Page 48 – Nejat Society

What is known about MEK funding in Albania?

Who is behind the financing of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (MEK) remains a mystery.

The camp of about 3,000 members of this organization in Kamez, Albania, extends over a territory of 38-40 hectares, where about 127 objects are built.

For their deployment in the Ashraf 3 camp, the USA had contributed, which had given 20 million dollars to the UN refugee agency to help the relocation to Albania.

But, after an action by the Albanian Police in this camp on suspicions that its members have committed the criminal offenses of “provocation of war” and “cyber attacks”, the US Department of State emphasized that the US does not finance this organization.

The financiers of this organization are not publicly known, since the MEK does not provide official data. However, its financing has been a point of discussion several times in the world media.

In an article published in 2018, the British newspaper The Guardian wrote that the MEK organization was financed by the former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussien, “for most of its life in asylum”.

The MEK moved to Iraq in 1986, after its activities in Iran were banned in 1981. The Council on Foreign Relations, based in New York, USA, writes that Hussein had been the main financier of the MEK until the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“But in recent years, the group claims to rely on the large number of wealthy Iranian expatriates in the United States and Europe, and other people opposed to the clerical regime in Tehran,” a Council on foreign Relations report said..

But the participation of the former intelligence chief of Saudi Arabia, Prince Turki al-Faisal, in a gathering of this group in Paris on July 6, 2016 had prompted criticism from Iran after he had supported the overthrow of the Government of Iran.
An Iranian official, quoted by the state news agency IRNA, had accused Saudi Arabia of sponsoring terrorism.

The professor of the University of the City of New York, Ervand Abrahamian, told The Guardian in 2018 that Saudi Arabia is behind the financing of the MEK.

“The money ultimately comes from Saudi [Arabia]. There is no one else who can subsidize them with this level of funding,” said Abrahamian, a Middle East historian.

But, The Guardian points out that the MEK has always denied that it is financed by Saudi Arabia. Radio Evropa e Lire has contacted the spokesperson of this organization regarding the financing of the MEK in Albania, but has not received a response until the publication of this article.

For various periods from 1997 to 2013, the MEK was listed as a terrorist organization in several countries, such as the USA, EU, and Great Britain.

In 2009, Great Britain removed the MEK from this list. The USA did the same, under the administration of former President Barack Obama, in 2012. At that time, The Guardian reported that a multi-million dollar campaign was made to remove it from this list.

The MEK describes itself as “the largest and longest-lived Iranian opposition group with a five-decade history of fighting for freedom and democracy in Iran.”

But on June 21, the US State Department said it does not consider the MEK to be a “sustainable democratic opposition movement representing the Iranian people” and stressed that the US does not contribute to the funding of the MEK and does not provide any support or training for the members of this organization./rel

Politiko

July 31, 2023 0 comments

Albania

Albania: The MEK and National Security

Cyber-war and diplomacy The break between Tirana and Tehran and the cumbersome presence of the Mujahedin-e Khalq in Albania
For over ten years, the Balkan country has hosted members of the National Liberation Army of Iran (MEK), thanks to an agreement with the United States. In recent days, the police raided the camp on suspicion of interference in computer systems and terrorism.

On June 20, several dozen forces of the State Police and the special anti-terrorism unit intervened inside the Ashraf 3 camp with an inspection order issued by the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPak), as part of the investigative operation on the alleged involvement of some mujaheddin in activities of interference in IT systems and terrorism.
Members of the Mek (Mojahedin-e Khalq) resisted the forces of order in an attempt to prevent the authorities from inspecting their premises, with the claim that they had not been notified earlier. To disperse the crowd, the police used tear gas and pepper spray.

The police intervention followed the proceeding filed by SPAK on 15 May for six counts of charges against members of the Mek, including the crime of “provocation of war”, “illegal interception of computer data”, “interference in computer systems.

to download the video file click here

Fifteen officers were injured in the clash, several vehicles were damaged and twenty-one mujaheddin were taken to hospital for tests. A seventy-nine-year-old Mek member with a history of heart disease has reportedly died. From the first investigations there are no signs of violence on the deceased and the medico-legal report is awaited.

The interior minister, Bledar Çuçi, immediately declared that his death “was not caused by any action by the police”. Furthermore, he said he was indignant at the Mek’s reaction towards the police and affirmed that the judicial authorities will have to proceed with the investigation into the responsibilities: «It is not only a violation of Albanian legislation for those who live in the country, but also a sort of violation of the hospitality code that we have offered».

Despite the tensions, the operation ended with the seizure of about one hundred and fifty electronic devices, computers and servers, which are suspected to have been used by members of the Mek in their activities against the Iranian government authorities.

Camp Ashraf 3 is located in Manzë, a fraction of the municipality of Durres, made up of one hundred and seven buildings spread over forty hectares of land. It was built almost from scratch and looks like a fortified village, and is monitored by security cameras. It is home to about three thousand inhabitants, all members of the National Liberation Army of Iran, also known as Mojahedin-e Khalq (Mek).

