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Iran condemns US for ‘double standards’ over MEK terror de-listing

Iranian state TV claims Washington is using the group – which the US removed from its terrorism list – to work against Tehran
Iran condemns US for'double standards' over MEK terror de-listing
Iran condemned on Saturday the Obama administration for taking an Iranian militant group formerly allied with Saddam Hussein off the US terrorism list, saying it shows Washington’s "double standards."

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), which began as a guerrilla movement fighting Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, helped overthrow Pahlavi in 1979 then quickly fell out with Iran’s first leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. The MEK fought in the 1980s alongside Saddam’s forces in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war but disarmed after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The state department de-listed the group on Friday, meaning that any assets the MEK has in the United States are unblocked and Americans can do business with the organization.

Iranian state TV criticized the decision, saying that the US considered the MEK "good terrorists" and claims Washington is using the group to work against Tehran. State radio said the move highlights President Barack Obama’s anti-Iranian sentiments.

"There are numerous evidence of the group being involved in terrorist activities. De-listing them shows America’s double standard policy on terrorism," state TV said. The US distinguishes between "good and bad terrorists" and the MEK are now "good terrorists because the US is using them against Iran," the report also said, adding that Washington and Israel use the group to spy on Iran’s nuclear program.

The US and its allies accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denied the claims, saying its nuclear program is peaceful and is intended for electricity generation and scientific research.

The state department said the MEK hasn’t committed terror for more than a decade. The group has also complied with demands that more than 3,000 of its once-armed members abandon their base in Iraq near the Iranian border for a camp outside Baghdad, an essential step to ending their decades-long presence in Iraq.

The group claims it is seeking regime change in Iran through peaceful means with an aim to replace the clerical rule in Tehran with a secular government.

However, a senior state department official suggested that removing MEK from the US terrorist list does not translate into a shared common front against Iran. The official said Washington does not view MEK as an opposition movement that can promote democratic values in Iran. The official on Friday briefed reporters on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Iran says MEK is responsible for the deaths of more than 12,000 Iranians over the past three decades, including senior government officials.

The MEK spent huge sums of money over years lobbying for removal from the US terror list, holding rallies in European capitals and elsewhere that featured luminaries like former homeland security secretary Tom Ridge from the Bush administration. Former House speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was among those recently welcomed by the MEK to Paris.

The group was protected in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, but its members are disliked by the new Iraqi government, dominated by Shia Muslims like those in Iran.

The United States had insisted the MEK’s members leave Camp Ashraf, their home in Iraq, as a condition for removal from the terrorist list. All but several hundred militants are now located in Camp Liberty, a former US base outside Baghdad, looking for placement in third countries.

The MEK was removed from the European Union’s terrorist list in 2009.
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 29 September 2012

October 2, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Delisting MKO: U.S. shooting the last bolt

In an attempt which can be seen as the newest effort to put pressure on Iran and push it toward isolation, the United States removed the name of exiled anti-Iranian group Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO) from its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The move which astounded the world and came as a great surprise to many Iranians is apparently one of the last cards which the U.S. has decided to play in order to isolate Iran, derail its international position and undermine its growing power in the Middle East.

MKO is said to be responsible for the killing of more than 40,000 Iranians following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. They have assassinated several high-ranking Iranian officials including former President Mohammad Ali Rajaei, Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar and judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti. In the recent years, they have also cooperated with Mossad and CIA in assassinating Iran’s nuclear scientists in a bid to thwart Iran’s scientific progress and ruin its peaceful nuclear program.

American investigative journalists Seymour Hersh and Glenn Greenwald have revealed in some of their articles that MKO has received training, funding and military equipment from the United States, Israel and even Saudi Arabia.

Some of the defected members of MKO such as Qorban Ali Husseini Nezhad and Maryam Sanjabi who fled Camp Ashraf since last year revealed the underground ties between MKO and Saddam Hussein, and the U.S. government after the occupation of Iraq in 2003.

MKO is extremely unpopular among the Iranians, even among those who live abroad. The atrocities this group has committed seem to be unforgivable, and although the Iranian government has always demanded that the members of MKO return to the country to be put on a fair trial and even enjoy Islamic clemency, they refused to leave their horrendous cult.

Being headed by the Paris-based Maryam Rajavi, this group has not only killed hundreds of Iranians during the 8 years of war which Saddam Hussein imposed on Iran, but has also spilled the bloods of many Iraqis and even high-ranking U.S. military officials such as Lieutenant Colonel Louis Lee Hawkins, Colonel Paul Shaffer and Lieutenant Colonel Jack Turner.

The terrorist operations carried out by this Western-funded organization have been widely discussed even by the U.S. mainstream media, but it’s not clear that how the American government will justify its controversial and bizarre decision in delisting MKO.

MKO has demonstrated that it does not show mercy even to its own members, and reports have leaked to the media on how the high-ranking MKO officials have mistreated and threatened the low-level members of the organization so as to dissuade them from escaping or giving up their mission.

According to the American journalist Tony Cartalucci, former MKO members have revealed that the organization bans marriage, use of radios, internet and holds many members against their will with the threat of death if ever they are caught attempting to escape. It also uses dangerous psychological methods to brainwash the members and make them committed to "martyrdom" for the sake of the group’s objectives, holding them obedient and compliant to the orders of their major commanders.

In the recent years, MKO spent millions of dollars in order to persuade the neo-conservative members of the Congress to lobby for the delisting of the organization. Some of the prominent figures in the U.S. who have voiced their support to this organization simply because of its opposition to the Iranian government include the New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, retired General Wesley Clark, former Obama National Security Adviser General James Jones and American Jewish lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

The removal of MKO’s name from the list of foreign terrorist organizations allows this organization to follow its anti-Iranian policies under the umbrella of a peaceful civilian group. The senior figures in the group have constantly announced that their ultimate goal is a regime change in Iran, and from now on, they will have the official and unrestricted backing and support of the U.S. government toward this end.

