Page 416 – Nejat Society

MKO delisting, another UK atrocity against Iranian nation

Iran and the UK have historically had a very turbulent relationship which goes back to centuries, not decades.

The root of the strained relations between the two countries can be traced back even before the Iranian revolution in 1979. Britain has inflicted huge damage on Iranian independence and interests. Replacing one leader with another with more loyalty to the UK ambitions, its oppressive tobacco monopoly in 1890, installing dynasty of Pahlavi, supporting the coup against the democratically elected leader Mosadeq in 1953 and bringing back to power Mohammad Reza Shah. These are some of the examples of the atrocities committed by UK against Iranian people. The most painful of all has been the overthrow of Popular government of Dr. Mosadegh. This was done in retaliation of Dr. Mosadegh’s action of nationalizing the Anglo-Iranian oil company. At that time British had a majority of oil share which was unfair and unjust.

The former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in an Interview with BBC Persian which was aired in November 5, 2013 confessed to British colonial intentions against Iran and its unfair treatment of the nation.

Straw who now serves as a member of parliament, mentioned reinstatement of Muhammad Reza Shah in the throne and supporting its brutal regime, Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, supporting Saddam Hussein and arming him against Iran. He also referred to the 1953 coup of Iranian elected Prime Minister. [1]

Flashing back at the history it is not surprising that Iranians do not trust the UK’s intentions, according to the Straw.

It is not the first time the former British Foreign Secretary admits the prolonged history of UK interventions in Iran’s internal affairs. In a Daily Telegraph article in February 2013, Straw made reference to the active interference of Britain in Iran’s affairs from the 19th century on:

"From an oppressive British tobacco monopoly in 1890, through truly extortionate terms for the extraction of oil by the D’Arcy petroleum company (later BP), to putting Reza Shah on the throne in the 1920s; from jointly occupying the country, with the Soviet Union, from 1941-46, organising (with the CIA) the coup to remove the elected prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, then propping up the increasingly brutal regime of the Shah until its collapse in 1979, our role has not been a pretty one. Think how we’d feel if it had been the other way round"[2]

Britain’s protracted history of meddling in Iranian politics has caused the Iranian people whether reformist, conservative, or with any other political orientation to be suspicious and skeptic towards Britain.

Like any other politician, Straw made this remarks just as historical mistakes by his countries’ politicians. He didn’t make any reference of the current unfair policy against Iranian nation, such as illegal and inhumane sanctions against Iranian people. This is done under the pretext of fabricated and unfounded evidence over Iran’s civilian nuclear program. Another point that Mr. Straw failed to mention was delisting of Mujahedin Khalq from terrorist groups. There are many concrete evidence that this group has been involved in a number of terrorist activities such as assassination of Iranians and Western targets.

Michael Rubin ex-pentagon officials in an article published in Commentary Magazine, called the group dishonest – creepy cult. Having lived in Iran during the 1990s, Rubin said: “The only thing on which Iranians agreed was their dislike of the Mojahedin al-Khalq Organization (MKO),” [3]

Once the group was delisted by the UK, there were ample and indisputable evidence to prove that it was a terrorist organization. UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was very disappointed with the ruling. Home Officer lawyers had argued that although there had been a "temporary cessation of terrorist acts", there was reason to suspect the halt was only "for pragmatic reasons" and attacks might be resumed in the future. [4]

Yet after all heated discussions the UK lifted the ban on Mujahedin Khalq as a proscribed terrorist group due to political considerations and some hidden agenda.

However, 5 years after the delisting, in response to an MP asking about the immigration status of 52 Camp Liberty residents who are seeking resettlement in the UK, British Secretary of State for the Home Department said that the UK has agreed to consider, exceptionally, their re-admission as refugees, subject to a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assessment of each individual to ensure that none have been complicit in acts of terrorism or other activities incompatible with refugee status."[5]

Harper also said that the UNHCR has submitted 17 assessments to the Home Office, adding that “no decision has yet been reached”.[6]

Today that the UK government is seriously concerned about the security and protection of its citizens , it is reluctant to give asylum to the members of a terror cult group with a dark history of violence and terror- even if the group was delisted by the same government .

By: A. Sepinoud

References:

[1]Iranian.com, Former British foreign minister Jack Straw asks for forgiveness from Tehran in BBC Persian studio !, November6,2013

[2] Straw, Jack, Even if Iran gets the Bomb, it won’t be worth going to war, telegraph.co.uk, February25, 2013

[3]Rubin,Michael, Yes, Mujahedin al-Khalq is a dishonest cult, Commentary Magazine, July7, 2013

[4] bbc.co.uk, UK’s ‘terror’ ban appeal denied, May7, 2008

[5] UK Parliament, Britain may admit 17 Liberty residents with no links to terrorism, October 30, 2013

[6]ibid

November 12, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Israel, France and the MKO terrorists

When Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made an official visit to Paris last week, the lack of governmental pomp was telling.