Little is known about the functioning of the camp. The Mek has always refused to speak to journalists and the little information we have has emerged from the sporadic stories of the few former members who managed to detach themselves from the organization, rebuilding a new life in Tirana. In the few stories it is clear that a hierarchical and military regime is in force inside the camp, and the almost total isolation from the outside and from family members.

Of far-left origin, the Mek was founded in 1965 to counter the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Iran. Over the years, he has become the main opposition group to the Ayatollah regime, building a controversial profile. It is still unknown who finances their activities.

In 2012, the center-right government of ex-premier Sali Berisha accepted the Obama administration’s proposal for the relocation to Albania of about two hundred members of the Mek. The media believe that the only condition posed by Albania to the Americans was to remove the group from the list of terrorist organizations, where it had been included by the USA in 1997. And so it happened.

With the arrival of Edi Rama’s socialist government in 2013, the number of mujahideen hosted in the camp increased further, and in the following three years it reached three thousand people. The commitment undertaken by Albania provides for their hospitality for humanitarian reasons, and for their relocation the United States has contributed twenty million dollars, with the direct involvement of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The reactions

In the past, the main political parties have expressed a general consent to the hospitality offered to the Mek, thus safeguarding relations with the United States. Today, however, several security experts believe that in recent years the Albanian authorities have not adequately monitored the work of the Mek on the national territory, also considering the organization’s profile and involvement in paramilitary activities.
In this regard, part of a 2018 document signed by former police chief Ardi Veliu appeared on social media in recent days, from which it emerges that the presence of the Mujahedin Khalq could be a source of instability and a serious threat to national security. At the moment, it has not been possible to verify what measures have actually been taken by the authorities to counter this potential danger.

Based on the declarations of the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Julian Hodaj, released to Euronews Albania a few days ago, that the authorities do not intend to withdraw from the hospitality agreement of the Mek members and reiterated that the entire hosted community will not be prosecuted: «The criminal responsibilities are individual and the individuals who committed the crimes will pay the due consequences, from penalties to deportation, but this has nothing to do with the community”.

The statement from the US State Department also came in support of the Albanian authorities, which recognizes the right of the Albanian authorities to investigate any possible illegal activity within the national territory: «The Albanian police have assured us that the police operation was carried out in accordance with the laws in force”.
The former prosecutor for serious crimes, Eugen Beci, declared on 28 June that in legal terms a real agreement had not been stipulated between the Albanian authorities and the Mek. With the intermediation of the UNHCR and in accordance with international conventions, all members of the Mek have signed a letter of commitment in which they declare that they will not get involved in politics during their stay on Albanian soil.

The escalation of events in recent months has had a negative impact on the general perception of public opinion towards Iran, and consequently also towards the members of the Mek. Data from the National Security Barometer show that in 2019 only 27.9 percent of the citizens interviewed believed Tehran was a potential danger to the country’s security, while in 2022 this perception was shared by three out of four citizens.

Relations with Iran

As a result of the Mujahideen’s move to Albania, relations between Tirana and Tehran deteriorated significantly. In December 2018, the Albanian government requested the removal from the national territory of the Iranian ambassador Gholamhossein Mohammadnia and a second diplomat, as they were suspected of activities that undermined the country’s security.
On the other hand, in a note verbal sent by the Iranian Foreign Ministry to its Albanian colleagues, it was reported that the Iranian authorities had arrested three teams of terrorist origin on its territory, which had been trained in the Mek camp in Albania.

During 2022, Albanian institutions suffered a series of cyber attacks suspected to have been carried out by hackers affiliated with the government of Iran, resulting in the blockage of various government activities – such as the public services platform e-Albania and the border police control system TIMS – and the dissemination of a large amount of sensitive data of citizens. Despite the several million dollars provided by the United States to Albania to strengthen its computer systems, these cyber attacks have exposed the flaws in Albanian security systems, paralyzing the work of the state for several days.

Faced with allegations of his involvement in the 2022 cyber attacks, the Tehran government did not fail to react, denying any responsibility. The Spak investigative file also reports that the 2022 cyber attacks against Albania are identical to those suffered by Iran a few months earlier, for which the members of the Mek are held responsible. From the summer of 2022, Albania has therefore decided to interrupt diplomatic relations with Tehran.

By Gentiola Madhi – Balcani Caucaso – Translated by Nejat Society

July 29, 2023 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq as an Opposition Group

The MEK: Controversies and Allegations Surrounding Iranian Opposition Group

In Iranian politics, few groups have sparked as much controversy and animosity as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and its leader, Maryam Rajavi. With claims of terrorism, human rights abuses, and allegations of collaboration with foreign powers, the MEK and the Rajavis have become a subject of intense scrutiny and contention both within Iran and on the international stage. MEK also began a multiyear, multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign to remove itself from the terrorist list, including possible financial rewards to American political figures like Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Howard Dean, MG Paul E. Vallely, John Bolton, and others.

