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Trump cupboard choose paid by ‘cult-like’ Iranian exile group

An official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s cupboard and no less than considered one of his advisers gave paid speeches for an Iranian exile group that killed Individuals earlier than the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ran donation scams and noticed its members set themselves on fireplace over the arrest of their chief.

Elaine Chao, confirmed this week as Trump’s transportation secretary, obtained $50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, beforehand known as a “cult-like” terrorist group by the U.S. State Division.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani additionally was paid an unknown sum to speak to the group, generally known as the MEK.

Greater than two dozen former U.S. officers, each Republican and Democratic, have spoken earlier than the MEK, together with former Home Speaker and Trump adviser Newt Gingrich. Some have publicly acknowledged being paid, however others haven’t.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence seems over at Elaine Chao shortly earlier than her swearing-in as transportation secretary on Jan. 31. Chao obtained $50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, categorised within the U.S. as a terrorist group till 2012. (Susan Walsh/Related Press)

Whereas nothing would have prohibited the paid speeches, they elevate questions on what affect the exiles could have within the new administration.

Already, a gaggle of former U.S. officers, together with Giuliani, wrote a letter to Trump final month encouraging him to “set up a dialogue” with the MEK’s political arm. With Trump’s ban on Iranians getting into the U.S., his administration’s name this week to place Iran “on discover” and the imposition of latest sanctions on Friday, the exile group could discover his administration extra welcoming than any earlier than.

Uncovered particulars of Iran nuclear program

A possible alliance with the MEK would hyperlink the U.S. to a gaggle with a controversial historical past that has gone in opposition to American pursuits up to now by supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. After fleeing Iran, the MEK joined forces with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It later uncovered particulars of the clandestine nuclear program run by Iran, which views the MEK as its sworn enemy.

“The Mujahedeen have backed the profitable horse. They’re going to have some no less than entree into the administration,” mentioned Ervand Abrahamian, a professor on the Metropolis College of New York who wrote a ebook on the MEK. “I believe it weakens the U.S. as a result of the extra they’ve entry to the administration, the extra individuals in Iran are going to be petrified of something the U.S. does.”

The MEK lengthy has cultivated a roster of former U.S. and European officers to attend its occasions opposing Iran’s clerically run authorities. It pays for the looks of many.

Chao, the spouse of Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, spoke earlier than an MEK convention in 2015 in Paris. She additionally had a seat subsequent to Maryam Rajavi, the “president-elect” of the Nationwide Council of Resistance of Iran, the political arm of the MEK.

Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks at a pro-democracy rally on Sept. 24, 2013 in entrance of portraits of deceased members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. The group blamed Iraqi safety forces for killing 52 of its members on Sept. 1, 2013 in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. (Mariko Tama/Getty Pictures)

Chao obtained a $50,000 honorarium from the MEK-associated Alliance for Public Consciousness, in keeping with a report she filed with the U.S. Workplace of Authorities Ethics. Chao obtained one other $17,500 honorarium for March 2016 speech she gave to the Iranian-American Cultural Affiliation of Missouri, which MEK opponents additionally hyperlink to the exile group.

The Division of Transportation mentioned in a press release that Chao has a “robust document of talking out in help of democracy and girls’s rights within the Center East,” however “has not spoken to MEK occasions.”

It added that her speeches have been delivered alongside bipartisan members of Congress, governors, prime ministers, ambassadors, generals, former FBI Administrators and “many different influential voices.”

Giuliani has acknowledged being paid for his appearances at MEK occasions. Nonetheless, he hasn’t filed a authorities disclosure type since his failed 2008 Republican presidential bid, so it is unclear how a lot the MEK has paid him in whole. Giuliani didn’t reply to an AP request for remark despatched by way of his aides.

Gingrich has additionally spoken to the MEK earlier than, together with at a gala in 2016, though it isn’t clear whether or not or how a lot he was paid. Gingrich couldn’t be reached for remark. The White Home additionally didn’t remark.