When a foreign delegation – from even the tiniest country – meets with France’s foreign minister, the minister is always waiting smilingly to receive them, as a good host should. This reception always takes place outside and with plenty of shiny soldiers around, so the press can produce images which display French power.

The Iranian delegation, however, was hidden away and made to wait in a room deep inside the Quai d’Orsay building. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius finally arrived, the snub clear to the surprisingly small number of waiting journalists. Fabius clearly does not realize what a premium the Iranian culture places on being a good host.

The French media barely covered the visit, the first such high-level meeting since 2009, despite the fact that it came during the same week as the second round of Iran and P5+1 talks in Geneva.

And those talks, as we all know by now, have been torpedoed at the behest of France. By surprisingly backtracking on previously accepted agreements, France ignored a tremendous amount of international desire for a solution that was on the cusp of completion.

France near the top of anti-Iranian governments

Many might have expected that the US or the UK would pull the rug out from the international community on any subject concerning Iran’s détente with the West, but France.

Yes, France. For years France has been the most anti-Iranian nation in the EU, and perhaps even more so than the US. Despite the hope that this would change with the parting of Sarkozy “l’Americain”, the recent actions in Geneva seems to confirm that the administration of Francois Hollande will maintain a fanatically hard-line approach to Iran worthy of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Despite all their talk about being the birthplace of human rights and the like, years of reporting in France have led me to conclude that France is Machiavellian to a degree worthy of imperial Rome.

France has no intention of aiding Iran, because it has nothing to gain, much to lose and because it is blinded by the overwhelming presence of anti-Iranian radicals.

Payback for Syria

When France refused to join the US-led war in Iraq, many thought that France had turned a corner in its relations with MENA (Middle East/North Africa). After all, France, long ago booted out of Algeria, was no longer stationing its armies in the Muslim world (except Lebanon and Afghanistan) and it seemingly passed up a ripe chance to boost the profits of national oil giant Total. Of course, it is still fomenting coups and forcing elections in many heavily-Muslim African countries south of the Sahara (see Mali, 2013), but at the time many chose to focus on the positive.

However, Iraq was never in the French sphere of influence – it was strictly British – and so France had little to gain by invading. It is the same situation in Iran: France doesn’t view Iran as potential partner because the Sarkozy-led anti-Iranian sanctions have drastically reduced trade between the two countries, and pushed Iran to pivot towards the East.

Recognition for Iran would, in fact, only strengthen France’s competitors: China, India and maybe even the US and Britain, given the fact that Iranians speak overwhelmingly more English than French.

France also sells tens of billions of euros worth of weapons to Persian Gulf nations, and that kind of business has made France a proxy for Saudi Arabia and especially Qatar, which has a real love affair with all things French, and not just the Paris-Saint Germain football club.

Ending the Cold War on Iran would also hurt allies like Israel and the corrupt scions of non-Hezbollah Lebanon. If Iran is not pigeonholed into a pariah, it would openly compete with France’s influence in Lebanon, which is massive and hugely profitable for French corporations.

Syria, a much larger prize than Lebanon, used to be hugely in France’s political, economic and cultural sphere, and Paris wants that to return.

That’s why French planes were hours away from bombing Damascus, until the US changed their mind, due to the overwhelming, near-total international condemnation. This imperialist lust also explains why France was the first nation to recognize the Syrian opposition, and to a degree even Persian Gulf nations have not yet accepted.

With their long-awaited goal of ousting the anti-imperialist Assad regime and re-establishing themselves in Syria now thwarted, France is not in a mood to end Iran’s isolation.

But for those who believe selfish national self-interest is an appropriate guiding principle for foreign policy, France’s motivations for isolating Iran do clearly go beyond French resentment over Syria.

Powerless French Muslims, Zionists & MKO

France is the largest Muslim country in the EU, but what influence does this community have which could play a role in détente with Iran? Almost none at all.

More than 90% of Muslims voted for Hollande in the 2012 presidential election – they overwhelmingly tell me they admire Iran’s success and oppose Israel – but why should Hollande try and please them when they are already in his pocket? And this is not a rich community that has any soft power, either – this is a group which populates the poorest areas of the nation (not counting the Roma of course, who live in a completely different world from everyone else).

Besides, where else would Muslim voters go – the conservative UMP party? The party which wants to deport grandma and keep mosques in the basement? The party which must count plenty of aging Nazi collaborators among their members?

Progress is there, sort of: people of North African descent finally made it into a presidential cabinet – three paltry junior ministers.