The MEK: An Overview of Controversial Figures

The MEK, founded in the 1960s as a militant leftist organization, played a significant role in the Iranian Revolution. However, its ideology and tactics evolved, leading to its designation as a terrorist group by several countries, including the United States, until 2012. The MEK’s association with violence and its history of attacking both Iranian and Western targets have contributed to widespread condemnation.

The Rajavi Couple: Leaders and Controversial Figures

After the deceased of Masoud Rajavi, the founder of the MEK, his wife, Maryam Rajavi, they presumed a leadership position within the organization. Their hold over the MEK and its political arm, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has been criticized and controversial. Critics argue that the Rajavis maintain tight control over the group, stifling dissent and suppressing internal power struggles.

Many former high-ranking US officials – who represent the entire political spectrum – have been paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak in support of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) or MEK. Ironically, these heavy-weight politicians never talk about MEK’s violent and anti-American history, but they refer to them as ‘freedom fighters’ with “values just like us,” as democrats-in-waiting ready to serve as a vanguard of regime change in Iran. Why?
But the MEK, led by Maryam Rajavi, has collected some influential American friends. They played an important role in lobbying the Obama administration to take the MEK off its list of terrorist organizations last year. Now, they are focused on the Camp Liberty massacre. It’s not an issue that can be wished away; it is one that enemies of the nuclear negotiations can exploit.

Allegations of Human Rights Abuses and Terrorist Activities

One of the most contentious aspects of the MEK and the Rajavis’ legacy is the alleged involvement in human rights abuses and acts of terrorism. Former members and critics have accused the MEK of employing cult-like tactics, including forced marriages, isolation, and torture. Additionally, claims of the group’s involvement in assassinations and bombings have persisted, further tarnishing its reputation.

Controversial International Connections and Collaborations

The MEK has garnered attention for its alleged collaborations with foreign entities, particularly the United States. While the U.S. officially removed the MEK from its list of designated terrorist organizations, critics argue that America’s association with it raises concerns about double standards in counterterrorism efforts. Claims of U.S. support for the MEK as a potential replacement for the Iranian government after Islamic Republic’s tenure add fuel to the fire, heightening tensions within Iran.

Public Perception in Iran

The MEK is almost universally denounced by Iranians worldwide and is still regarded as a terrorist group. After aiding the Islamic Revolution in 1979, bloody street battles occurred against Iran’s eventual leadership. As a result, the MEK waged war against Iranians. The group took refuge in Ashraf, Iraq, where they aided Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War. Saddam Hussein employed this special brigade in his deadly operations against Kurds and in repressing the Iraqi Shia.

The MEK and the Rajavis’ controversial legacy continues to divide opinions and generate intense debate. Accusations of terrorism, human rights abuses, and collaboration with foreign powers have contributed to their negative image, particularly within Iran. After Ayatollah Khamenei’s departure, the alleged aspirations of installing the MEK added further complexity to an already contentious situation. As the MEK’s influence and international connections persist, the controversy surrounding the group will likely endure, shaping Iran’s domestic politics and relations with the international community.

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) is known for its cultish Foreign Terrorist Organizations represent a critical threat to Iran’s indigenous democratic movement. Unlike Iran’s democratic opposition, which advances through nonviolence the principles of democracy and human rights, the MEK is an undemocratic organization that pursues its agenda through violence.

The Western world must realize that this group has almost zero popularity in Iran and stop wasting their money to propagate a cultish group that will never have a chance to be involved in Iranian politics.

Granite Grok – by Amil Imani

July 26, 2023 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

A darling of US conservatives, Iran’s top opposition group may face an uncertain future

Its annual conferences have attracted the who’s-who of right-wing and hawkish, conservative politicians from the West, including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former United States National Security Adviser John Bolton and ex-Vice President Mike Pence.

But recent setbacks for the most powerful Iranian opposition group have some observers wondering whether its glory days are numbered.

A shadowy dissident group in exile, the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MeK) was once a US-designated terrorist group but today counts prominent anti-Iran Western politicians as key allies. Iran accuses it of terrorism, saying it carried out a series of attacks in the 1980s. The MeK denies those charges.

It is one of the best-organized opposition groups confronting the Islamic Republic, but it has little support among Iranians, largely due to its violent past and for having supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during his almost decade-long war with Iran.

However, analysts say that recent diplomatic activity between Iran and its foes however may not bode well for the group.
In the span of one week, the MeK last month witnessed a rare raid on its sprawling base in Albania, where it is headquartered, as well as a brief ban on a planned annual rally in France, where it has held such events for several years.
The MeK believes these actions were part of a “policy of appeasement” of the regime in Tehran, a top representative from the group told CNN in an email interview.