Although nothing about the nature and reality of MKO changes by removing its name from the U.S. Department of State’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, it is now clear that the United States has never been sincere in its claims of being opposed to terrorism.

The U.S. politicians divide the terrorists into two groups: friendly terrorists and bad terrorists. Of course MKO falls under the first category and the recent decision made by the U.S. government is a testimony that it’s not terrorism and violence which the White House is truly concerned about. MKO will be exempted from accountability before the international community because of the felonies it has committed in the past three decades, simply because it strides on a path which the White House likes. This is nothing but a flagrant parade of double standards.

Kourosh Ziabari

October 2, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Who is Whose Terrorist?

Have you ever thought of the term ‘terrorist’ or the meaning of ‘democracy’? Thanks to the Internet, it may be easy to search and try to find the meanings of these words. Just compare their definitions with what is in practice these days. Whoever is against US or Israeli regime is considered to be a ‘terrorist’, ‘supporter of terrorism’, or ‘undemocratic’. Even if they are fighting for basic human rights, their life, honor, dignity, land or even if they were elected by a majority of their people.

Ironically, the most well-known terrorist groups are hand cooked by western intelligence services. Even drug cartels are controlled by their intelligence agencies. If you follow up any kind of black activity in the world from smuggling drugs, weapons, human beings (women, children), and human body parts to money laundering, killings and bombings all around the world, it is impossible not to find Israelis or Americans involved in them. Only those who are not in the circle are arrested and punished.

Watching American mafia movies could take you into a sphere of what is happening in the world. Those bands have developed into terrorist groups all around the world. When it was needed, Al-Qaeda was established to carry out terrorist acts against innocent people in Afghanistan. You never heard about their crimes when Al-Qaeda and Taliban were playing into the hands of Americans. Then an attack on innocent Americans is planned to justify America’s invasion of Afghanistan. Later, we see that drug production in this country goes up more than ten-fold.
Same thing happens around the world. In Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and Syria Al-Qaeda is back in the America’s circle. It receives tax payers’ money and weapons to implement American policies around the world. Likewise, the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist sect is a copycat of Al-Qaeda. When it was formed, the UK, US, Israel, France and Iraq helped it against the shah’s regime which was considered to be their ally.

By Emad Abshenass Chief Editor of Iran Daily

October 2, 2012 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Now Focus Attention Back On Rajavi’s Hostages In Camp Liberty

Among humanitarian organisations and the estranged families of MEK members there is a sense of relief now that the US sideshow of speculation over MEK terrorist listing and who the MEK’s financial backers are has blown over. It means that attention can now properly be returned to the situation of the MEK in Iraq where the urgent problem is how to restore basic human rights to the former MEK fighters trapped in Camp Liberty. Because although UN inspectors and Diplomatic representatives have attested to the more than acceptable living conditions in the temporary transit camp, the residents continue to be denied their basic human rights by the MEK leadership. Since 2003 the Americans have been complicit in allowing the MEK to mistreat the membership. Unfortunately this situation has continued at Camp Liberty to where all but a handful of the former Camp Ashraf residents have been relocated.

Massoud and Maryam Rajavi run a personality cult which dictates to the members that only they should be worshipped and adored. There is no room for other relations, even friendships. In the MEK, members are not even permitted to maintain a relationship with other family members inside the group, such as siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Relations between individuals is severely restricted and constantly monitored for infringements. This state of affairs is maintained through a harsh, unremitting regime of daily confessions with infringements – or sins – punished by an escalating system of public humiliation, beatings and isolation. In Camp Liberty residents are billeted six to a bungalow even though enough space has been allocated to allow for two per housing unit. The cult leaders insist on more than two people sharing as a means to prevent dissenting views from being discussed behind closed doors.

In Iraq the estranged families of MEK members have maintained a vigil outside both Camp Ashraf – and now Camp Liberty – for nearly three years. These families have travelled to Iraq to try and get news of and contact with their loved ones who are being held hostage by the Rajavi cult. Massoud and Maryam Rajavi have imposed cruel conditions on their followers in which nobody is allowed to have contact with their families outside the cult without the permission of the leaders.

The Americans in Iraq have done nothing to help these families reach their loved ones. Instead they have apparently done everything possible to prevent the dissolution of the MEK as a single entity, in spite of being informed of the cult nature of the group.

However, because the US terrorism list has no relevance in Iraq, the Government of Iraq will not change its stance because of this action. Indeed, no government of any colour would be able or willing to keep any MEK in Iraq because of its history of violence against Iraqi citizens.

Since the US government no longer regards the MEK as terrorists the Americans should now make a real effort to remove them from Iraq for their own wellbeing. The State Department claims that the MEK has publicly renounced violence – even though there is no evidence that the MEK leader Massoud Rajavi has made any verbal or documented declaration to this effect. (Who do the State Department thinks actually runs the MEK? Lawyers?) As such the MEK should be expected to fully decommission its military personnel and reconfigure its internal structure to allow it to pursue exclusively peaceful and democratic opposition activities against the governments of Iran and Iraq, and possibly Syria.

The burning question then is what the MEK will do with its redundant former fighters in Camp Liberty in Iraq? As avowed enemies of the Iranian government they must presumably take refuge in the West. To qualify as refugees they must renounce their membership of the MEK as a political entity. Logically this should not present any difficulty as they are no longer needed as fighters. (Because the MEK is now a peaceful organisation with no need for any personnel trained in violence or military/terrorist style activity.)

The first step is to open up Camp Liberty to the outside world, to the families and humanitarian NGOs which are waiting to offer help to the residents. The residents must be given access to external information sources, internet, television, telephones, print media, etc. Conditions must prevail such that each resident is able to enjoy freedom of movement in the camp, freedom of association in the camp, including between the genders, and freedom to contact their families. This would represent a first, yet vital, step toward solving the problem of the MEK in Iraq.