But openly imperialist Zionists, on the other hand, occupy nearly all the top positions in Hollande’s cabinet: the interior, finance and, of course, the foreign minister. The prime minister and defense minister are the only two among the government’s top jobs who probably don’t have Israeli citizenship.

Such a lack of diversity is almost laughable, and certainly contributes to the obvious presence of a closed intellectual circle surrounding Hollande. The problem is, of course, not the fact that these top three ministers are Jewish: The problem for Iran is that they are Zionists. (It can’t be said enough that Iran is proud to boast of supporting the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world.)

But with such one-sided thinking dominating the government’s internal debates, it is not surprising that French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reneged on previous agreements to pull the rug out from under everyone in Geneva. His reasoning: "It is necessary to take fully into account Israel’s security concerns and those of the region…."”

And the lack of pro-Iranian counterpoints in French society does not stop there: France is the second home of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), a group of fifth columnists who have absolutely no legitimacy to any Iranian for reasons it takes only seconds to comprehend: they fought with Saddam Hussein against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war.

But a poster of the ringleader of this bizarre cult, Marjane Rajavi, was recently all over Paris to advertise her new book. And they are supported by the French government to the extent that they have been mistakenly removed from the EU’s terrorist list.

No stopping the anti-Iran discourse in France

This is who has influence in France’s corridors of power – groups which care little for the average Iranian’s well-being, or for international justice that contradicts French interests.

When we understand just how strong anti-Iranian sentiment is among the French elite, and how little influence France’s huge Muslim community has, one wonders how long it will take for France to adopt a more neutral policy towards Iran?

What levers are there to push things which are already so far gone in one direction? When Iran has to rely on the US and the UK to rein in France’s radical stance, we should realize that Paris has gone off the deep end.

And when you combine Iran’s economic rise and their opposition to France’s support for dozens of imperialist projects and illegitimate dictators, it’s no wonder that France and Iran are fighting tooth and nail.

But ahhh … la belle France … home of human rights and republicanism and all that. It is a nice country – to look at, certainly. But expecting France to play fair – history both recent and distant indicates that this is a fool’s expectation.

Unfortunately for many around the world, France’s actions in Geneva indicate that Paris is hoping to extend, not end, the West’s Cold War against Iran.

By Ramin Mazaheri

November 11, 2013 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq demands EU move the MKO to their own countries

Badr parliamentary bloc demands EU move the Mojahedin Khalq to their own countries

An MP for the Badr parliamentary bloc, Karim Alivi, says the EU must move the Mojahedin Khalq from Iraq to their home countries in order to support them.

Alivi said in a press statement , received by the Khabaar News agency, that with reference to the European Union’s declaration of support for the MEK terrorist group, he demands that the EU transfer these criminals from Iraq to their home countries instead of advocating support for them in Iraq. For us they do not qualify for asylum because they have killed our people and are criminals.

He said we refuse to keep them in Iraq under any name, refugee or other, because they have killed our children and our people during the era of the tyrant Saddam. Today we say to Europe and to any state which supports them, in order to protect them they must be based on their territory and not at the expense of the suppressed people who have suffered at their hands.

By Khabaar News ,Translated by Iran Interlink

November 10, 2013 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 28

++In reference to an MEK picket in front of the White House during the visit of Prime Minister Al Maliki, several outlets talk about the desperation displayed by having ten or twenty paid people which nobody took any notice of. Not even anti-Iraqi groups wanted to be associated with it. Many analyse that the weaker the MEK become the more they are losing their benefactors who see they are not worth the money paid. There was even a quote from someone linked to the MEK in Washington saying that ‘with the money we spent on this so-called demonstration if we had given food handouts in front of the White House, we would have got a hundred more people to chant for us’.

++ The Kermanshah branch of Nejat Association has interesting article which points out that until the latest event at Camp Ashraf, anything happening under the sun, even an earthquake in South East Asia, the MEK would blame the intelligence services of Iran for. It is interesting, therefore, that in response to the deaths in Ashraf and the allegedly-missing seven people, the MEK has moved away from Iran and are concentrating blame on Al Maliki and Iraq. It is clear from this that Rajavi has received a severe blow in losing his foothold in Iraq, but he doesn’t want to lose face. Blaming Iran would be degrading – so he says now that the whole world conspired against us and that is why we lost. His game is to take the blame off himself by claiming it wasn’t just the MOIS but the whole he was facing.

++ Saeed Jamali has been continuing his memoirs, one per week, and because he has been at the very centre of the organisation, the MEK have been on overdrive in concentrating all their swearing at him in every way possible, from fabricating lies to personal attacks etc. This has not deterred him, but many people have also written in his support, even those who don’t agree with him. Commentators say that the MEK will not get away with muddying the waters, there are clear questions from disaffected top ranking people and they have to come clean and say whether these are true or not.