‘The core of the coverage that we’re advocating is to be powerful with the Iranian regime, to not ignore its crimes in opposition to the Iranian individuals.’ – Mohammad Mohaddessin of MEK political wing

The MEK welcomes the incoming Trump authorities, as “some individuals inside this administration” plan to alter American insurance policies towards Iran, mentioned Mohammad Mohaddessin, the chairman of the international affairs committee of its political arm.

“The core of the coverage that we’re advocating is to be powerful with the Iranian regime, to not ignore its crimes in opposition to the Iranian individuals,” he mentioned.

The White Home had no remark.

The MEK shaped in 1965. They embraced each Marxism and the concept of an Islamic authorities after the violent overthrow of the American-backed shah who dominated Iran on the time. Their title, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, means “the Folks’s Holy Warriors.”

Marxist splinter faction blamed for U.S. deaths

They carried out a string of focused assassinations hitting Iranian officers, in addition to Individuals. Nonetheless, the MEK at this time blames a Marxist splinter faction of the group for killing the Individuals.

The MEK fled Iran and later discovered refuge from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Closely armed by Saddam, MEK forces launched cross-border raids into Iran throughout its with battle with Iraq, additional alienating the group from common Iranians. The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001.

The U.s. State Division has described the MEK as having “cult-like traits.” When French police arrested Rajavi in 2003 as a part of a terrorism investigation, MEK members responded by lighting themselves. A minimum of two individuals died.

Through the years, the MEK has mentioned their group receives cash from Iranians to fund their operations. Nonetheless, the group has been focused by a collection of investigations around the globe for operating charity scams.

Mohaddessin blames the investigations on a concerted misinformation marketing campaign carried out by Iran.

MEK despatched letter to Trump for dialogue

The MEK’s success in getting former U.S. officers behind them might be seen in a letter dated Jan. 9 despatched to Trump simply earlier than his inauguration.

“We repeat the decision for the U.S. authorities to determine a dialogue with Iran’s exile resistance,” learn the letter signed by Giuliani and others.

Whether or not Trump’s administration kinds nearer ties to the MEK is but to be seen. Nonetheless, exile teams have not at all times been confirmed to be dependable American allies within the Center East. Exiled politician Ahmad Chalabi closely lobbied the administration of President George W. Bush to invade Iraq by pushing false allegations of weapons of mass destruction and hyperlinks to al-Qaeda.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t reply to a request for remark.

However whereas the MEK continues to pay former U.S. officers for his or her time, the household of the American lieutenant colonel killed in Iran in 1975 has filed a $35-million federal lawsuit in Colorado in opposition to the group and Iran.

The explanation for the lawsuit, Jack Turner’s household says, is easy: “In contrast to the U.S. hostages, our father by no means had the prospect to come back residence.”

February 18, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Keeping Iran a bogeyman to further destabilise the region

During his presidential election campaign, Donald Trump proclaimed long and loudly that he sees Iran as Washington’s regional enemy.

He pledged to “tear up” the agreement providing for the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, reached in 2015 by Iran and six world powers.

Aware that the other five signatories of the deal would not accept a unilateral US abrogation, he has since retreated by saying he would actively “police” the deal, to force Iran to abide by its commitments.

Ironically, it is the US, rather than Iran, that failed to honour its obligations by obstructing sanctions relief, particularly in the banking sector.

Last weekend, US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, admitted that the US is in no position to roll back the nuclear agreement.

He said it is not possible to “reconstitute the multilateral sanctions that were put in place” to compel Iran to confine its nuclear programme to providing fuel for power plants and medical isotopes.

Iran ended research on bomb making without making any device in 2003, and there is no evidence that it has resumed this effort.

Trump needlessly and heedlessly included Iran in the group of seven Muslim countries when imposing his hasty, poorly prepared and ill-conceived ban on US entry on citizens from these countries holding visas.

The largest number of people excluded are Iranians, as they are citizens of the largest and most populous country of the seven, the others being Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan.