“It became clear that the security concerns were simply a pretext to placate the clerical regime,” Shahin Gobadi, a Paris-based member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the political arm of the MeK, told CNN, referring to the French ban.

Albanian police said the June raid on the MeK’s Ashraf 3 camp near the capital Tirana was due to suspicions that the group was involved in political activity, according to local media. Political activity is banned under the agreement that allows them to stay in Albania. One person was killed in the raid, and police denied they were responsible for the death.

Iran welcomed the raid, and last week an Iranian official said that some of the seized hard drives arrived in his country, and that Iranian experts were working on data recovery to identify the group’s agents and sabotage cells, according to Iranian state media.

The MeK called on Albania to clarify whether any of the hard drives were indeed sent to Iran.
Gobadi told CNN the raid “was carried out at the behest or under pressure” from Iran.

‘Illegal and subversive activity’

An Albanian foreign ministry coordinator told CNN by email that the country has not provided any seized material to Iran. All the equipment seized is with the authorities and will be used for investigations, the coordinator said.

In the same week, French authorities banned a planned MeK rally in Paris citing “attack threats.” The ban was later reversed by a judicial order, and the rally took place on Saturday coinciding with an annual MeK meeting on the outskirts of Paris that hosted some of the most prominent right-wing figures.

A French diplomatic source told CNN that Paris police had ordered a ban on the demonstration “due to risks of public order disturbances.”

“This decision was quashed by the administrative courts, a decision which it is not for the government to comment on,” the source told CNN in an email, adding that “we have no relations with this organization (MeK), which we cannot endorse.”
Gobadi said the MEK’s activities in Albania and elsewhere have “aligned with the laws of their host countries.”

The Albanian foreign ministry coordinator told CNN that the MeK had broken an agreement not to engage in “illegal and subversive activity,” adding that Albania has paid a high price for hosting it, the worst of which was the July 2022 cyberattack on the country that it blamed on Iran. That attack, the coordinator said, “had dramatic consequences for Albania and its citizens, because 95% of public services in Albania are offered online.”

Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran as a result, but Tehran denied involvement.

The coordinator said it was “deeply insulting” to be accused of appeasement given that Albania “welcomed and provided humanitarian protection to the MeK, when no other country in the world would accept them.”
The setbacks for the MeK also follow a landmark deal between Iran and Saud Arabia in March, which saw diplomatic ties re-instated after almost eight years of tensions.

Iran has for years accused Saudi Arabia of supporting the MeK. Speculation about the kingdom’s alleged support for the group was further fueled by the appearance of Prince Turki al-Faisal, a prominent Saudi royal and former ambassador to the US and the UK, at an MeK summit in Paris. In his speech in 2016, al-Faisal declared: “I, too, want the downfall of the regime.”

But in a sign of changing winds, Al Faisal in March told the France24 news channel that he wasn’t aware of an imminent normalization pact between Tehran and Riyadh and that he was surprised by it.

The prince has insisted that he plays no official government role, but his public endorsement of the MeK has enraged Iran, which called the group the Saudis’ “adopted children.”

The MeK denies receiving any funds from Saudi Arabia or any government, and insists that it “is an independent movement, standing on its own feet both politically and financially,” Gobadi told CNN.

CNN has reached out to the Saudi foreign ministry for comment.

The brief French ban on the MeK rally also came just days after a 90-minute phone call between French President Emanuel Macron and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on June 10.

It is unclear whether the recent diplomatic activity between Iran and its foes is directly responsible for the developments in France or Albania, but analysts say they’re unlikely to be coincidental, especially as Western states hope to restart nuclear talks with Iran.

‘Hardened neo-cons’

The MeK’s support overwhelmingly comes from the countries that have tensions with Iran, said Trita Parsi, vice-president of the Quincy Institute in Washington, DC.

“As a result, as those tensions with Iran go up or down, it directly affects the fate of the MeK,” he told CNN, adding that since Riyadh and Tehran have patched up, the MeK is “a lesser utility to Saudi Arabia.”

Politicians who have attended its conferences also include former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss.

At least one speaker at the event reportedly received tens of thousands of dollars from the dissident group.

Iran’s Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi marries Egyptian Princess Fawzia, March 30, 1939. L-R: Queen Farida and King Farouk of Egypt, Princess Fawzia and Crown Prince Mohammed Reza, and Queen Mother Nazli.
After Saudi Arabia, Iran may be patching up with its oldest Arab foe

Ali Ahmadi, an executive fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, says those who go to support the MeK are “usually a lot of hardened neo-cons” as well as “retired politicians who are happy to take a really big cheque.”

“A lot of right wingers have this kind of infatuation with small right-wing groups that they dream of someday being able to put in charge of a country like Iran,” Ahmadi told CNN.

Gobadi told CNN that speakers or attendees have never received payments from the MeK.