++ Behzad Alishahi was the guest on a two hour Mardom TV programme this week. He went into the details of how mind control and cult culture works in the Mojahedin and about other aspects of the cult.

++ Javad Firouzmand from Ariya Iran, who is one of the famous disaffected members who has been publicly tried by Rajavi and condemned to death and has suffered in both Rajavi’s and Saddam’s prisons for being vocal against Rajavi, is writing a series of articles. In the second one, published this week, he corroborates the information given by Saeed Jamali. Because they were working together at many times in the MEK he is able to add supporting evidence to Jamali’s exposures.

++ Maryam Rajavi has declared that ‘if we are allowed to sell Camp Ashraf and other assets to the British company which is willing to buy it, for five hundred million dollars, then we will donate one hundred million of it to the UN Fund [to which the US has already given one million]‘. This hasn’t been taken seriously but has attracted a backlash from many critics, in particular Iraqis and others who point out that half the camp was given to the MEK by Saddam to be used as a terrorist camp and this was one of the stated reasons for the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the other half taken by force from nearby villagers. The MEK have no documentation, not even a piece of paper signed by Saddam to show ownership. They point out that as a last effort, since Rajavi knows no other way, he is trying to bribe the UN and Americans, but up to now no one has responded to this silly proposal by these terrorists.

++ Following the anniversary of Marzieh’s death, this week, a few who knew her personally like Iraj Shokri and Esmail Yaghmai have written their memories of that time which exactly match what MEK critics have said until now; which is that in the last years of her life she tried to leave the cult, and when she found the opportunity she used telephones and middle people to contact the outside world to ask for help and to be rescued. Because of this the Rajavis ordered that her telephone be cut off and that she be made to live in isolation in Paris until she died. Yaghmai refers to Marzieh’s complaints that her written memoirs went missing and how she asked for an investigation since she believed that MEK members had stolen them, to which the MEK answered by swearing at her. The MEK is famous for not allowing anyone to keep any personal documents or writings etc.

++ Hamid Reza Salmani from Yaran Association in Paris has published some memories on their website recounting his experience of Ali Mansouri (the MEK member arrested in Israel). He explains how he was recruited by Mansouri in Turkey in the mid 1990s and was from there sent to Iraq.

++ Many have written articles about the British government’s statement that the UK is ‘considering’ the cases of 17 residents of Camp Liberty referred to them as refugees by the UNHCR. Mazda Parsi from Nejat Bloggers has gone into the history of the MEK and European countries and makes the point that, yes the MEK are supported to be used as a terrorist organisation outside Europe, but Europe and America know the MEK as a tool very well – that they are not creatures to be kept at home – and that is why they are so reluctant to take them, and so they delay and play games to keep them out.

++ On the anniversary of the US embassy siege – in which the MEK participated and promoted a far more radical line than was taken by Ayatollah Khomeini – the MEK have significantly remained silent.

++ The Fedayeen newspaper Kar online has an interview with Mehdi Fatapour one of the prominent leaders of the organisation. He talks in the interview about the US embassy takeover, going into detail about how and why it happened. He rejects the claim that the Fedayeen were involved in the act. He says, not only were we not involved in the occupation but even before the revolution we took a stance against the MEK’s violence toward US servicemen in our country. Our way was not to fight with foreigners, we were engaged in fighting at home, not the outside world.

++ The latest news from inside Camp Liberty is that people are refusing to attend lectures and not obeying orders and that the imposed controls are cracking. A lot of people are apparently angry. They notice that 52 were killed and then the remaining 42 then arrived in Camp Liberty and they now want answers. It is not enough to say ‘someone came from the sky and killed them’. They want real answers. This information has been passed to Paris and now Maryam Rajavi is sending messages and videos to try to calm people down. The basic question is ‘if this was a suicide mission, why did only 52 die and the others stayed alive, and if it wasn’t suicide then why was even one killed?’ Maryam has replied that ‘keeping these people there and sacrificing top members like Zohreh Ghaemi and others was pre-planned. The plan has worked and the result is that the blood of these people has meant that we came off the US terrorism list and also we delayed evacuating Camp Ashraf to this date. We have therefore achieved our aim and we would have given the other 42, but thank God this wasn’t necessary’. She also claimed that ‘keeping these people in Ashraf was partly our decoy to hide the whereabouts of Massoud Rajavi and we were successful in this part as well’. She says nothing has been lost and ‘Liberty is now the beacon of the arrow [sic] of evolution and has replaced Ashraf’.

+ Many have written in Farsi about the so-called hunger strike which has now passed its second month. They ridicule it as ‘proof of Maryam’s Ideological Revolution’. They point out that Bobby Sands died well before 60 days, but these people who have undergone Maryam’s Ideological Revolution, are getting fatter by the day while on hunger strike.