October 2, 2012 0 comments

USA

Background Briefing on an Announcement Regarding the MEK

Special Briefing Background Briefing on an Announcement Regarding the Mujahedin-e Khalq
Senior State Department Officials
Via Teleconference

MODERATOR: Thank you, Gwen. Welcome, and thanks to all of you for calling in on a Friday afternoon. I know it’s been a long week for many of you who’ve been at UNGA.

Let me just begin by reading a short statement on background, one that you already should have in your Blackberries or on your computers, and then we’ll open it up to your questions.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL THREE: The Secretary of State has decided, consistent with the law, to revoke the designation of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, better known by the acronym the MEK and its aliases, as a foreign terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The Secretary of State has also decided to de-list the MEK as a specially designated global terrorist under the Executive Order 13224. These actions are effective today. Property and interest in property in the United States or within the possession or control of U.S. persons will no longer be blocked, and U.S. entities may engage in transactions with the MEK without obtaining a license. These actions will be published in the Federal Register.

With today’s actions, the Department does not overlook or forget the MEK’s past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of U.S. citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on U.S. soil in 1992. The Department also has serious concerns about the MEK as an organization, particularly with regard to allegations of abuse committed against its own members. The Secretary’s decision today took into account the MEK’s public renunciation of violence, the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism by the MEK for more than a decade, and their cooperation in the peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf, their historic paramilitary base.

The United States has consistently maintained a humanitarian interest in seeking the safe, secure, and humane resolution of the situation at Camp Ashraf, as well as in supporting the United Nations-led effort to relocate eligible former Ashraf residents outside of Iraq.

MODERATOR: Again, that statement’s on background from a Senior State Department Official. And I’d now like to move on to the Q&A portion of our call. We do have with us today to answer your questions, two additional Senior State Department Officials, [Senior State Department Official One] and [Senior State Department Official Two] . From now on, they’ll be referred to as Senior State Department Officials Number One and Number Two respectively.

And just a reminder again of the ground rules, this is an on background call. So with that, Gwen, we’ll go ahead and take journalists’ questions.

OPERATOR: Thank you. And if you do have a question, please press * then 1. You’ll hear a tone indicating you have been placed in queue, and you may remove yourself from queue at any time by pressing the # key. If you’re using a speaker phone, please pick up the handset before pressing the numbers. Once again, if you do have a question, please press * then 1 at this time. And one moment please for our first question.

And we have a question from (inaudible), BBC, please go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. Just if I could get a sense of how the State Department came to this conclusion that they have not acted as a terrorist group or violated U.S. laws as far as terrorism is concerned, because the laws are very clear – it’s both about intent and also the act itself. How did you come to the conclusion that they do not have the intent to commit another violent act in the future? We know that NBC has reported back in February that a U.S. Government official had said that MEK was involved in killing the scientist – nuclear scientist – in Iran as a (inaudible) for Israel.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Right, number one here. The judgment – and it is a judgment – was made on the basis of those criteria that are enunciated by the Secretary: the public renunciation of violence, the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism over more than a decade, and cooperation in the peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf, their military base. And I should add that the United States Government has not claimed that the MEK was involved in the assassination of scientists in Iran. And that’s really all we’re going to have to say on that.

MODERATOR: Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Thank you. Our next question comes from Ashish Sen, Washington Times. Please, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you so much for doing this. Just to follow up on that question. The review that was done of the MEK’s intents and actions, did that also include the group’s activities in Iran? I know you talked about there was no sign that it’s been involved in terrorist activities, but does that also include the group’s activities within Iran? And the second question is, do you anticipate any kind of change in provision of – are the countries now to accept members of the MEK now that the U.S. has delisted the group?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, why don’t I take the first question and then I’ll hand it to Senior Official Number Two for the second one.

Our decision is based on an evaluation – a global evaluation – of the group’s activities. There are no exceptions. We believe that terrorism is terrorism no matter what country on earth it may be practiced in or against any party that it may be practiced against. So we do not distinguish between actions in or against Iran or in or against any other country.

And let me then turn it over to my colleague.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Number Two here. I can’t speak with authority as to how foreign governments will react, but it is certainly plausible to assume that this action will assist in our efforts to support the UNHCR in its efforts to find homes for these people outside of Iraq.

Certainly, now with Camp Ashraf effectively closed, only a residual group remaining, and with over 3,000 of its – Camp Ashraf’s former residents peacefully relocated to Camp Hurriya, the major task in our humanitarian efforts with respect to this organization’s members is their peaceful, orderly resettlement outside of Iraq. If this decision assists in those efforts, so much the better. I will be working intensely in the days and weeks to come with European Governments and other governments bilaterally and with the UNHCR to advance this process.

MODERATOR: Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Thank you. Once again, if you do have a question, please press * then 1 at this time. And our next question comes from Spencer Ackerman, Wired Magazine. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks. Can you talk about the timing of this episode for the de-listing? I’m having a hard time understanding why only now it would seem to be appropriate to deal with the MEK. Are you concerned about the appearance that a designated terrorist group can engage in a high-profile lobbying campaign and then get off the State Department’s terrorist designation list?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Spencer, can you repeat the first part of your question? Because I couldn’t really hear it.

QUESTION: Sure. I’m wondering about the timing. Can you explain the timing? Because it seems like there was a high profile lobbying campaign for de-listing, and then they’re delisted. Are you at all worried about that appearance of setting a precedent?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, let’s be clear. The timing of the de-listing has to do with the deadline given by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court had set this deadline of October 1 as a date when there had to be a decision on the MEK’s petition to have its FTO status revoked. That was the condition that led to this timing and this decision was taken on the merits for the reasons that I explained before and not for any other reasons.

MODERATOR: Great. Do we have any additional questions, Gwen?

OPERATOR: And we’ll (inaudible). Once more, if you have a question, please press * then 1. Yes, and at this time, we have a question from Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah, I – just to follow up on one of the questions that was presented earlier. Does the U.S. Government have a position with respect to whether the assassination of scientists in Iran constitutes terrorism?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: If we had information on that and could pursue it, we would, but as I said, we have never said that this group was involved in those assassinations.

