More than two hundred familly members whose beloved ones are taken hostages by the Mujahedin-e Khalq destructive cult gathered in front of the camp Liberty gates for the sixth time .
This has been the biggest campaign run by families in order to release individuals who are taken as hostages by the MKO despite the Iraq’s dire security and weather condition .
The families demand is to be allowed to visit their loved ones.
An adviser to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has harshly criticized the recent meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the ringleader of an anti-Iran terrorist group.
Speaking on Sunday, Hossein 
said the meeting between Abbas and Maryam Rajavi, the ringleader of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), came as no surprise to Iran.
Abbas met with Rajavi in the French capital of Paris late Saturday. According to reports, the two discussed regional issues, and Rajavi briefed Abbas on the MKO’s recent annual meeting.
“That a Palestinian faction that compromises with the Zionists (Israelis) and that has yielded to Israel under US pressure… today meets with terrorist elements is no surprise,” Sheikholeslam said, referring to the Palestinian Fatah party, which is headed by Abbas.
The Islamic Republic, the Iranian official said, was already in possession of evidence of Abbas’ secret collaborations with the United States.
He said the relations between Mahmoud Abbas and terrorist groups and Israelis have been covert and have only become publicized today.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) meets with Maryam Rajavi, the ringleader of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), in Paris, France, July 30, 2016.
Sheikholeslam referred to the MKO’s bleak history of assassinations and bombings against Iranian civilians and officials following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and said the terrorist outfit receives support from the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
He also pointed to the move by the MKO to side with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the eight-year Iraqi war against Iran in the 1980s, and said the group maintains its enmity toward Iran with continued Western support.
In early July, the MKO held a meeting in Paris, where Saudi Arabia’s former spymaster, Turki al-Faisal, gave a 30-minute speech to the gathering and expressed support for the anti-Iran group.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry subsequently summoned the French Ambassador to Tehran François Sénémaud to hand him a strong note of protest over the meeting.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic relations.
200 people picketed in front of Camp Liberty, Baghdad, asking for visiting their loved ones in the camp.
Families of Liberty residents gathered in front of the camp gates for the sixth time, on July31th.
Picketing families are from various provinces from all over Iran. According to the authorities, about a hundred more are seeking to obtain Iraqi visa to join the campaign. This has been the biggest campaign run by families in order to release individuals who are taken as hostages by the Mujahedin Khalq Organization( the MKO/the Cult of Rajavi), although the security situation of Iraq is not proper as well as the weather.
Unfortunately families did not succeed to visit their loved ones residing the Camp but Liberty residents have definitely heard the calls of their suffering family members who offered them love and sympathy.
200 people picketed in front of Camp Liberty, Baghdad, asking for visiting their loved ones in the camp.
Families of Liberty residents gathered in front of the camp gates for the sixth time, yesterday afternoon.
Picketing families are from various provinces from all over Iran. According to the authorities, about a hundred more are seeking to obtain Iraqi visa to join the campaign. This has been the biggest campaign run by families in order to release individuals who are taken as hostages by the Mujahedin Khalq Organization( the MKO/the Cult of Rajavi), although the security situation of Iraq is not proper as well as the weather.
Unfortunately families did not succeed to visit their loved ones residing the Camp but Liberty residents have definitely heard the calls of their suffering family members who offered them love and sympathy.
Just as the Iranian judiciary was preparing to put those who stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran earlier this year on trial, former Saudi intelligence chief and diplomat Prince Turki al-Faisal Al Saud appeared to step up the campaign against Iran by appearing at the July 9 annual conference of the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) in Paris.
Iran has listed the MEK as a terrorist organization since the 1980s, blaming it for the deaths of over 12,000 Iranians, including civilians, politicians — and in recent years — nuclear scientists. The MEK notably fought on the side of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), and also later helped Saddam suppress an uprising by Iraqi Shiites and Kurds.
At his 30-minute speech in Paris, Faisal expressed admiration for the “people of Iran,” while lambasting the Islamic Republic and particularly its late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Indeed, he accused Khomeini of trying to “export” the Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spared no time in reacting to Faisal’s appearance at the MEK gathering, not to mention his remarks. What seemed to have infuriated the Iranians the most was that he repeated the crowd’s chants — in Arabic — of the popular Arab Spring slogan “The people want the fall of the regime.”
One anonymous source at the Iranian Foreign Ministry told the Tehran Times on July 10 that Faisal’s statements showed Saudi Arabia’s “stupidity, indecency and political frustration.” Other Iranian officials have referred to the former Saudi spy chief’s remarks as further proof of Riyadh’s “support for terrorism.”