++ There was another terrorist attack this week by Jaish Al-adl – which is supported by Saudi Wahhabis and runs a Facebook account and website from London. This time the terrorist group assassinated the Prosecutor of Zabol city in Baluchestan killing him, his driver and a passer by in the attack. Rajavi again, as last week, has been praised and supported this act of violence, which raises the question again ‘how did the US and UK and Europe come to the conclusion they are not terrorists and take them off their terrorism lists?’ Commentators point out that it is precisely because they have not given up terrorism, but because they firmly have hung on to their terrorist credentials.

++ Ariya Iran has an article about the support the MEK has given to the Jaish Al-adl terrorists. The site published a scan of the MEK’s Farsi publication of the same day in which the MEK are praising them for the assassination. But in their English and French sites they have been on overdrive to condemn the kidnap of a French journalist and call it terrorism. This shows how hypocritical they are.

++ Maryam Sanjabi, a former member of the MEK’s Leadership Council who defected recently and exposed their cult corruption etc., has written a note in her Facebook page referring to the recent exposures by the likes of Iraj Mesdaghi, Hadi Afshar, Karim Ghassim and Rowhani and Esmail Yaghmai, saying that although none of this is news, it is certainly confirmation of what has been said by others over the past decade. From one side she wonders why, after being exposed so much, are some in the West are still supporting them; surely any benefit is negated by the damage inflicted by them, which is now being proved. In addition she questions the mentality of the newly defected members and supporters who think they should answer every bit of rubbish that Rajavi throws at them and defend themselves against it. It is unfortunate, she says, that they can’t understand that both their side and the ones who are in the MEK and forced to swear back at them are no more than puppets for Rajavi to serve his survival. If either side knew what Rajavi really thinks about them then the last thing on their mind would be to defend themselves against the rubbish he throws at them.

November 8, 2013

November 9, 2013 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq warns EU not to support Tareq al-Hashemi and MKO terrorists

Iraq warns EU not to support Tareq al-Hashemi and Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organization (Rajavi cult)

The chairman of Iraq’s Foreign Relations Committee in Parliament, Sheikh Hamoudi, warned EU Iraq warns EU not to support Tareq al-Hashemi and MKO terrorists member states to deal with convicted terrorists such as the fugitive Tareq al-Hashemi and the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organization.

Ashraf News in Baghdad reported that Sheikh Hamoudi, chaired a meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, with the ambassadors of EU member states.

The correspondent said that the parliamentary committee officially informed the ambassadors that Iraq will not deal with the Committee for relations with Iraq in the European Union if the president continues to deal with the likes of Tariq al-Hashemi, and the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organization. The two sides also stressed the need for cooperation between the two parliaments of Iraqi and the EU.

A statement by the office of Sheikh Hamoudi said, “The committee today received the ambassadors of the European Union at its headquarters, where they were discussing the overall relations and ways of developing them”.

He added that “the committee informed the ambassadors of EU countries of Iraq’s refusal to deal with the Iraq Delegation in the European Parliament after its recent positions and hosting the convicted Tareq al-Hashemi and the Mojahedin Khalq terrorists.”

Ashraf News, Translated by Iran Interlink

November 9, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

European Citizens and the panic of the MKO terror Cult

Terrorism is an intentional act of violence which causes fear in the target audience or society; it’s a political act, the goal of which is to make a change. The terrorist is not driven by personal desires or ambitions but what if the terrorist group is also characterized as a cult of personality? A terrorist cult of personality is driven by personal desires and ambitions of its leader. The Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO) is known as a cult of personality around the wife-husband guru Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.

Assuming that the MKO is not engaged in acts of violence any more, precautionary steps should be taken when dealing with this cult because of its past violence. In the late October, the British Secretary of State for the Home Department was asked by the UK Parliament member Menzier Campbell about the current immigration status of the 52 Liberty residents who are seeking resettlement in the UK. The answer was that none of the 52 residents of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty who were previously settled in the UK have any current immigration status in the UK. He said," We have agreed to consider, exceptionally, their re-admission as refugees, subject to a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assessment of each individual to ensure that none have been complicit in acts of terrorism or other activities incompatible with refugee status."[1] No decision has yet been made on the status of the 17 MKO members whose assessments have been submitted to the Home Office, according to Mark Harper. Similar to most European countries the UK seems to be unwilling to receive members of this cult.