QUESTION: No, I understand, but if I could just follow up, I just wanted to find out whether the USG considered that the assassination, regardless of who it is by, of Iranian scientists, would constitute an act of terrorism.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, that would be my understanding, but I think you’d have to have the lawyers take a look at that.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.

OPERATOR: Thank you. And our next question comes from Indira Lakshmanan, Bloomberg News. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Can you hear me?

PARTICIPANT: Yep.

QUESTION: Okay, this is Indira. Thanks for taking the question. I just wanted to understand; in your statement, you say that the Department is not overlooking or forgetting the MEK’s past acts of terrorism. But it doesn’t specifically say, other than saying that you’re taking into account their public renunciation of violence, whether you believe that they have completely given up any current terrorism. So can you clarify that? Do you believe – does the U.S. Government believe that they are no longer involved in any kind of terrorism?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I think that the phrase, “the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism by the MEK for more than a decade” is meant to indicate that we consider that public renunciation to be credible.

QUESTION: Okay. And just following up on Spencer’s earlier question, the high-priced lobbying campaign that they’ve engaged in for several years now, which has been widely written about, did that not play any role in the decision making process or the pressure involved?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I can tell you that these decisions are made on the merits. They’re not made to appease any group of lobbyists, no matter how famous they are. The United States Government is not going to take anyone off the list if it genuinely believes that they pose an imminent threat, that they are going to commit terrorist acts again, or that they are somehow wedded to violence. I think that that is the key desideratum, and that’s how we do this.

QUESTION: Thanks so much, and just last follow-up: What is the actual impact of this now? Does this mean that U.S. citizens can support them through groups that are registered in the United States, support groups, they can financially or in other way give them material support now?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yes, it does.

MODERATOR: Thanks, Ros – or, thanks, Indira. I think we have probably time for just one more question. I think [Senior State Department Official One] has to go, so go ahead, operator.

OPERATOR: Okay. And that comes from Rosiland Jordan, Al Jazeera English TV. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for taking the call. In terms of the relationship now between the U.S. Government and the MEK, can either of you speak to what kind of engagement there might be, what kind of discussions, does the U.S. now look at the MEK as a party to what happens or what doesn’t happen with the Iranian Government from this point on?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I’ll take a first shot at that, and then Number Two can take it on, and he may have things to say regarding the issue of resettlement. But I want to be very clear about this. We do not see the MEK as a viable opposition or democratic opposition movement. We have no evidence and we have no confidence that the MEK is an organization that could promote the democratic values that we would like to see in Iran.

There is nothing in the way they govern themselves that would suggest they’re interested in adopting democratic principles, and there is a long and fairly rich set of documentation on how they treat their own personnel that really does suggest to the contrary. So we continue to have serious concerns about the group with regard to allegations of abuse that’s committed against its own members. They are not part of our picture in terms of the future of Iran.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: This is Number Two. The U.S. Government has had and will continue to have contacts with the MEK with respect to their movement from Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya, which is largely complete. We have had and will continue to have contacts with them with respect to their resettlement abroad. Limited to that, we have had direct contacts usually by telephone and email. Those, as I said, will continue. On these issues, those contacts have been constructive and have – and I believe have contributed to the peaceful relocation of these people out of Camp Ashraf and to Camp Hurriya. Those contacts are irrespective of any of the issues that Number One has raised. We’re obviously mindful of the organization’s history, but because we have an overriding humanitarian interest in a peaceful and orderly and humane relocation effort, we have been in contact with them, and we will continue to be to this end.

MODERATOR: Thanks. Gwen, I think we do have time for just one final question, short question, so thank you.

OPERATOR: One moment please. Okay. And that question comes from Scott Shane, New York Times. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi. I got in a little bit late, and I hope this hasn’t been asked and answered, but previously it was reported by some of the supporters of the MEK that their speaker’s bureaus had been contacted, had received subpoenas in fact as part of a Treasury Department investigation, presumably for material support of a designated terrorist group. Can either of you say anything about what became of that or at least whether there is any such continuing investigation going on now of people who supported the MEK?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I think you’ll have to ask Treasury, if they wish.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: I agree. I have – I can’t say. Not aware of it.

MODERATOR: All right. Thank you very much and thanks to all of you for joining us on a Friday afternoon, especially to our two Senior State Department Officials, but also to the many journalists as well. I hope you all have a good weekend. This concludes our background call.

October 2, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Analyst: MKO terrorists work with Mossad

The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), which has often collaborated with the Israeli spy agency ‎Mossad against the interests of the Islamic Republic, has the blood of thousands of Kamel Wazne, political analyst from Beirut innocent Iranians ‎on their hands, says an analyst.‎

The comment comes after Washington formally removed the MKO from its list of terrorist ‎organizations on September ‎‏28‏‎, one week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US ‎Congress a classified communication about the move.‎

The group had been formally described by the US State Department as a "foreign terrorist ‎organization” for the past ‎‏15‏‎ years.‎

The Bush administration had claimed that one of its reasons for attacking Iraq in ‎‏2003‏‎ was Saddam ‎Hussein’s support for "international terrorism," including Iraq’s "sheltering" of the MKO as a major ‎example. ‎

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a September ‎‏29‏‎ statement that Tehran strongly condemns Washington’s ‎irresponsible move, which is against the international and legal commitments of the US.‎

The Islamic Republic holds the US government responsible for the terrorist acts carried out by the ‎MKO in the past, present and the future, the statement added.‎

Press TV has conducted an interview with Kamel Wazne, political analyst from Beirut to further discuss ‎the development.‎

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.‎

Press TV: I wanted to get your reaction to the removal of the MKO from this terror black list.‎

Wazne: Well, this is the United States, at best, supporting a terrorist organization when it feels it is in ‎the interests of the United States and its agenda.‎

There is no mistake that the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization, their hands are filled with blood from ‎innocent people in Iran.‎