Although federal judges issued restraining orders, temporarily rescinding Trump’s ban, Iranians are upset and confused by this measure, as it is meant to apply to citizens of countries involved in “terrorist” incidents in the US.

There have, in fact, been no attacks by Iranians on US citizens in the US and only one in Iran itself.

This took place in 1975, when two air force officers were killed en route to an air base. This was before the 1979 overthrow of Washington’s ally, the shah, by the Islamic Revolution.

The family of Lt. Col. Jack Turner, one of the victims, filed a lawsuit, arguing his death was in revenge for the killing by the shah’s intelligence agency, Savak, which was supported by the US and Israel, of nine anti-shah elements fleeing arrest.

The commander and members of this group, the Mujahedin e-Khalq, were executed in 1976.

It does not make sense that the Turner family is suing Savak, which is long gone, or the Mujahedin, an enemy of the current Iranian regime and the friend of some senior members of the Trump administration.

The administration threatened to put Iran “on notice” for test firing a medium-range ballistic missile at a time US, British, French and Australian naval manoeuvres were taking place in the Gulf, just off the Iranian coast.

Both the missile launch and the exercises were provocative, intended to generate a verbal response.

Tehran contended the test did not violate the nuclear deal or US Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the nuclear accord and calls on Iran not to launch ballistic missiles “capable of delivering nuclear weapons”.

Prior to the Trump-era test, Iran had carried out 11 tests since the signing of the deal. The US and other sponsors did not respond.

Trump ordered sanctions to be imposed on 25 individuals and entities said to be identified with the missile programme, a slap on the wrist for propaganda purposes.

Trump keeps beating the war drums to maintain the myth that Iran is the major destabilising force in this region and the world’s “biggest state sponsor of terrorism”, although neither allegation is true.

This region is being threatened and destabilised by Sunni takfiris associated with Daesh and Al Qaeda, who are the main instigators of terrorism here and abroad, rather than by Shiite Iran.

The US also contends that the Houthi tribal rebels fighting Saudi-sponsored forces in Yemen are “proxies” of Iran.

This is a blatant lie. Iran has given verbal support to the rebels, but is not financing, arming or advising their forces as it is doing for the Syrian army in its fight against an array of mainly takfiri insurgent groups, including Daesh and Al Qaeda.

Dan De Luce and Paul Mcleary, writing in Foreign Policy, say: “Trump’s aides see Yemen as an important battleground to signal US resolve against Iran and to break with what they consider the previous administration’s failure to confront Tehran’s growing power in the region.”

They argue that this approach could trigger Iranian retaliation against the US in Iraq and Syria or, fancifully, war with Iran.

Tehran is not committed to the Houthis as it is to the survival of the Assad government in Syria and to the Shiite fundamentalist-dominated government in Iraq.

The Republicans have simply refused to come to terms with the fact that George W. Bush installed the current pro-Iranian regime in Baghdad.

By handing over secular Iraq to this regime, the US provoked the Sunni takfiri backlash that the US is now trying to contain.

Russia and Iran have shouldered this responsibility by deploying forces in both Syria and Iraq. Consequently, Washington should consider joining Moscow and Tehran in this endeavour, instead of suggesting cooperation with Russia and whipping up tensions with Iran.

To stiffen Trump’s resolve to deal harshly with Iran, the Republican-majority Congress has begin drawing up legislation empowering him to wage “pre-emptive war” on Iran, at any time he chooses, without seeking authorisation from the legislature.

The stated aim of such a war would be to prevent Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapon, although, under the nuclear deal, Tehran has dismantled most of its nuclear programme and would need many months to build nuclear devices.

Therefore, the declared objective of such a bill would be to mount a war based on lies, like the disastrous 2003 war waged against Iraq by the previous Republican president.

Make no mistake. A war on Iran would not be limited to strikes against the country’s well-protected nuclear facilities. The US would have to destroy Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases and naval installations to prevent retaliation against US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as against Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The flow of oil from the Gulf to Europe and Asia would stop. Iran’s Lebanese partner Hizbollah could strike Israel. Russia could supply Iran with high-tech weaponry and munitions, turning a US war on Iran into a regional and international conflagration, and plunging the fragile world economy into a fresh recession or even a major depression.