As the US and EU attempt to reach new agreements with Iran, they may be “throwing in the future of the MeK in the mix” to see if a broader comprise can be found, said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC., adding that removing the group from the picture could be a Western concession to Iran.

Analysts say however that the MeK is unlikely to disappear anytime soon, having survived over the past six decades despite shifting geopolitics.

“They are gradually becoming weaker I think,” Vatanka said. While the Saudi-Iran rapprochement will weaken them further, it will not spell their demise, he said.

By Nadeen Ebrahim

July 24, 2023 0 comments

Hassan Heyrani and his Albanian Wife Margarita Balco

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Heyrani and his Albanian wife threatened to death by the MEK army

A month after SPAK and the anti-terrorist police raided the mujahedin camp in Manze, the mujahedin army seems to have attacked again. In the last 24 hours, online attacks against Albanian citizens who are critical of the MEK have resumed from the Mujahideen camp in Manze.

On the YouTube page of the Top Channel television, which has published a conversation that the Albanian citizen Margarita Ballco and her Iranian boyfriend, Hassan Heyrani, made in the show Shqiperia Live on 13/07/2023, where Ballco and Heyrani show the horrors inside the mujahedin camp, in the comments section, the mujahedin have released insults and threats against the Albanian-Iranian couple.

The attacks on Margarita were initiated by the translator of the Mujahideen, Sokol Beqiraj. The pro-mujahedin fanatic calls Maryam Rajavit’s jihad defector Hassan Heyrani “an Iranian renegade”, “disloyal”, “supporter of the mullahs”, “traitor”.

@sokolbeqiraj1857
16 hours ago
This show, where the interviewee… an Iranian renegade who slanders his former brothers and who, after finding love, just abandoned those for whom he had given his allegiance… that is, a traitor and who supports the religious fascist terrorist regime of the mullahs…, what message can this traitor to his nation, the Albanians, give. Albanians know well that the Iranian mujahideen who live in Albania are honest people who have sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy in Iran, occupied by the regime of the mullahs.”

Sokol Beqiraj, who writes on the portal of the former Enverist Cerciz Loloci, albspirit, and the portal of the mujahedin of Manze IranProbe, is a regular translator of the mujahedin army. His aggressive writings calling for the overthrow of the regime in Iran, according to the penal code of the Republic of Albania, can be classified as incitement and calls for terrorist acts.
Sokol Beqiraj’s writings, which are published both in Bujar Tuku’s portal, Gazeta Si, and in Cerciz Loloc’s Albspirit portal, are ordered by Maryam Rajavi, Mehdi Abrishamchi and the mujahedin army. The purpose of Beqiraj’s writings is disinformation and spreading hatred against Islam and the Iranian state. Cerciz Loloc’s portal, where Beqiraj writes, is an ardent supporter of Israel and an unyielding opponent of Islam and Muslims. While Islam is attacked on Cerciz Loloc’s website, Cecoja from Gjirokastra fanatically advertises the Islamophobic Israeli website, Izraeli Sot together with Dine Fratari’s construction businesses.

The attack that Sokol Beqiraj launched against the Albanian citizen Margarita Ballco seems to have been made by order of the Mujahideen army. Immediately after Beqiraj attacked the Albanian-Iranian couple, comments from the mujahedin of Manze started on the Top Channel page. Hailing their victory for the expulsion of Hassan Heyrani from Albania, the Mujahideen hurled insults at Hassan and his wife:

@user-yo1le2yc6b
14 hours ago
This story was prepared for the refugees of the Mujahideen camp, this girl pretends that the Iranians in Maxe’s camp are bad. Perhaps I know them well from after they read Arthur to get married to increase the population, but when they came for protection, the Iranians are good people, peaceful and humane, they have helped me in resting my term and continuing the acquaintance of 5 years. Indeed, they are smart people, but the words expressed by this Albanian girl, Sensei Hasani, fled, left, or rather hid from the camp, not to marry, but to slander the Iranians in the Manx camp.

Reply2 replies
@hirbodazad40
16 hours ago
I heard that this ugly man was expelled from Albania
Why is the hand back in the trash and out?
Top Channel is a place for good people, not devils
An example is a wolf in any skin
Nature is like a wolf
So whatever he says is the nature of a hungry wolf.”
In the wave of comments and insults made against the Albanian Margarita Ballco and her husband, there are also terrorist threats. A commenter named @frankfranky7410 threatens the Albanian citizen and her husband with death:

9 hours ago
The next time you appear on TV with Hasan, you will be covered head to toe in black.

The attacks against the couple Ballco – Heyrani, launched by the Mujahedin army of Manza, are very disturbing. A month after the state police raided the mujahedin camp, where about 100 computers were seized, the SPAK still has not arrested any mujahedin for the crimes they have committed in Albania in recent years. While the mujahedin are not yet facing justice, the death threats made by the mujahedin supporter on the Top Channel television website are frightening for the media and freedom of speech. The attack against Ms. Ballco started by Sokol Beqiraj and the death threats made against them, should be carefully looked at by the anti-terror police and SPAK.