In an interview with Fars News Agency on July 10, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who until recently served as deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said that he had previously told the Saudis that “it is impossible to use terrorists as a tool to make the region insecure and at the same time expect calm within the kingdom.”
Al-Monitor asked Seyed Mohammad Houshisadat, a professor of political science at Tehran University and visiting researcher at the Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies, whether Faisal was voicing his own views or Riyadh’s official stance.
Houshisadat said, “Prince Faisal is an influential figure from the conservative branch of the Saudi ruling family. He was the director of the General Intelligence Directorate for 23 years and served as ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States. His role and key positions leave no doubt that those remarks are Saudi Arabia’s official line. Therefore Iranian authorities and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps see his speech in the framework of the kingdom’s policy vis-a-vis Iran.”
Houshisadat added, “The Saudis have been seeking to topple the Islamic Republic since 1979; they backed Saddam Hussein in the war with Iran despite having grave ideological differences with him. Their relationship with the MEK dates back to the 1980s. However, the events over the past two years and the increased Iranian influence in the Middle East prompted them to drop the ambiguity and pursue the policy of regime change in Iran with more transparency.”
When asked about the recent remark by Ali Younesi, the presidential aide for ethnic and religious minorities affairs, that Riyadh is making the same mistake Saddam made when he used the MEK in his war against Iran, Houshisadat replied, “The Saudis are trying to revive threats … by activating several opposition groups, including the MEK, or Kurdish militants in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region and Baluch militants in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. In the long run, this policy will backfire — as it did for Saddam Hussein — but for the time being, the MEK has turned into Saudi Arabia’s instrument to bash Iran.”
Al-Monitor also discussed Faisal’s appearance in Paris with Beirut-based Iranian political analyst Mohammad Sadeq al-Husseini. He said he believes “Riyadh has significantly shifted its regional policy by increasing hostility toward Tehran and growing friendly ties with Israel.” In this vein, Husseini told Al-Monitor, “Prince Faisal’s statement is the official declaration of a previously hidden agenda.”
Al-Monitor also asked Houshisadat what Tehran’s response might be to Faisal’s call for regime change in Iran. He said, “There are two camps in Iran: One promotes direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia and the second camp favors dialogue. Iranian policymakers have always sought to de-escalate tensions and negotiate with Saudi Arabia. Considering that fact, Tehran will not confront Riyadh directly because it knows only too well that the region cannot stand another war — this time between its two powerhouses. Besides that, the current world order would not support an all-out war that would endanger Western financial and political investments in the Middle East and divide it along two hostile lines.“
Husseini, who is one of the founders of the popular Arabic news channel Al-Mayadeen, similarly dismissed the possibility of war between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, he told Al-Monitor, “The United States and Israel are encouraging Saudi Arabia — and in fact would support it — if Riyadh launched a war against Iran.”
He added, “But Tehran is not walking into that trap and instead responds to the Israelis, the Americans and the Saudis on the ground in Syria and Iraq.” In this vein, Husseini predicted that “in the coming months, we will witness an escalation of regional violence and tensions related to Saudi Arabia’s aggressive attitude. Saudi Arabia is … using any means to put pressure on Iran.” However, he said that he doubts such a policy will achieve its desired results.
Most of all, Amir-Abdollahian perhaps expressed the most ominous concern, saying, “Saudi Arabia’s strategic mistake to employ terrorists will eventually cause irreversible losses not only to the kingdom but to all of us.”
Fereshteh Sadeghi, Al Monitor,
++ This last week marked the anniversary of the Forough-e Javidan (Eternal Light) or Mersad operation. Many memories have been written from both sides – from Iran and former MEK members. But the theme of all of them is that after so many years it is now obvious that the MEK is not a military or even an ideological force. It is a purely mercenary force which has now ended up in the hands of the Saudis. The members are the victims and the leader is getting the money. The titles of many articles follow the theme ‘Yesterday Saddam, Today Salman’. Ebrhaim Khodabandeh was interviewed on national Iranian television as a witness to the operation. He explains how “Rajavi begged Saddam to delay agreeing the UN brokered ceasefire in July 1988 for a few days. Rajavi then deployed a cohort of unaware and untrained civilians, many of whom he had quickly brought from Europe and North America, and allowed them to be massacred in the operation. Later on we found out that he his real objective was not to defeat the Iranian army but to lose a few thousand people so he could call them martyrs. Rajavi pointed out repeatedly in later years that the blood of these martyrs was to be the insurance policy guaranteeing the future of the MEK (he means himself) for decades to come.