By Michael Jansen, Jordantimes.com

February 16, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Trump’s picks for key posts paid by anti-Iran MKO

A secretary in the Cabinet of US President Donald Trump and at least one of his advisers have accepted money from the anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to give speeches for the terrorist group.

The MKO terrorist group has in the past lured a roster of former US and European officials to participate in its anti-Iran events.

Elaine Chao, confirmed this week as the Cabinet’s transportation secretary, received $50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the MKO.

Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, spoke before an MKO conference in 2015 in the French capital, Paris.

She received the so-called honorarium from the MKO-associated Alliance for Public Awareness, according to a report she filed with the US Office of Government Ethics.

In March 2016, Chao received another $17,500 for a speech that she gave to the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, with reported links to the MKO terrorist group.

Former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani has also acknowledged that he has been paid by the MKO for his appearances at the terrorist group’s events. However, the total amount of the received money is unclear because he has not filed a government disclosure form since his failed Republican presidential attempt in 2008.

Over two dozen former Republican and Democratic US officials, including former House speaker and Trump adviser, Newt Gingrich, have also spoken before the notorious group. Some have even publicly acknowledged being paid.

Gingrich spoke to the MKO at a gala in 2016, although it is not clear whether or how much he was paid.

The support of former US officials, including Giuliani, for the MKO could be seen in a letter sent to Trump on January 9 just before his inauguration.

"We repeat the call for the US government to establish a dialogue with Iran’s exile resistance," read the letter signed by Giuliani and others.

The MKO, the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians, has carried out numerous terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and government officials over the past three decades.

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 sided with the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, during Iraq’s eight-year imposed war against Iran in the 1980s. The group also helped Saddam in his brutal crackdown on his opponents.

There are serious questions about the possible influence of the terrorist group in the new US administration.

"The Mujahedin have backed the winning horse. They are going to have some at least entree into the administration," said Ervand Abrahamian, a professor at the City University of New York, who wrote a book on the MKO.

“I think it weakens the US because the more they have access to the administration, the more people in Iran are going to be scared of anything the US does,” he added.

The chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the MKO’s political arm, Mohammad Mohaddessin, has said the terrorist group welcomes the Trump government, as "some people within this administration" plan to change the US policies toward Iran.

It is yet to be seen how close Trump’s administration ties will be with the MKO.

This as the US State Department added the MKO to its list of foreign terrorist organizations in 1997 for the group’s involvement in the killing of Americans in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on US soil in 1992.

February 15, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Trump cautioned against designating Iran’s IRGC as terrorist organization

The US State and Defense Departments have cautioned President Donald Trump against designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, a report says.

The White House has been weighing designating the IRGC – the elite arm of Iran’s security forces — and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations," Trump administration officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

But, the officials said, Trump did not sign executive orders on the issue after US national security agencies warned the president about the consequences of such a move, the US news network reported on Thursday.

President Trump was scheduled to sign the IRGC order on Monday during his visit to the US Central Command (CENTCOM)’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida, but the plan was put on hold after the State and Defense Departments expressed "serious objections," according to the officials.

The US military’s CENTCOM deals with issues in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, most notably Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is not clear now if Trump will sign the order regarding the IRGC.

The officials said Trump was told that designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization would create serious problems for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is receiving assistance from both the US military and the IRGC in his fight against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.

In addition, they said that US national security agencies are also concerned that American military and embassy personnel in Iraq could be targeted after such an action from the United States.

This is while, according to reports, some officials from the Trump administration have received money from the anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to deliver speeches in support of the terrorist group.

Trump’s transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, received $50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the MKO, which has carried out numerous terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and government officials over the past three decades.

Elaine Chao (L) looks on as US Vice President Mike Pence speaks before swearing her in as Transportation Secretary in Washington, DC, on January 31, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

In March 2016, Chao received another $17,500 for a speech that she gave to the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, which reportedly has ties with the MKO terrorist group. Chao is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, who is also likely to get a post in the Trump administration, has also acknowledged that he has been paid by the MKO for his appearances at the terrorist group’s events.