They were involved in bombing the headquarters of the Iranian parliament. They assassinated the ‎previous president of Iran. They actually bombed industrial facilities inside Iran.‎

They actually worked with intelligence, especially with the Israeli Mossad against the interests of ‎Iranians.‎

They have a hand in the latest assassination against Iranian scientists. And they fought with Saddam ‎Hussein against their own people, and they invaded a part of Iran at the end of the, you know, ‎cessation of war between Iran and Iraq.‎

So there is a lot of blood on their hands. Thousands of innocent Iranians were murdered at the hands ‎of this organization.‎

‎ In the end, the United States listed [them] as a terrorist organization because the fact and merit of ‎the evidence indicated they actually killed innocent people. But today, [with] politics, as we see from ‎the Obama administration and from the Secretary of State, it is removed from the terrorist ‎organization. ‎

But make no mistake, this organization, all the evidence, all the circumstances, the verdict rendered in ‎the court system whether in the United States or around the world, they know exactly these entities, ‎the blood on their hands. It is a shame on the United States.‎

Press TV: As you mentioned the MKO has a lot of blood on its hands, so what is the US plan with ‎aligning itself with such a group?‎

Wazne: The United States is actually aligning itself with al-Qaeda because it fights with the Syrians. I ‎think it allies itself with the Mujahedin-e Khalq because they are against the Iranians and the Iranian ‎people.‎

‎ For that reason, America goes with the devil for their own political purpose because they have no ‎integrity and no dignity, and they stand against everything that they proclaim they fight for.‎

When they say they fight terrorism, now they actually are in bed with the same terrorist organization ‎that they said they fought with al-Qaeda or the Mujahedin-e Khalq; it is because they are against the ‎Iranian people.‎

The crime that the Mujahedin-e Khalq is committing against the Iranian people, I think the Americans ‎are doing indirectly through economic sanctions because economic sanctions are a crime — as a ‎terrorist organization.‎

October 1, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MKO terrorists masked as freedom fighters to pressure Iran

The United States arrays “yesterday’s terrorist” anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and ‎honors them as “today’s freedom fighters” to use them against the Islamic Republic, says Franklin Lamb an analyst.‎

‎On September ‎‏28‏‎, the terrorist group was taken off the US State Department’s blacklist a week after ‎US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move.‎

The US claimed that the decision was made because the MKO has not carried out any acts of terror ‎over the past ‎‏10‏‎ years.‎

Meanwhile, a September ‎‏21‏‎ New York Times article reaffirms that the support of prominent US ‎politicians for the MKO organization has undoubtedly played a role in the de-listing of the MKO ‎organization as a terrorist group.‎

The article said the long list of high-ranking US politicians supporting the MKO includes: former CIA ‎Directors, R. James Woolsey and Porter J. Goss; former FBI director Louis J. Freeh; former US President ‎George W. Bush’s homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge; Attorney General, Michael B. Mukasey; ‎and President Barack Obama’s first national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones.‎

Many of MKO’s American supporters, yet not all, are said to have received fees of up to ‎‏15‏‎,‎‏000‏‎ to ‎‏30,000‏‎ dollars to give speeches to the group, in addition to travel expenses to attend MKO rallies in ‎Paris. The former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, Edward G. Rendell, admitted in March that he ‎had received a total of ‎‏150,000‏‎ to ‎‏160,000‏‎ dollars, the US daily article added.‎

Press TV has conducted an interview with Beirut-based international lawyer and director of the ‎Americans Concerned for Middle East Peace movement, Franklin Lamb, to further shed light on the ‎issue.‎

Press TV: Mr. Lamb thanks for being with us. Let’s just first look at the statement that’s being given ‎out by the US State Department on its decision. It says that in view of the group’s public renunciation ‎of violence, the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism for more than a decade and their cooperation ‎in the closure of their paramilitary base in Iraq we’ve decided to delist them.‎

Now legally speaking at least the question is where is the issue of accountability for the crimes and the ‎terrorist activities that the group has carried out before these years that they haven’t carried out ‎terrorist activities according to the US?‎

Lamb: Yes, well let me just say that the rationale that you just iterated from the American government ‎is frankly nonsense. These aren’t the issues.‎

‎ The issue is as we saw a recall in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya and now in Syria, yesterday’s terrorists ‎can be today’s freedom fighters even if they are going to be tomorrow’s terrorists. This is a thinly, ‎thinly disguised effort to ratchet up the pressure on Iran. I think that’s clear.‎

Even acknowledged sources in the US Congress what we can say is that the MEK has been I think well-‎tutored politically on how the American system works. Look who they’ve had endorse them: former ‎FBI director [Louis J.] Freeh, former head of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Howard Dean of the ‎Democratic National Committee and five or six important members, former members of Congress.‎

What do these people have in common? They are out of office. They missed the government perks ‎and they’re paid ‎‏100‏‎ thousand dollars each by the MEK to give speeches. So it’s not much for them to ‎endorse this initiative which is aimed at opening up the American system to the MEK now based in ‎Paris.‎

‎ Count the days before their headquarters is in Washington. Count the days before the Zionist lobby ‎joins them and funds them and the American intelligence agency supports them in order to do what?‎

‎ In order to create a hopeful, viable opposition to the government of the Islamic Republic in time for ‎next year’s election. These will be billed to the public and the world as the new Jeffersonian ‎Democrats of the Middle East. Whatever it takes to dress them up in respectability. So that’s what we ‎see here. Forget history. Forget terrorism. Forget who killed who on American soil that used to stand ‎for something. We have a political agenda. We want them. We need them.‎

We’re going to squeeze Iran in the coming months. I think we’ll bear this out.‎

Press TV: You say the issue of cooperation between the MKO and the US administration. We know for ‎one that following the fall of Saddam, there was cooperation between the US and the members of ‎this group when they were stationed in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. So what you’re concluding is that this is a ‎continuation of that cooperation but now legally acceptable at least for the United States.‎

Lamb: Absolutely, that was ‎‏30‏‎ years ago that we supported the MEK as part of our support of Saddam ‎against Iran. That’s three decades ago. We weren’t all that interested in this group until recently we ‎see an opportunity, another layer of sanction if you will, another way to pressure the regime, hoping ‎that it will implode in some way. I don’t know that we have a big future with the MEK but they’re very ‎useful instrument today.‎

October 1, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

The MEK Lobby: Chumming with Terrorists No More

People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK)
last updated: September 27, 2012

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The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (Mojahedin-e Khalq-e Iran, or MEK) is an Islamic- and Marxist-inspired militant organization that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The group was founded in 1963 as an armed guerrilla group after the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi violently suppressed opposition to his regime.

