse areas, from economy and energy to conflict resolution in the Middle East.

Recent history, particularly the process leading up to the conclusion of the nuclear deal, suggests that when Iran is shown a modicum of respect and recognition, it is more likely to respond positively to the concerns of its international counterparts than when bullied and insulted. The EU way of showing such respect puts it in a much better position to persuade Iran to abandon some of its more objectionable ways than threats coming from Washington.

The US could have built on the channel established by Tillerson’s predecessor John Kerry with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in trying to solve outstanding issues, in particular regarding regional conflicts. Instead, the current administration is making sure not only to destroy that channel but also, with its callous and insulting response to the anti-Iranian terrorism, to create damage to US-Iranian relations that may well outlast Trump. This will not advance any of America’s core interests in the Middle East. However, there is nothing to suggest that this administration realizes that.

Photo: Federica Mogherini (Wikimedia Commons)

by Eldar Mamedov

About the Author

Eldar Mamedov has degrees from the University of Latvia and the Diplomatic School in Madrid, Spain. He has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and as a diplomat in Latvian embassies in Washington D.C. and Madrid. Since 2007, Mamedov has served as a political adviser for the social-democrats in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (EP) and is in charge of the EP delegations for inter-parliamentary relations with Iran, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, and Mashreq.

June 21, 2017 0 comments

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