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 terrorist attacks.

The organization also sided with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during Iraq’s eight-year imposed war against Iran in the 1980s. The group also helped Saddam in his brutal crackdown on his opponents.

Members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) (file photo)

The US State Department added the MKO to its list of foreign terrorist organizations in 1997 for the group’s involvement in the killing of Americans in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on US soil in 1992.

But, now some officials in the Trump administration are reportedly lobbying for the MKO’s removal from the US list of terrorist groups, and designate Iran’s IRGC, which has been fighting against terrorism and aggression since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, as a terrorist organization.

According to some observers, Israel and Saudi Arabia, which are considered main sponsors of terrorism in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Yemen and Syria, are pushing the Trump administration to act against the IRGC, an organization that has frustrated their designs on these countries.

February 15, 2017 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

MEK fits well into definition of cult

A deprogramming scholar believes MEK organization had been close to a cult, an adjective fitting their conduct within the organization and the manipulation of members.Rick Alan Ross is an American deprogrammer, cult specialist, and founder and executive director of the nonprofit Cult Education Institute. He believes the lack of transparency and accountability makes the leaders of cults such as MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization aka MKO) and ISIL almost insurmountable in their shameful acts of sexual exploitation of members; in such cults, he contend, the personality of the member is dissolved to a greater entity, i.e., the collective spirit which is imbued by the Big Brother mentality who control their thought and action. As such, members of such organizations are prone to extreme mental states edging psychopathy and usually display unconventional belief systems:

In response to the charge of being a cult, the MEK claims that it is actively engaged in political action. In your opinion, can political action alone be a discriminator between cults and other groups?

What the group believes does not define it as a destructive cult, this is instead determined by how the group behaves, its dynamics and structure. The group could be based upon philosophy, politics, religion, therapy, personal growth training seminars, UFOs, pseudo-sciences or martial arts. There are three core characteristics that form the nucleus for a definition of a destructive cult, which I point out in my book “Cults Inside Out” in the chapter “Defining a Destructive Cult.” These three criteria were first identified by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, who wrote the definitive book about thought reform (often called “brainwashing”) and a paper titled “Cult Formation” that was published by Harvard. Lifton defined a cult as having the following three primary characteristics:

1. A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power.

2. A process [is in use] is ‘coercive persuasion’ or ‘thought reform.’

3. Economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.

In my opinion, the MEK fits well within the three core criteria often used to define a destructive cult based upon the structure, dynamics and behavior of the group. MEK also uses thought reform and coercive persuasion to gain undue influence over its members.

Are there other criteria to identify cults? Do these features exist in the MEK?

MEK practices conform to all of Lifton’s eight criteria used to identify a thought reform program: Milieu Control, Mystical Manipulation, the Demand for Purity, the Cult of Confession, the “Sacred Science,” Loading the Language, Doctrine over Person, and the Dispensing of Existence.

The MEK members are obliged to attend some meetings, in which they should talk about their thoughts and apologize for their so-called mental deviations. Is this practice common in other cults?

What you describe is detailed again by Lifton in his book “Thought Reform and Psychology of Totalism” in Chapter 22 and in my book within the chapter titled “Cult Brainwashing.” Lifton calls this type of exchange the “Cult of Confession” and I explain within my book how this becomes a device to gain control over and manipulate the follower. It provides intimate information, which can then be used as leverage to break down, manipulate and control the group member.

There are credible reports – including statements by Ms. Soltani, a former member of the MEK leadership who was close to Rajavi- that Rajavi has a variety of scenarios for sexual relationship with the cult’s women. The question is that how Rajvi could do these acts despite being under political pressure and involved in covert actions. How can this behavior be analyzed?

Leaders of authoritarian groups such as MEK or ISIS often sexually exploit members or followers. Leaders have no meaningful accountability. No one can effectively hold them responsible and stop them.