What does the MEK intend to do with the couple Ballco – Heyrani? After the slanderous attacks that Sokol Beqiraj launched, the death threats made by @frankfranky7410, what does Maryam Rajavi intend to do? Will the supporters of the MEK, like @frankfranky7410, kill those Albanian and Iranian citizens who denounce the Mujahideen crimes in the media? How is it explained that after the attack on Sokol Beqiraj, the Mujahideen started attacking the Iranian-Albanian couple? Do we have a coordination of mujahedin attacks against free speech? Why did the MEK become active on social media a month after the raid by the police? Have the computers been returned to the MEK by the prosecutor’s office or has the MEK trafficked new computers to Manze?

The MEK has a long history of violence, terrorism and threats to free speech from Iran, Iraq to Albania. Mujahideen, as Prime Minister Edi Rama has emphasized before, have turned Albania on the basis of their terrorist activity against a foreign country. They have killed Iranian civilians, officials and scientists. They have incited violence and terrorist acts in their country.

The latest threat launched by Sokol Beqiraj and followed by mujahedin accounts, sends a gloomy message for freedom of speech and thought in Albania.

While the police and the Albanian court confiscated the mujahedin’s computers a month ago, the reappearance and re-activation of the mujahedin on social networks shows that the MEK has received new computers, has resumed political activity, which Prime Minister Edi Rama denounced a few weeks ago.

These facts, threats and blackmails, must be investigated by the anti-terrorist police and the SPAK and mujahedin activity must be stopped again.

The show of Margarita and Hassan and the threatening comments can be seen in the link below:

Gazeta Impakt – Translated by Nejat Society

July 23, 2023 0 comments

Rented Crowd at teh MEK's so called gathering in Paris- July 2023

Mujahedin Khalq as an Opposition Group

Evidence on MEK’s unpopularity

There are numerous facts on the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK)’s unpopularity, not just among ordinary Iranians but rather among Iranian dissidents and opposition figures, and this unpopularity is growing.

For the MEK, this Summer did not begin properly. Their headquarters in Albania called Ashraf 3, was raided by the Albanian State Police. The camp’s residents clashed with forces violently. The Move by the Albanian police came after the French government banned the group’s planned annual gathering in Paris.

The MEK could finally run its multi-million-dollar rally based on a French court order, but it could never play the part of a popular opposition group against the government in Tehran. Several undeniable, clear key points are seen regarding the news, reports and pictures that have been published since the MEK’s gathering, which indicate that the Cult of Rajavi is not considered an opposition group, but it is regarded a fraudulent force that has targeted Western politicians. The followings are some true facts on the MEK’s unpopularity:

Albanian government turned its back against the MEK

The Albanian State Police entered Ashraf 3 under the Albanian judicial order. The Police confiscated more than 200 computers from the MEK’s camp. This shows the government’s determination to end the perilous presence of the MEK in the territory. It seems that the group is seriously under scrutiny by the Albanian authorities. Eventually, The Albanian President, Edi Rama said, “Mujahedin must leave Albania if they want to fight Iran.

to download the video file click here

Forced Hijab

During the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran, forced hijab of female members of the MEK and particularly their so-called president elect, Maryam Rajavi, not only distanced the group from other opposition groups but also it stimulated their hatred towards the group. Signs of a suppressive and totalitarian system are demonstrated in the uniform clothing of the group members.
An evident presentation of hijab control in the MEK was revealed in a video broadcasted after the Albanian Police raided the group’s camp. A Mujahed woman, named Homa is advised by her peer “sister” to cover her hair -of which a little is shown out of the front part of her headscarf. When Homa does not pay attention, she gets a direct order to cover her hair from a superior “sister”. Finally, Homa who is speaking a rather good English to the Albanian reporters is coerced to cover that small part of her hair.

Rented Crowd

Rent a crowd is the repeated scandalous image which is often seen in the MEK’s rallies. The frequent undisputable presence of a rented crowd that was once more displayed in the group’s recent gathering in Paris. The crowd includes Muslim Mideasterns who look for shelter in Europe, African refugee seekers, poor students from Eastern Europe and other fooled people who look tired and bored of waving the flags of a country that they might not have any idea about.

Rented Crowd at the MEK’s so called gathering in Paris- July 2023

Other Iranian oppositions

Opposition figures have several times declared their detachment from the Cult of Rajavi clearly. The group’s violent background, its collaboration with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, its cult-like attitude, undemocratic structure and forced hijab are main reasons for opposition groups to denounce the MEK.