++ Several articles refer to the beheading of a 12 year-old boy in Syria by terrorists, whom the Americans now say they will no longer support. However, these are the same terrorists who frequently meet with the MEK in Paris. To date, the MEK have not disowned these terrorists as their close allies in Syria.
++ Leading MEK member Mohammad Mohaddessin was interviewed by Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya media outlet this week. However, this only added to the existing controversy over Massoud Rajavi’s assumed death. Commentators point out that that unlike normal MEK interviews which are prepared in advance with written questions and answers, Mohaddessin was unprepared. This in itself indicates that he was told to do the interview rather than the MEK seeking out publicity for its own agenda. Behzad Alishahi in the Netherlands has initiated a series of articles – the first was this week – which will unpick the gaffes of Al Arabiya and the MEK one by one. Alishahi says this is worth doing because after decades we are beginning to see some of the truths they are being forced to admit regarding their relations with Saudi Arabia and their activities in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere.
In English:
++ The Tehran Times reported the aggressive war of words between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir had accused Tehran of expansionist policies and “harboring” terrorism during a lecture on terrorism organized by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels and hosted by Egmont Research Center. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi rejected this as “absurd, unfounded, and repetitious.” The article mentioned Prince Turki al Faisal’s attendance at the MEK annual rally to celebrate armed struggle “where he pledged backing and wished for the collapse of Iran. For years, the group has committed acts of terrorism against Iran and the Saudi link simply means they have been feeding them financially.”
++ Fars News Agency says that a terrorist attack could happen in Iran and blames France and Saudi Arabia for backing or turning a blind eye to the sources of such terrorism. The MEK annual rally in France is evidence of this complicity as it links Saudi Wahhabism, the MEK and Paris.
++ Iran Interlink translated part of an interesting article by former MEK member Reza Sadeghi Jabali. He gives a clear description of the Rajavis’ reaction to the horrific 9/11 attack and links long-term Saudi support for the MEK under Saddam Hussein and in the present with the current threat of global terrorism.
++ Mazda Parsi in Nejat Society quotes highly respected American journalists Ali Gharib, Barbara Slavin and Robert Macey in his analytical article about Saudi-MEK relations. He posits that neither side benefit from the association. Each writer points to the cultic nature of the MEK and its failure to garner any support among Iranians as well as its failure to actually do anything for the past two and a half decades. Gharib links this with the Saudis’ failure to confront Iran in Syria, Yemen and Iraq and says the choice of the MEK as partners is self-defeating.
++ Dalga Khatinoglu, Baku, Azerbaijan interviewed Nathalie Goulet, vice chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French Senate for Trend News. Goulet said that Iran and Saudi Arabia must learn to bear with each other and use dialogue to resolve their differences. “The most challenging issue is to restore trust and get rid of irrational fears or feeling of superiority between Iran and Saudi. The world security needs both KSA and Iran,” she said. Goulet cited Islamic State as a common enemy for all countries involved in counter-terrorism. Commenting on Prince Turki’s involvement with the MEK, Goulet said “we always encourage the countries in the region to establish closer relationship for more enduring regional peace. The recent gathering of exiled Iranian terrorist group in France known as MKO and presence of some Saudi figures hopefully shall not be interpreted as position of current administration of KSA”…
“Anyone involved in the regional policy knows that MKO has no foot print inside Iran and have in fact acted as mercenaries against Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War. Even if you dislike the Iranian regime, supporting the MKO will not help to get a new regime. No one in Iran will support MKO as it betrayed this country by supporting Iraq during a terrible war,” Goulet said. She added that supporting MKO will just bring more solidarity among Iranian people and will create more misunderstanding between the two nations. “It is a big waste of time and money,” she added.
29 July 2016
Many of the elite, intellectuals, academics, and political figures of Kuwait strongly criticized Saudi Arabia for supporting anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization’s (MKO).
Reacting to Saudi Arabia’s former spy chief Turki al-Faisal’s participation in the MKO gathering and his support for the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians, many of Kuwait’s political elite strongly denounced 
Saudis’ measure and their failed policies.
When Saudi Arabia supports Iranian armed formations, how you can object Iran’s support for armed groups opposing the Riyadh regime, wrote Abdul-Hamid Dashti, a Kuwaiti Member of Parliament who is also a member of the UN Human Rights Council on his twitter page on Monday.
Dashti went on to say that I wonder how Saudis, who do not have democratic elections and freedom, want it for other nations.