There are some rules within the MEK such as degrading of men and putting women in top of organizational positions, e.g. appointing Maryam Ghajar Azdanlou (later Maryam Rajavi) as President-elect of Iran, pretended as progressives and feminist acts. Do you accept that those acts are progressive? Are these rules exclusive to the MEK?

Whatever the rules are within MEK is not the point. What is relevant is that the Rajavis can make new rules, change rules and do whatever they want. Their rules are typically used to manipulate and control their followers. They like what they control and don’t like what they don’t control. The Rajavis then use that undue influence to exploit and manipulate MEK members for their own benefit and financial gain.

Would you please speak more about Rajavis?

Rajavi and his wife are the defining role of authoritarian charismatic leadership that has become the focus, defining element and driving force of MEK. There are no checks and balances to their power, meaningful accountability or transparency.

Mehr News and Habilain Association,

February 15, 2017 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Pictorial – MKO ex-members met Ms. Ana Gomes MEP

The delegation consisted of Mr. Ali Akbar Rastgoo, Ghorbanali Hosseinnejad, Isa Azadeh and Reza Jebelli who once had been of veteran, high ranking members of the MKO Cult.

The meeting took place at Ms. Gomes office in the EU Parliament, Brussels.

MKO ex-members iterated the situation of some 2000 members of the cult in Albania who have no access to the outside world, esp. their families. Mr. Hosseinenjad as an example described the situation of her daughter within the cult who is prevented by the cult leaders to visit her father and her only sister (The two sisters have not been able to see or have any contact with each other during their lifetime due to the enforced separation of families within the Cult of Mujahedin-e Khalq.).

The former members also defined: the financial sources of the Cult during Saddam Hussein era and afterwards, the oppressive and repressive affairs within the cult Camps in Iraq and now in Albania, ban of marriage, the cult leaders’ efforts for lobbying in the EU parliament and to whitewash their history and nature of violence and terror.

Ms. Gomes welcomed the MKO ex-member’s delegation. The MEP expressed regret over the appalling situation under which the cult members live. She also announced her readiness for the next visits.

The MEP emphasized she will inform the President of the European Parliament and other MEPs, of the MKO Cult members situation.

MKO ex-members met Ms. Ana Gomes MEP

February 14, 2017 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

MKO former members met the EUP in Brussels

A delegation of Aawa Association and Peyvand-e Rahaei Association [consisting of former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq cult in Germany and France] met Ms. Ana Maria Gomes; Member of the European Parliament (Portuguese Socialist Party) on Tuesday February 7th, 2017.

The delegation consisted of Mr. Ali Akbar Rastgoo, Ghorbanali Hosseinnejad, Isa Azadeh and Reza Jebelli who once had been of veteran, high ranking members of the MKO Cult.

The meeting took place at Ms. Gomes office in the EU Parliament, Brussels.

Ms. Gomes welcomed the MKO ex-member’s delegation. The MEP expressed regret over the appalling situation under which the cult members live. She also announced her readiness for the next visits.

The MEP emphasized she will inform the President of the European Parliament and other MEPs, of the MKO Cult members situation.

February 12, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Once More “Backing the Winning Horse” Doesn’t Work for the MKO

The new US administration under Donald Trump seem to be the ideal “Imperialism” for the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ Cult of Rajavi). The recent belligerent steps of President Trump and his republican colleagues have been warmly welcome by the group. This “confrontation” cheers up the MKO propaganda websites because it is replaced by what they call “The Obama era policy of appeasing Tehran”. The group is hopeful to see its multi-million dollar lobbying campaign finally works.

However, one of the negative points of Trump administration criticized in the mainstream media is what the MKO is boastful of. “An official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Cabinet and at least one of his advisers gave paid speeches to organizations linked to an Iranian exile group that killed Americans before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ran donation scams and saw its members set themselves on fire over the arrest of their leader,” reported the Associated Press. [1]

The thoroughly investigated article written by Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press tends to stay unbiased and documented on the issue. The journalist has tried his best to quote all parts involved in the case. However, the audience can conclude that the MKO’s opportunists are seeking to take the attention of the US government by the cost of denying the fundamental values of their organization.