The fact was even considered by the French Police when it banned the MEK’s gathering. According to France 24, there is a fear among European officials that after the 2018 foiled plot, NCRI rallies could themselves be targets of attacks, but in the letter seen by AFP, The French Police chief also warned: “The rally could be the scene of tension between supporters of MEK and other Iranian opposition activists.” The fear of the French Police Chief is quiet reasonable because clashes between the MEK supporters and demonstrators of other Iranian exiled groups frequently take place.

A few days later, Alireza Akhondi the Iranian-Swedish politician, twitted, “It is necessary to convey to world politicians that the People’s Mojahedin Khalq organization does not speak on behalf of the Iranian people.”

Akhondi’s words and numerous other assertions by Iranians inside and outside the country is a proof for the loneliness of Maryam and Massoud Rajavi despite their deep pockets of dollars to expend for buying supporters.

Mazda Parsi

July 22, 2023 0 comments

Albania

Congratulatory letter of the CEO of Nejat Society to the new Albania’s Minister of Interior

His Excellency Mr. Taulant Bala
Honorable Interior Minister of the Republic of Albania
Greetings and Regards,

I am Ebrahim Khodabandeh, the CEO of Nejat Society in Iran. The Nejat Society belongs to the families of the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO), who are currently based in Albania.

On behalf of the expectant families of the members of the MEK, who have been eager to connect with their loved ones for decades, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as the Minister of Interior of the Republic of Albania and wish you continued success in your new position.

As you surely know, the MEK, after it was expelled from Iraq and no country was willing to accept them, based on the agreement made in 2014 between the then Ministry of Interior of Albania, the then State Department of the United States, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the MEK in Geneva, was moved to Albania based on humanitarian considerations. This transfer was completed in 2016.

At first, these people were supposed to go to other countries as refugees after a period of rehabilitation and a short stay in Albania, but this did not happen, and instead of this, they were able to find their promised paradise, an isolated and remote camp in the outskirts of Manëz, which is twice the size of the city. It is used for isolating the members and disconnect them from the outside world, especially with their families.

During the past seven years, this organization had all kinds of support from the government of Albania, and at its headquarters in Albania, using the unlimited Internet of Albania, it targeted the psychological and physical security of the people of Iran, as well as numerous cases of law and regulation violations, including fraud and money laundering and human and goods trafficking, which were reflected in the media, and even suspicious cases of murder inside the camp were reported.

When the Albanian government, based on its sovereignty and national security interests, after receiving numerous complaints even from other European countries, decided to search this camp on June 20 this year for the first time in 7 years, the operating police forces faced violent countering and attack. Since then, this organization has taken a hostile attitude towards the Albanian government and police in its propaganda and has forgotten all the previous humanitarian support they enjoyed for several years at once.

During these years, a large number of members of the MEK, who no longer wanted to be members of a terrorist organization and denied continuing to experience new slavery, separated from this organization. Some left Albania and some still live in the country. A group of these people formed the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) with the help of a number of Albanian citizens, which is supported by the Nejat Society and Families in Iran.
Unfortunately, in contrast to the freedom of action that the MEK, especially for traveling outside of Albania, the members of this association face all kinds of restrictions. Including the fact that so far, the government of Albania has not given visas to their families to enter Albania, in order to satisfy the wishes of the MEK, and on the other hand, they do not have the possibility of obtaining travel documents to visit their families in a third country.

The MEK violates the most basic human rights of its members, including the right to communicate with the family, and this issue has imposed severe suffering and deprivation on their families for decades, and unfortunately, despite the fact that the families have repeatedly written to the Albanian statesmen and requested to establish this communication, but no attention has been paid.

Recently, on June 30 this year, nearly 700 families gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran, which protects the interests of the Albanian government in Iran, and expressed their gratitude for the responsible action of the Albanian government towards the MEK and their demands. They presented themselves to the Turkish Embassy through a ten-point final statement (attached), which requests contact with their loved ones.

Once again, on behalf of the expectant families, I wish you success in your new position and my readiness as someone who has held many responsibilities in this organization for 23 years, especially in the international relations department, to provide any help in any field. I am ready to provide what is needed, especially in order to know more and better about the MEK and the mentality of the leaders and their performance.

Respects
Ebrahim Khodabandeh
CEO of the Nejat Society
July18, 2023

July 18, 2023 0 comments

Alireza Akhondi; member of the Swedish Parliamen

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MEK does not speak on behalf of the Iranian people; member of the Swedish Parl.

The Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) is notoriously known among Iranian opposition. Once an Islamic-Marxist anti-West group in Iran and later an ally of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, it has a long history of violent acts in Iran and Iraq. The European Union listed it as a terrorist organization until 2009. The U.S. and Canada also listed it as a terrorist entity until 2012. However, since its removal from terror list, it has been endeavoring to portrait itself as a democratic alternative to the Iranian government, but it is still unpopular among Iranians inside Iran and the Iranian diaspora.