Yasser Al-Saleh, a Kuwaiti university professor also said on that Turki al-Faisal’s attendance in the gathering of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Paris is highly detested by the Iranian people.
In his twitter page, Nasser Al Abdouli, head of the Institute for Persian Gulf Studies and Development also wrote S. Arabia that funds Iranian opposition conference, should firstly try to resolve their problems and not to waste their money.
In response to Saudi Arabia’s recent unwise action, Dr. Esam Al-Kazemi also said that Saudis support Maryam Rajavi as ringleader of MKO, while Saudi’s women are not even allowed to get driving licenses and drive in this country!
On Saturday, Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former spy chief, attended a meeting of the MKO terrorists in Paris, reaffirming Riyadh’s commitment to supporting the anti-Iran group and vowing support for efforts to remove the Islamic Republic.
The MKO is the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians because of its dark history of assassinations and bombings and for siding with the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.
The Iran Project
Saudi Arabia’s former spy chief has attended an annual meeting of a terrorist group highly detested in Iran, raising the stakes in the kingdom’s confrontational ways with the Islamic Republic.
Prince Turki al-Faisal’s 30-minute address to the gathering of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Paris on Saturday showed that a tie-up between the outfit and Takfiri groups might be in the making with the help of the Saudis.
Iranian officials and political observers said Sunday the development pointed to likely Riyadh plans to resuscitate the moribund group and link it with the Takfiris in order to coordinate attacks on Iran.
The MKO is the most hated terrorist group by the Iranians because of its history of assassinations and bombings and for siding with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war on Iran in the 1980s.
Faisal’s overt pronouncement of support for the terrorist group marks a turning point in Saudi Arabia’s hostility with Iran and the kingdom’s lack of concern about the sensitivities of the Iranians.
Under the new Saudi rulers, Riyadh has adopted an aggressive policy toward Iran and its allies which are helping Iraq and Syria fight a menacing Takfiri militancy.
Takfirism, which is the trademark of many terrorist groups operating in the region, is largely influenced by Wahhabism, the radical ideology dominating Saudi Arabia and freely preached by Saudi clerics.
‘Political idiocy’
The Paris fiasco is the latest in a litany of recent diplomatic missteps by Saudi Arabia, including its scandalous pressure on the UN to remove Riyadh from a list of children’s rights violators.
Reacting to Prince Turki’s participation at the MKO gathering, an Iranian Foreign Ministry official said the kingdom is using terrorists as "a tool to advance its objectives against Muslim countries."
"It was not unlikely from the godfather of Taliban and al-Qaeda as well as the partner of the Zionists to display its desperation with a new instance of obscenity and political idiocy through participation at the gathering of bankrupt mercenary terrorists," the official said.
"The desperation of the Saudis and their resort to registered terrorists in this showdown indicates that for them, as they have shown in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, terrorism and terrorists are a tool to advance their objectives against Muslim countries in the region," he added.
Saudi autocracy and promise of freedom
In his speech, Faisal pledged to stand by the MKO in what he described as the terrorist outfit’s efforts against the Iranian establishment.
Faisal, who currently chairs the Board of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, also made outrageous remarks against Iran’s revolutionary leaders.
He described MKO terrorists as a hope for “freeing Iran of oppression.”
The terrorist group, which has built a cult-like following, is known for brutal elimination of its own members over dissent. It also keeps tight tabs on social media where Internet and cellphones are nonexistent among its inner circles.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has a dismal record for human rights abuses where dissent is not tolerated. Shia Muslims are a regular target of crackdown and discrimination and women’s rights in the kingdom are among the most restricted in the world.
The current crisis in diplomatic ties came after Iran condemned Saudi execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a respected Shia cleric and an outspoken government critic, along with 47 people on a single day in January.
Several international rights groups, including Amnesty International, lashed out at Saudi Arabia for its "surging" and "arbitrary" use of the death penalty and routinely putting people to death for their views.
Praise of defunct terrorist leaders
In his speech, the Saudi prince referred to the notorious terror group’s current head Maryam Rajavi, who was in the audience, as “Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and your late husband Massoud Rajavi.”
The former MKO leader has made no public appearance since 2003, raising speculations that he might be dead even though the terrorist outfit does not confirm that.
The MKO 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 attacks since the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror.
Washington and the European Union have removed the MKO from their list of terrorist organizations and the group currently enjoys freedom of movement and activity in the US and Europe, including regular meetings with American and European politicians.