“A potential alliance with the MEK would link the U.S. to a group with a controversial history that has gone against American interests in the past by supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran”, Jon Gambrell suggests. “After fleeing Iran, the MEK joined forces with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.”

“The Mujahedeen have backed the winning horse. They are going to have some at least entree into the administration,” Ervand Abrahamian, the prominent historian and the professor at the City University of New York who wrote a book on the MEK, told gambrel. “I think it weakens the U.S. because the more they have access to the administration, the more people in Iran are going to be scared of anything the U.S. does.”

What professor Abrahamian says about the opportunistic nature of the MKO was clearly seen during the 1979 revolution in Iran. They supported Ayatollah Khomeini, then they got more enthusiastic than the newly established Islamic Republic. They supported the takeover of the US embassy and eventually they opposed the release of the American Hostages by the Iranian government after 444 days.

By the way, professor Abrahamian’s assertion on the MKO is approved by Saeed Kamali Dehghan of the Guardian. He describes the MKO as “extremely unpopular in Iran” because “they fought alongside Saddam Hussain against Iran in the eight-year war in the 1980s.”

“The threat to Iran is not just from Trump but rather the combination of a reckless, ignorant leader, surrounded by hawks blind to nuances on the ground and bent on regime change,” Kamali writes about the MKO’s paid sponsors in the new administration.

Besides the extreme unpopularity of the Cult of Rajavi among Iranian public opinion, it definitely has to deal with much bigger troubles in its way to buy attention of the US government. The insincerity of the group and its dark history is undeniable. Gambrell explains about the assassination of the US military personals and civilians by the MKO during the 1970s. However, he asserts that the group blames “a Marxist splinter faction of the group for killing the Americans.”

On the other hand, the associated Press correspondent quotes a once-secret 1981 CIA assessment on the group said “The Mujahedeen are xenophobic, Anti-Americanism and anti-imperialism provide cornerstones for the policies.”

Duplicity of the MKO is also indicated in its claim of having renounced violence. ”The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001,” writes Gambrell. “But the U.S. Army’s official history of the Iraq invasion in 2003 says MEK forces “fought against coalition forces” for the first weeks of the war, something the MEK denies.”

The article bases certain facts about the MKO on the RAND Corp. report prepared for the office of the U.S. defense secretary. According to the report, fourteen U.S. soldiers were killed and at least another 60 wounded escorting MEK members on supply missions. While the group propaganda denies all these true facts and blames the Iranian government for spreading “misinformation” against it, Gambrell replicates the famous sentence of the RAND report to describe the MKO propaganda: “SKILLED MANIPULATORS OF PUBLIC OPINION”.

By Mazda Parsi

Sources:

* Gambrell, Jon, Trump Cabinet pick paid by controversial Iranian exile group, The Associated Press, Feb 5, 2017

*Kamali Dehghan, Saeed, Trump’s belligerence towards Iran plays into the hands of Tehran’s hardliners,

The Guardian, Feb. 3 .2017

February 9, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Trump’s MEK version of events won’t secure victory against Iran, lets ISIS off the hook

They say actions speak louder than words. Looking behind the Twitter storm which creates a smoke and mirrors effect to disguise the Trump administration’s true intents, one fact is blindingly clear; for this government, Iranians are first in the firing line.

This, of itself, is not unexpected. On the campaign trail Trump threatened to tear up the nuclear deal with Iran. So it was already clear he’s no fan of Iranians.

His first act as president has been to issue a direct and belligerent challenge to Iran – he included Iran in the Muslim ban and then declared that Iran is “on notice” after Iran test-fired a ballistic missile which it says is defensive. Iran is clearly in the crosshairs for Trump and his team.