Chris McGreal of the Guardian concludes in his article on the MKO as a sponsored terror group that the group has not changed at all . ”It has certainly abandoned violence, at least for now,” writes Mc Greal. “But that is in part because it was forcibly disarmed by the US army in Iraq.” The Guardian correspondent describes the MKO as “far from democratic” referring to the US State Department report on the group. "It is autocratically run by a husband and wife, Masud and Maryam Rajavi, who the state department say have “fostered a cult of personality”, Mc Greal states. [2]

In November 2007 the Proscribed Organizations Appeal commission (POAC) ruled that the British government’s decision to keep the MKO in the list of terrorist organizations was” perverse” and must be set aside. The ruling was backed by a number of well-paid parliament members. However, the UK government argued that the MKO had only temporarily ceased terrorism for “pragmatic reasons”. [3]

A Home Office spokesman told the Guardian in February 2008,”We believe there is a risk of the PMOI returning to terrorism in the future that warrants its continuing proscription in this country”.[4] Nonetheless, the United Kingdom was the first country to delist the MKO in 2008. The move was denounced by many peace activists and journalists who warned about the risk of supporting a terror cult with a track record of violence and cult-like practices. In 2011, the US was going on the same path the UK had gone: delisting the MKO. A Large number of former US high profiles were running the MKO’s lobby in the Congress in order to remove it from the FTO list. A guardian piece authored by Matthew Partridge was published under the title "Britain and America should beware supporting the Mujahideen-e- Khalq”. [5]

Partridge notifies the MKO’s unpredictable behavior as an opportunist organization:"Ironically, before its split with Ayatollah Khomeini, its leaders worked closely with Iran’s theocratic government, directly participating in the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran. This raises the obvious risk that if Britain and America covertly, or overtly, supports MEK, it could then cut a deal with Tehran and turn its guns on Europe and America." [6] Although Partridge assertion is not precisely accurate – Iranian nation will never forget the MKO’s atrocities and treasons against its own country fellowmen so no deal will be reached – the warning about the MKO’s substance is truly stated.

Today the UK is now authentically facing the risk of receiving a number of fanatic cult members with dark background in violence. It seems that the UK’s decision to delist the MKO in 2008 was a political act – whether to put pressure on Islamic Republic or to appease the enemy of UK’s enemy. However, the danger that is facing now cannot be ignored. Today, the safety and security of British citizens matter. An example of such a risk took place, in June 2003, after the arrest of Maryam Rajavi by the French Police. Radical behavior of cult followers who set themselves on fire in European capitals to protest their leader’s arrest, illustrated an image of the undemocratic, extremist nature of the MKO.

Moreover, the residents of camp Liberty who are held as hostages by the group officials have no way out except to be checked and received by third countries. The UK Government that is acting so cautiously to admit 17 people should have been more cautious when it first lifted ban on the group. This coin has two sides. A terrorist cult of personality does jeopardize both friends and enemies.

By Mazda Parsi

Sources:

[1]UK Parliament, Britain may admit 17 Liberty residents with no links to terrorism, October 30, 2013

[2]Mc Greal, Chris, Q&A what is the MEK and why did the US call it a terrorist organization? The Guardian, September21, 2012

[3]Dyer, Clare, British Government fights to keep ban on main Iranian Opposition group, the Guardian, February 23, 2008

[4]ibid

[5] Partridge, Matthew, Britain and America should beware supporting the Mujahiddin-e-Khalq, the Guardian, January9, 2011

[6]ibid

November 7, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

America reluctant to let “Made in USA” MEK terrorists in

Sight of the protestors waving flags and toting signs and the sea of MKO flags and pictures and lines of Drummers marching in front of the White House on Friday to protest Obama’s meeting with Iraqi prime Minister Al-Maliki and the image of high profile advocates of the group Who according to Yochi Dreazen ,FP columnist have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the group to tout its cause reminds us of the United Nations Trust Fund which is tasked with covering the costs of resettlement processes of the Mujahdin-e Khalq members who are currently residing in Camp Liberty as a temporary location. [1]

It also reminds us of the United States’ plan to contribute $1 million to the trust fund. In a statement on the State Department’s Web site, Marie Harf, a spokeswoman, said resettling Camp Liberty residents in other countries was “the only lasting means of guaranteeing the safety and well-being of those residing in Camp Hurriya.” [2]

The US administration and State department know better than everybody else that the MKO spends much more money than the 1 million dollars on donations to prominent political figures.

The group paid Washington lobby groups and hired influential politicians and officials, as speakers to press the state department into removing the group from the list of terrorist organizations. Chris Mc Greal states based on the research by the Centre for Responsive Politics, a group tracking the impact of money in US politics.[3]

The steady flow of funds continued even after the delisting. The group reopened its Washington office and hired former Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) to lobby on its behalf.[4]

Flushes with cash, the group day to day puts on events hiring political figures to give speech. The group also hires asylum seekers and refugees from different nations to participate. [5]

So a glance at the group’s propaganda campaigns proves that money is the last thing the MEK needs, as stated by Mr. Arash Pirooz ,MKO former member.

Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in an interview with Foreign Policy said “What keeps them in the news are their deep pockets,” Many outside experts believe the MEK is still drawing from the pools of money it received from the former Iraqi leader.[6]

The US State Department statement reiterates that the resettlement has become an ever more urgent humanitarian imperative in the aftermath of deadly attacks on Camps Ashraf and Liberty. [7]

So why doesn’t the US pick up more practical step.

Addressing the protesters, Mr. Gingrich urged Mr. Obama to instruct the State Department to “cut the red tape” and issue U.S. visas to more than 3,000 Iranian refugees who remain in Iraq.[8]

Why doesn’t the US move the relocation process forward by letting the MKO members in?

A glance at the past would provide the answer. The US doesn’t want to let its handmade terrorists to reside safely on its land.

The US administration provided MEK operatives terror training at secret facilities in Nevada starting in 2005 and received U.S. intelligence that the group used to carry out the assassinations of Iranian scientists, According to investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. Quoting a senior Pentagon consultant Hersh reported:

“The M.E.K. was a total joke,…and now it’s a real network inside Iran… MEK now has a capacity for efficient operations that it never had before.” [9]

NBC News’ Richard Engel and Robert Windrem reported in February 2012, that the MEK colluded with Israel to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists.[10]

Mujahedin Khalq are the United States proxy on waging war in Iran, Iraq, Syria and wherever the US decides while the group is a bargaining chip at US hands in dealing with Iran.

Yet, being absolutely aware of the terror potentiality and the unpredictable nature of the Mujahedin Khalq as a terror cult, the US wants them to exist but somewhere out of its own territory. The United States doesn’t risk its nation’s security by housing members of a terrorist cult.

By: A. Sepinoud

References:

[1] Dreazen, Yochi, Meet the weird well-connected ex-terrorists threatening our relationship with Iraq, Foreign Policy, October 30,2013

[2] U.S. Department of State, Press Statement, U.S. Pledges Support to UN Trust Fund for Resettlement of Camp Hurriya Residents, Marie Harf, Deputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC, October 24, 2013

[3] McGreal, Chris, Iranian exiles, DC lobbyists and the campaign to delist the MEK, the guardian.com, September21, 2012

[4]Pecquet, Julian, Delisted Iranian terror group MEK registers to lobby, the Hill May 24, 2013

[5] Kane, Alex, Former us officials blast diplomacy with rouhani at mek rally outside un Mondoweiss.net, september24, 2013

[6] Dreazen, Yochi, Meet the weird well-connected ex-terrorists threatening our relationship with Iraq, Foreign Policy, October 30,2013

[7] U.S. Department of State, Press Statement, U.S. Pledges Support to UN Trust Fund for Resettlement of Camp Hurriya Residents, Marie Harf, Deputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC, October 24, 2013

[8] Wall Street Journal, Loud Protests as Obama Hosts Iraqi Leader, November1, 2013

[9]Hersh,Seymour, Our Men in Iran, the New Yorker, April6, 2012

[10] Engel, Richard & Windrem, Robert, Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran’s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News, NBC News, Feb 9,2012

November 6, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Rajavi and Netanyahu scuttling Iran deal in the same manner

MKO, Bibi scuttling Iran deal in the same manner

The fact is that the terrorist MKO group is not only fruitful to the US, but it is detrimental to this country. They are just the Zionist regime and the American neocons benefiting enormously from alliance with a group like MKO. An alliance which will lead to their possible further cooperation, just as they did in the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.

The Mujahedin-e Khalq or MKO, the weird terrorist cult with bottomless pools of money which was founded in 1963 as a guerrilla group to oppose the US-backed Shah of Iran, targeted Americans in its early years. Between 1972 and 1975, it waged a bombing campaign against American companies and diplomatic officers as a step to “free Iran of US imperialism”.

When President Nixon visited Iran in 1972, the MEK detonated time bombs at over a dozen sites throughout Tehran, hitting the Iran-American Society, the U.S. information office, and the offices of Pepsi Cola and General Motors. American military and civilian personnel also became targets of MEK terror. In May 1975, MEK guerillas stopped the car of U.S. Air Force Col. Paul Schaeffer and U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Turner, as they drove to work on a military base near Tehran. The officers, both unarmed, were gunned down in cold blood. At least four other Americans were assassinated by the MEK between 1973 and 1976.

Describing US President Richard Nixon as “the supporter of the most reactionary and the most criminal dictatorship in the world, Mohammadreza Shah’s regime,” MKO issued a statement in its publication, Mujahid, and proudly took responsibility for the bombs they set off on May 31, 1972, in opposition to the Nixon’s visit to Iran which ran partly as follows:

1. A firm response to “the regime’s brutal crimes” against the Iranian people;

2. “Annihilation of U.S conspirators and trespassers along with over 6000 military advisors”;

3. “Declaring support for the liberation movements around the world to spread the front of anti-imperialist struggles”

4. “Expressing outrage and revulsion at the criminal Nixon who has blood of oppressed people around the world on his hands.”