Over the years, the group developed a track record of violent opposition to the Iranian regime—both against the monarchy and the Islamic government that succeeded it—and countries deemed supportive of it, including the United States. For years, the group was considered a proscribed terrorist organization by the United States. But on the heels of an aggressive and well-funded lobbying campaign supported by a bipartisan cast of high-profile former public officials, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in September 2012 that she was removing the group from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, where the MEK had been listed since 1997.[1]

The group’s origins are eccentric and its history tumultuous. According to the U.S. State Department: “The group participated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that replaced the Shah with a Shiite Islamist regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini. However, the MEK’s ideology—a blend of Marxism, feminism, and Islamism—was at odds with the post-revolutionary government, and its original leadership was soon executed by the New regime. In 1981, the group was driven from its bases on the Iran-Iraq border and resettled in Paris, where it began supporting Iraq in its eight-year war against [Ayatollah] Khomeini’s Iran. In 1986, after France recognized the Iranian regime, the MEK moved its headquarters to Iraq, which facilitated its terrorist activities in Iran. Since 2003, roughly 3,400 MEK members have been encamped at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.”[2]

As of late 2012, most of the residents of Camp Ashraf had been relocated to another facility in Iraq to await resettlement in third countries. The MEK’s cooperation in the relocation—which had previously sparked concerns of a planned mass suicide by group members resistant to the move [3]—was reportedly a key factor in Clinton’s decision to delist the group.[4]

Because of the MEK’s cult-like organization under leader Maryam Rajavi, its support for Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war, and its participation in Saddam Hussein’s crackdowns on Iraqi Shiites and Kurds, the group has been described by the New York Times as “a repressive cult despised by most Iranians and Iraqis.”[5]

U.S. officials have recognized this reputation. “While they present themselves as a legitimate democratic group worthy of support, there is universal belief in the administration that they are a cult," one official told CNN after the decision was made to delist the group. "A de-listing is a sign of support or amnesia on our part as to what they have done and it does not mean we have suddenly changed our mind about their current behavior. We don’t forget who they were and we don’t think they are now who they claim to be, which is alternative to the current regime."[6]

Despite its murky reputation, MEK has presented itself to western backers as a popular and democratic Iranian opposition group that could lead the Islamic Republic to democracy—often even referring to Rajavi, who lives in exile in Paris and has never run for office in Iran, as the country’s “president-elect.”[7] [..]

Other analysts warned that the decision could cause U.S.-Iranian relations to deteriorate even further. “The decision will no doubt make the Iranian leadership even more distrustful of U.S. intentions regarding the future of Iran, particularly given the congressional support for the MEK to spearhead regime change,” wrote Iran expert Farideh Farhi. “Less trust will make compromise less likely, presumably a preferred outcome for the high profile supporters of the MEK in Congress and elsewhere.”[9]

Divisive Impact on U.S. Politics

The MEK has had a divisive impact in the United States. While it has garnered supporters from across the U.S. political landscape, it has also spurred negative reactions from representatives of nearly all political factions. Neoconservatives are a case in point. For example, after news agencies reported in early 2012 that the MEK—with support from Israel—had allegedly been involved in the assassination of Iranian scientists, a number of neoconservative mouthpieces hailed the group. The Ruport Murdoch-owned New York Post ran an editorial stating: “Were the MEK to play the critical role in derailing an Iranian bomb, it would be far more deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize than a certain president of the United States we could mention.”[10]

Similarly minded ideologues like Raymond Tanter, a member of the Committee on the President Danger, have called the MEK “the best source for intelligence on Iran’s potential violations of the nonproliferation regime,” arguing that delisting the group “would allow regime change to be on the table in Tehran.”[11] At a rally for the group in Paris, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani proclaimed, "Appeasement of dictators leads to war, destruction and the loss of human lives. For your organization to be described as a terrorist organization is just really a disgrace."[12]

On the other hand, many neoconservatives view the group with antipathy, largely because they think that an alliance with it is short-sighted with respect to the goal of achieving regime change in Iran. An example is Michael Rubin, who has been sharply critical of MEK supporters. Responding to the news about the MEK’s alleged role in assassinating Iranian scientists, Rubin wrote: “By utilizing the MEK—a group which Iranians view in the same way Americans see John Walker Lindh, the American convicted of aiding the Taliban—the Israelis risk winning some short-term gain at the tremendous expense of rallying Iranians around the regime’s flag. A far better strategy would be to facilitate regime change. Not only would the MEK be incapable of that mission, but involving them even cursorily would set the goal back years.”[13]

Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, Rajavi cult) continued terror campaign

Lobbying Campaign

Organizations sympathetic to MEK garnered an impressive array of establishment supporters inside Washington to speak in favor of delisting the group. The effort, according to the New York Times, “won the support of two former C.I.A. directors, R. James Woolsey and Porter J. Goss; a former F.B.I. director, Louis J. Freeh; a former attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey; President George W. Bush’s first homeland security chief, Tom Ridge; President Obama’s first national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones; big-name Republicans like the former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Democrats like the former Vermont governor Howard Dean; and even the former top counterterrorism official of the State Department, Dell L. Dailey.”[14] Mitchell Reiss, a top foreign policy advisor to Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan presidential campaign, also spoke on behalf of the group.[15]