And the evidence stacks up. As a barometer for any individual or even government’s aggressive approach to Iran, support for the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK aka Rajavi cult) is as accurate an indicator as any. The group has advocated violent regime change against Iran for three decades. Its supporters are in doubt that this is a rallying cry for a US-led war.

Even before taking office, revelations about potential Trump administration advisers and officials giving support to the terrorist MEK cult caused concern among foreign policy experts. After all, anti-Iran pundits can choose from literally thousands of civil groups and personalities to act as advisors and partners in challenging Iran. The MEK’s dirty past includes the anti-Imperialist inspired murder of six Americans in pre-revolution Iran which it later celebrated in songs and publications. (The family of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Turner – “We were the first victims of terror before there was ever a war on terror” – is currently seeking redress for his death.) The new president has apparently brushed aside such concerns and has chosen to surround himself with people who have advocated for the MEK.

Col. Jack Turner and Col. Paul Shaffer victims of Mojahedin Khalq terror campaign

By not denouncing the MEK Trump has done several things. One is to signal that he is at war not with Iran but with Iranians. The MEK is hated more profoundly than any of Iran’s current political leaders by Iranians inside and outside the country.

He also signals that his war is not with ISIS but with the country Iran. Donald Trump rose to victory in part on the promise to take on ISIS and defeat the group. Yet ISIS cannot be defeated except by a coalition of forces that includes Iran. The facts on the ground in Syria and Iraq demonstrate unequivocally that ISIS forces in Aleppo and Mosul have been defeated largely due to the involvement of Iran. Trump clearly has no intention of defeating terrorism.

But most importantly, this tolerance, even warmth, shown toward the MEK in American foreign policy circles is a message that can be read from afar and by everyone else in the world: the American war box is virtually empty. Aside from a handful of puny sanctions, bringing the MEK into the equation means that not only does the America not have a stick to wave at Iran, it appears foolish enough, befuddled by ideological zeal perhaps, to tie its fate to the most unlucky and doom-laden group there ever was.

Laughably, parasitically, the MEK has consistently tied its fate to whichever it assumed was the winning side. However, the choice of MEK sponsors no longer looks so astute. Ayatollah Khomeini quickly saw through the MEK’s smarmy overtures to share power and promptly exiled them from Iran. The next step was to ally with Saddam Hussein against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war – a feat of spectacular treachery for which no Iranian will ever forgive them. After Saddam’s fall the MEK believed that the chaos in Iraq which gave rise to the insurrection of Al Qaida in Iraq would somehow carry them forward. The MEK even flirted with support for ISIS and the Syrian Free Army hoping they would find a home in the new Caliphate. Instead, the MEK were evicted from their base and sent into deeper exile in Albania, a country with no axe to grind against Iran. Long term sponsors have included Israel – which tasked MEK operatives with the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists – and the anti-Shia Saudi Arabia. Both countries are bogged down with interminable troubles of their own. And now the MEK are hoping to cosy up with the Trump administration.

The Obama administration kept the MEK at arms’ length and never entertained direct support for the group. When the government of Iraq held the US, along with the UN, responsible for removing the MEK from Iraq to a third country, the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to agree to remove the MEK from the US terrorism list before any third country would legally be able to accept them on their territory.

Since 2001 Trump’s predecessors have built up strong homeland defences and led counter-terrorism efforts particularly against the threat of ISIS to the US and Europe. It is now likely that this legacy will be squandered by an administration with an overriding hatred of Iran. Instead of understanding the benefit of developing strategic partnerships with countries like Iran and Iraq in the global fight against terrorism, the Trump administration would rather rain down terror on the Iranian people.

But the biggest delusion would be to believe that the MEK could be a reliable or effective partner in any sense. If Donald Trump has any insight into his own modus operandi – the erratic demands and refusal to take criticism – he will have a direct view of how the MEK operates. Aligning America’s foreign policy with the whims of a mind control cult will not secure victory over Iran. Instead, it will diminish America’s standing in the world, and it will certainly not make the world a better or safer place.

Massoud Khodabandeh , Director at Middle East Strategy Consultants.

February 7, 2017 0 comments

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