The US Department State also confirmed that MKO “staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran”.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, MKO lost the opportunity to attract the public opinion. Hence, It took arms against the Iranians and killed thousands of religious figures, government officials, and innocent civilians.

Although it took the lives of hundreds of Iranian people, MKO lost the armed struggle and a majority of its members as well as the leadership of the group fled to Paris in 1981. The group left Paris for Iraq in 1986 where it enjoyed the full support of former Iraqi dictator. There, they helped Saddam in his war against Iran by providing the Ba’ath army with information on Iranian sites.

With the perception that after 8 years of an unequal war Iranian army is worn out, the MKO gathered all its from around the world in Iraq and conducted a military offensive on the western Iranian borders. In short, the group suffered a blow and lost the battle with the Iranian counteroffensive.

The US invaded Iraq in 2003 and the time was over for the Iraqi dictator. He lost his grip on power. Saddam’s downfall was a turning point for the MKO. It soon changed its anti-imperialist face and became a true friend of the US.

Now, MKO with this long black anti-US history found its way in the US Congress and the European Parliaments. It holds rallies on the streets of Washington, DC and New York warning the US administration of peace negotiations with Iran and spreading a fear of Iran much like what the Zionist regime is doing.

MKO has left no stone unturned in persuading the United States and European countries that they shouldn’t pursue a peace deal with Iran and there are myriad examples in which the leadership of the group states that the negotiations with Iran do not bring about results.

Earlier in March 2010, Maryam Rajavi, speaking to the UPI, urged the west to “step up the pressure on Tehran” and highlighted that the US and Europe should “no longer call for negotiations with” Iran.

In another occasion, the ringleader of the group said Iran “will never abandon it drive to acquire nuclear weapons,” adding “this explains the futility of negotiation with” Iran.

Addressing a number of German parliamentarians, Rajavi said the policy of west and EU towards Iran through negotiations “has proven to be mistaken and counterproductive”.

All these assertions remind me of another person who is steadfastly opposed to any kind of deal with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister, who a few weeks ago called on the US to step up pressure on Iran.

“I think that in this situation as long as we do not see actions instead of words, the international pressure must continue to be applied and even increased,” Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday. “The greater the pressure, the greater the chance that there will be a genuine dismantling of the Iranian military nuclear program.”

November 5, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq 's Function

Mojahedin Khalq offer bribe to the UN

MEK has proposed the UN an offer of $ 100m if the UN permits sale of Camp Liberty.

Mehr News quoted a statement by Brussels-based International Fact-Finding Committee, who acts as a pro-MEK association in Europe. “The MEK (Mujahedin-e-Khalq) has committed itself to allocate $ 100m to the UN Development Program if the UN permits the organization to sell Camp Liberty property and assets,” reads the statement.

The news website Al-Iraq al-Jamii (United Iraq) reported that the Committee chairman Alejo Cuadras said that MEK would sign an agreement to sell the Camp Ashraf with a British company, and if the Iraqi government agreed, it would allocate $ 100m to UN Development Program, with the pretext that the MEK had rebuilt the camp investing $ 20m of its own assets.

Camp Ashraf and property and assets are part of Iraqi pubic resources, which were granted to MEK by Saddam Hussein when they entered Iraq.

November 4, 2013 0 comments

UK Hesitant about Admitting MKO Terrorists as Refugees

UK Immigration Minister Mark Harper said the country has not yet made any decision on giving asylum to the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI and PMOI).

“None of the 52 residents of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty who were previously settled in the UK have any current immigration status here,” Harper said according to a report by the Habilian Association.

“We have agreed to consider, exceptionally, their re-admission as refugees, subject to a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assessment of each individual to ensure that none has been complicit in acts of terrorism or other activities incompatible with refugee status,” he added.

Harper also said that the UNHCR has submitted 17 assessments to the Home Office, adding that “no decision has yet been reached”.

Earlier in July 2013, a British life peer said in an interview with Habilian Association that western European states are not at all wishful of receiving MKO members “because of their recent past history”.

“Albania has agreed to take several hundred in theory, but in practice has only accepted seventy two,” Baroness Emma Nicholson added.

The last group of MKO terrorists at Camp Ashraf, now called Camp New Iraq, was evicted by the Iraqi government on September 11 to join other members of the terrorist group in the former US-held Camp Liberty, now called Camp Hurriya, near Baghdad International Airport where they are awaiting relocation to other countries.

The MKO, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly-established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by the MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who argued for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under the US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with the American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

November 3, 2013 0 comments

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