One potential explanation for this diverse list of supporters are the large speaking fees the MEK network has offered to big-name public figures. “Your speech agent calls, and says you get $20,000 to speak for 20 minutes,” said a State Department official quoted by the Christian Science Monitor. “They will send a private jet, you get $25,000 more when you are done, and they will send a team to brief you on what to say.”[16] Pro-MEK individuals and organizations also reportedly donated thousands of dollars to the campaigns of several sitting members of Congress, including Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Bob Filner, Ted Poe, Mike Rogers, and Dana Rohrabacher.[17]

Underlying MEK’s more mainstream backing has been a bedrock of support from foreign policy hawks. In addition to Woolsey and other former Bush administration officials, the group has enjoyed the avid backing of Iran hawks like former ambassador John Bolton and groups like the Iran Policy Committee (IPC), a right-wing U.S.-based outfit whose putative goal is “empowering Iranians for regime change.”

In a 2005 Iran policy paper, IPC placed the delisting of MEK at the forefront of its proposals for U.S. policy toward Iran. The "continued designation since 1997 of the main Iranian opposition group, Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK), as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department assures Tehran that regime change is off the table,” wrote the report’s authors. “Removing the MEK’s terrorist designation would be a tangible signal to Tehran and to the Iranian people that a new option is implicitly on the table—regime change.”[18]

MEK’s critics have likened the organization’s advocacy campaign to that of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an Iraqi exile group led by Ahmed Chalabi that worked to drum up U.S. support for an invasion of Iraq in the 1990s and early 2000s. By presenting itself to Western supporters as an Iraqi government-in-waiting, INC enabled Iraq hawks in the United States to claim that there was Iraqi support for the U.S. action. For Iran hawks, write Ali Fatemi and Karim Pakravan of the National Iranian American Council, “Maryam Rajavi, the MEK leader and self-proclaimed president of Iran, is their new Chalabi.”[19]

IPC in particular has embodied the link between pro-MEK groups and pro-INC groups. A 2010 investigation by the U.S. foreign policy blog LobeLog found that “through 2006, IPC shared an address, accountants, and some staff with multiple organizations that either fronted for or had direct ties to the INC, even sharing staff members with those groups. Some of those ties have continued through today.”[20]

History

Founded in 1963, MEK was one of the many Iranian factions that supported the overthrow of the shah in 1979.[21] However, according to a report by the Christian Science Monitor, it was the only one that used violence against Americans in the run-up to the revolution, launching a string of assassinations and attacks against American military and diplomatic officers in Iran in the 1970s.

The group was expelled from Iran in 1981 when it fell out of favor with Ayatollah Khomeini in a post-revolutionary power struggle.[22] Since then, it has launched thousands of attacks against Iranians it has deemed “agents of the regime,” peaking at a rate of three assassinations per day in the 1980s, and staged high-profile raids on Iranian diplomatic offices all over the world—including an orchestrated set of attacks on 12 diplomatic facilities in 10 countries on a single day in 1992.[23]

In the mid-1980s, MEK settled in Iraq as a guest of Saddam Hussein, who offered the group use of Camp Ashraf, an encampment and army base north of Baghdad. There, not only did MEK fight on the Iraqi side of the Iran-Iraq war, but it also helped Saddam crush the CIA-instigated Iraqi Kurdish and Shiite uprisings that came on the tail of the 1991 Gulf War, leading to the precipitous erosion of its support in Iran and Iraq alike.[24]

MEK’s fighters at Ashraf were disarmed by the United States following the fall of Saddam’s government in 2003. In the following years, the camp was subject to occasionally violent raids by the new Iraqi government, which sparked concerns about further violence or a humanitarian crisis when it ordered the camp closed by the end of 2011. Although the Ashraf issue is separate from the issue of MEK’s status as a terrorist organization, MEK’s backers in the West used the conditions at the camp to garner sympathy for the group’s broader agenda in Washington and to argue that its continued listing as a terrorist group is the cause of its mistreatment.[25]

MEK’s lobbying efforts were foreshadowed in a 1994 report by the U.S. State Department, which concluded that the group was unlikely to be serious about its democratic overtures. According to the Christian Science Monitor: “Noting the MEK’s ‘dedication to armed struggle’; the ‘fact that they deny or distort sections of their history, such as the use of violence’; the ‘dictatorial methods’ of their leadership; and the ‘cult-like behavior of its members,’ the State Dept. concluded that the MEK’s ‘29-year record of behavior does not substantiate its capability or intention to be democratic.’ “That report describes tactics that foreshadow the MEK’s lobbying campaign today, 16 years later. It notes a ‘formidable Mojahidin outreach program,’ which ‘solicits the support of prominent public figures,’ and the ‘common practice … to collect statements issued by prominent individuals.’”[26]

The group formally renounced the use of violence in 2001, but an FBI investigation found MEK members to be “actively involved in planning and executing acts of terrorism” as recently as 2004. In February 2012, NBC News reported that the Israeli government had coordinated with MEK to launch a series of assassinations against Iranian nuclear scientists.[27] The group’s delisting may open the door to future cooperation with the United States as well.

People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK)

Founded

1963

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Sources
[1] Elise Labott, “Clinton to remove Iranian exile group from terror list,” CNN.com, September 21, 2012,
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/21/clinton-
to-de-list-iranian-exile-group-from-terror-list/.

[2] U.S. State Department, “Country Reports on Terrorsm 2010: Chapter Six: Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” August 2011,
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2010/index.htm.

[3] Barbara Slavin, “Mass Tragedy Feared as Closure of MEK Camp Looms,” Right Web, December 19, 2011,
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/articles/display/mass_
tragedy_feared_as_closure_of_mek_camp_looms.

[4] Elise Labott, “Clinton to remove Iranian exile group from terror list,” CNN.com, September 21, 2012,
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/21/clinton
-to-de-list-iranian-exile-group-from-terror-list/.