As an example of the outcome of the MEK’s multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign, the leader of the MEK, Maryam Rajavi, was received in an event at the Italian Parliament, last week. Eventually, the Iranian foreign ministry summoned Italy’s Ambassador to Tehran Giuseppe Perrone to protest the Italian parliament’s hosting of the ringleader of “the anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization”. Iran called on Italy to respect its international obligations in the fight against terrorism.

On the other side was an Iranian opposition figure, Alireza Akhondi, the Swedish politician who had warned the world politicization in particular the ones of Italy to beware that the MEK does not represent the aspirations of the Iranian people. Akhondi was born in Iran and is of Iranian descent.

On July 5th, 2023, a few days before Maryam Rajavi’s meeting with the Italian parliamentarians, Akhondi twitted, “It is necessary to convey to world politicians that the People’s Mojahedin Khalq organization does not speak on behalf of the Iranian people.”

Regarding the recent “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran, He wrote, “The People’s Mojahedin Organization, previously on the terrorist list in Western countries, has made increased efforts to attract support from various European and American politicians, primarily by focusing on its lesser-known political branch, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). However, it is crucial to emphasize that they do not truly reflect the desires of the Iranian people for a future Iran characterized by a secular democratic system and respect for human rights in the Integrated Iran.”

Akhondi asserted that the MEK has attempted “to seize control and hijack the revolution from the brave people of Iran”. This Iranian_Swedish politician made it clear to politicians “that their current support for the People’s Mojahedin Khalq as a representative of the Iranian people is unacceptable.”
He promised to illuminate the Italian politicians about the true nature of the MEK in his trip to Italy. “During my upcoming trip to Italy, where I will meet with political parties, including the Radical Party, I will emphasize this point and raise awareness about the unrealistic claims of the People’s Mojahedin Khalq as representatives of Iranians,” he stated.

July 17, 2023 0 comments

Italy

Families of Terror Victims Denounce Italy MPs for Hosting MEK Terrorists

In response to the action of a number of members of the Italian parliament in hosting the ringleader of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK) terrorist group, The Families of Iranian Victims of Terrorism issued a statement expressing their protest against this inhuman act.

The statement reads as follows:
It was heart-wrenching for us as the Families of Iranian Victims of Terrorism to hear that the ringleader a terrorist group, which is responsible for the assassination and murder of thousands of Iranian citizens including our relatives, was hosted by a number of members of the Italian parliament. This group, whose ringleader was hosted by some Italian parliament members, has a long history in promoting hatred and violence as well as doing criminal and terrorist acts such as suicide terrorism according to numerous international documents.

As mentioned in recent international reports on the MEK, this group has been actively involved in lobbying political figures in different countries to gain their support by offering exorbitant sums of money. The group’s horrible historical background in murdering thousands of Iranian and hundreds of Iraqi citizens are self-evident truths which must forbid anyone to support this notorious group. One can say, therefore, that those who back this hated terrorist group are either unaware of its history or they have received hefty sums.

The statements of Mr. Antonio Tajani, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, in reaction to the invitation of the MEK’ ringleader, where he said, “We are in a democracy and everyone does what they thing is right.”, is an irrational justification! How is it possible that a terrorist group and its leader are invited to a country and senior official of that country call this act democratic! If a terrorist group committed these crimes against one of the EU countries, would this so-called Italian democracy still allow MPs to invite the group’s leader to their country and also authorize Mr. Tajani to make such irrational statements?

We expect the Italian parliament members to hear the voice of Iranian terror victims and prepare the ground for the realization of their rights and prosecuting the murderers of their beloved ones, instead of supporting the terrorists in promotion of hatred and violence. Also, the Italian government should address its security responsibilities regarding terrorist groups and regard the risks and consequences of supporting terrorism.

At the end, we express our gratitude to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for fulfilling its commitment toward the Families of Terror Victims and summoning of the Italian ambassador in Tehran over the hosting of terrorists. We, also, ask the Iranian diplomatic and judicial bodies to strengthen their efforts in extraditing elements of terrorist groups and make the Western governments accountable for supporting these groups.

Habilian Association (The Families of Iranian Victims of Terrorism)

July 17, 2023 0 comments

Sarfaraz Rahimi former member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) was interviewed by the Albanian MCN TV

Former members of the MEK

MEK ex-member: I could not talk to a female member for a minute

Sarfaraz Rahimi former member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) was interviewed by the Albanian MCN TV. He spoke of 17 years of isolation and suppression under the dictatorship of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.

Sarfaraz who is a member of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) attended the show along with Erisa, his Albanian wife. Erisa Rahimi was there as an interpreter.
During the interview, Sarfaraz talked about the restrictions and prohibitions created by the leaders of the Cult of Rajavi such as prohibition of contact with family, prohibition of marriage and even prohibition of contact with the opposite sex. He considered the MEK’s strict ideology and its manipulative mind control system as the basis for violation of human rights and in particular sexual abuse of female members of the group.

to download the video file click here

July 16, 2023 0 comments

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