What we know about Prince Turki and Saudi Arabia
Under Faisal, Saudi intelligence created al-Qaeda in Afghanistan jointly with US and Pakistani spy agencies. He has acknowledged meeting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
In 2002, Prince Turki was named in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit by the families of September 11 victims. A court affidavit filed in 2015 claimed that convicted al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui served as a courier between bin Laden and Faisal.
Saudi Arabia is widely believed to have been providing funds and weapons to militants fighting to topple the Syrian and Iraqi governments.
Under the pretext of fighting Iranian influence, the kingdom has also been waging a destructive war on Yemen which has claimed thousands of innocent lives so far.
Terrorist attacks and threats come so thick and fast these days that even security forces admit they can no longer cope with the situation all the time.
Any Time, Any Place: Paris, Riyadh Behind Any Possible Terror Attack in IranTEHRAN (FNA)- Terrorist attacks and threats come so thick and fast these days that even security forces admit they can no longer cope with the situation all the time.
Consider this:
-Blast injures 12, kills suspected bomber in Germany’s Ansbach
-Huge fire breaks out near NATO base in Turkey
-Refugee wielding machete kills 1, injures 2 in Reutlingen, Germany
-Munich gunman planned attack for year, left manifesto
-ISIL claims Afghanistan explosion that killed 80
-12 killed in Baghdad suicide blast
All these grim news headlines appeared in just one day or two, meaning, we must now accept terrorism as an any-time, any-place occurrence. We must also accept that although Iranian security forces have dismantled tens of terrorist cells only in the last two months, it could happen here in Iran too. After all, terrorists don’t act alone and terror loves company.
It’s also a nightmare scenario for those in charge of national security affairs in Iran. They might not know which city or town might come under attack, but they damn well know where it will come from and who is behind it: France and Saudi Arabia. And they have perfect evidence to substantiate.
Here, Deputy Chief of Staff of Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri has blasted Paris and Riyadh for their support for the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, PMOI and NCR), saying they will account for any possible terror attack in Iran.
In his words, “(France’s) hosting of Monafeqin (the hypocrites as the MKO members are called in Iran) grouplet as one of the most dangerous and criminal terrorist groups in the world and the presence of Western and Arab figures at their meeting shows these countries’ support for terrorism.”
He referred to the participation of former Saudi General Intelligence Directorate Chief Turki al-Faisal in MKO’s annual gathering in Paris earlier this month and said his call for terror attacks against Iran is a serious matter that cannot be overlooked; the finger of accusation will be pointed at Riyadh and Paris in case Iran comes under direct terror attack.
The Iranian commander couldn’t be more accurate:
-The MKO has assassinated over 17,000 Iranians in the past four decades. The death cult also killed many Americans and Europeans prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. They killed before, they can kill again. It’s not a matter of if but when.
-The Paris meeting with some Western officials and former Saudi intelligence chief in attendance means there is a clear link between Saudi Wahhabism, the MKO and Paris. It marks a stain on the French government’s record and constitutes a blatant act of intervention in Iran’s internal affairs. Simply put, it shows the French and the Saudis support the terror group and they have a momentum on their own.
-Terrorism shocks, bewilders and frightens everyone. Those who try to categorise it as good and bad are only fooling themselves. These double standards makes it even harder for those trying to fight it. The self-serving policy fuels international and homegrown terrorism, contentious issues (immigration, Islamophobia, racism), confusion and distress, political and diplomatic instability, disintegration, mass migration, economic volatility and deep divisions, rocking an increasingly rattled and divided world community.
-All this comes against the backdrop of an ongoing effort by security forces to foil any possible terror plot in Iran. However, no one can guarantee the safety of every one at any time. So far they have been astonishingly successful in defusing tens of Saudi-sponsored terrorist plots that were aimed at rocking Tehran and other major cities across the country.
Yet, the very fact that tens of the captured terrorists have acnowledged Saudi suppor and Israeli training entitles Iran to file lawsuits at international courts.
The newly accepted FATF rules by Iran entitle the country to file a request to receive all information, including the financial transactions of the terrorist groups from France, Saudi Arabia, the US and others irrespective of their lableing as a terrorist or opposition group in those countries.
The very fact that such threats and concerns exist in Iran and elsewhere in the world is the reason why Iranian security officials and commanders are trying their best to wake up all those complacent counterparts in Paris and Riyadh from their winter sleep – before something terrible happens..
Lest there be any doubt, those who flirt with internationally-recognised terrorist groups are on the wrong path. They need to take a serious look in the mirror, respond to their own particular problems, and take a tough line on terrorism. Any terror attack on Iran coming from their proxies won’t bode well. It won’t go down well. It will change the world and it’s not a good thing. All sorts of outcomes are possible.