[5] Scott Shane, “For Obscure Iranian Exile Group, Broad Support in U.S.,” New York Times, November 26, 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/politics/lobbying-support
-for-iranian-exile-group-crosses-party-lines.html?pagewanted=all.

[6] Elise Labott, “Clinton to remove Iranian exile group from terror list,” CNN.com, September 21, 2012,
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/21/clinton-
to-de-list-iranian-exile-group-from-terror-list/.

[7] See Matt Duss, “The MEK Are Not Iran’s ‘Democratic Opposition,” Middle East Progress, July 19, 2011,
http://middleeastprogress.org/2011/07/the-mek-a
re-not-irans-democratic-opposition/.

[8] Ali Gharib, “Enemy Of My Enemy: Delisting The MEK,” Daily Beast, September 25, 2012,
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/0
9/25/enemy-of-my-enemy-delisting-the-mek.html.

[9] Quoted in Jasmin Ramsey, “Analysts Respond To Expected US Decision To Delist MEK From FTO List,” LobeLog, September 22, 2012,
http://www.lobelog.com/analysts-respond-to-e
xpected-us-decision-to-delist-mek-from-fto-list/.

[10] New York Post, “Loose Lips,” February 10, 2012,
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/e
ditorials/loose_lips_7xvSwHsWqSoIjyXIWl8nmI.

[11] See Right Web, Raymond Tanter profile,
http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile
/Tanter_Raymond.

[12] Edward Cody, “GOP leaders criticize Obama’s Iran policy in rally for opposition group,” Washington Post, December 23, 2010,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2010/12/22/AR2010122205180.html.

[13] Michael Rubin, “Re: Israel’s Iranian Allies of Convenience,” Commentary Magazine, Contentions blog, February 13, 2012,
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012
/02/13/israel-iran-allies/.

[14] Scott Shane, “For Obscure Iranian Exile Group, Broad Support in U.S.,” New York Times, November 26, 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/politics/lobbyin
g-support-for-iranian-exile-group-crosses-party-line
s.html?pagewanted=all.

[15] Eli Clifton, “Romney Adviser Advocating For Controversial Iranian Terrorist Group,” ThinkProgress, August 23, 2011,
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/08
/23/302480/romney-adviser-mek/.

[16] Scott Peterson, “Iranian group’s big-money push to get off US terrorist list,” Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2011, p. 3,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/20
11/0808/Iranian-group-s-big-money-push-to-get-
off-US-terrorist-list/%28page%29/3

[17] Chris McGreal, “MEK decision: multimillion-dollar campaign led to removal from terror list,” Guardian, September 21, 2012,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/
21/iran-mek-group-removed-us-terrorism-list.

[18] Iran Policy Committee, “U.S. Policy Options for Iran,” February 10, 2005,
http://www.iranpolicy.org/uploadedFiles/U
SPolicyOptions_for_Iran_Feb2005.pdf.

[19] Fatemi and Karim Pakravan, “War With Iran? US Neocons Aim to Repeat Chalabi-Style Swindle Ali,” Truthout, July 15, 2011.

[20] Ali Gharib and Eli Clifton, “Neocon Iran Policy Committee tied to disgraced Iraqi National Congress,” LobeLog, September 10, 2010,
http://www.lobelog.com/neocon-iran-policy-committe
e-tied-to-disgraced-iraqi-national-congress/.

[21] U.S. State Department, “Country Reports on Terrorsm 2010: Chapter Six: Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” August 2011,
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2010/index.htm.

[22] U.S. State Department, “Country Reports on Terrorsm 2010: Chapter Six: Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” August 2011,
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2010/index.htm.

[23] Scott Peterson, “Iranian group’s big-money push to get off US terrorist list,” Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2011, p. 7,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/08
08/Iranian-group-s-big-money-push-to-get-off-US
-terrorist-list/%28page%29/7.

[24] Scott Peterson, “Iranian group’s big-money push to get off US terrorist list,” Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2011, p. 8,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011
/0808/Iranian-group-s-big-money-push-to-get-off
-US-terrorist-list/%28page%29/8

[25] See, for example, Eli Clifton, “Defending MEK, Mukasey, Ridge & Freeh Attack Obama For Hastily Exiting Iraq, While Admitting He’s Trying To Stay,” ThinkProgress, August 15, 2011, http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/08/15
/296188/mukasey-ridge-freeh-obama-iraq-mek/.

[26] Scott Peterson, “Iranian group’s big-money push to get off US terrorist list,” Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2011, p. 8,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011
/0808/Iranian-group-s-big-money-push-to-get-off-
US-terrorist-list/%28page%29/8

[27] Richard Engel and Robert Windrem, “Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran’s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News,” NBCNews.com, February 9, 2012, http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354
553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear
-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-news.

——–
Right Web

October 1, 2012 0 comments

Iran

Iran: U.S. directly responsible for using MKO mercenaries to attack diplomats

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast lambasted the US police and security forces for the Wednesday attack on him and other members of the Iranian delegation to the UN Iran: U.S. directly responsible for using MKO mercenaries to attack diplomats General Assembly meeting, saying that the hosting country must be accountable for the security of foreign diplomats.

"Unfortunately we witnessed a form of US police’s indifference to the actions of the terrorist members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and no matter how many times we gestured to the police that they need to stop the attacks of these individuals, they remained apathetic," Mehman-Parast told reporters on the sidelines of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Mehman-Parast added that the police only intervened when the attack intensified and later released a statement that the incident had taken place.

The Iranian diplomat pointed out that the host country is responsible for the safety of diplomats and permitting such an incident to occur is not befitting the US as a host.

"It is unfortunate to witness such behavior towards our country and to see the West permitting this terrorist cell continue its activities," Mehman-Parast added.

Mehman-Parast and several other Iranian officials were walking to their hotel when they were surrounded and assaulted by MKO terrorists on Wednesday.

New York City police and the US security forces made no arrests as the attackers physically abused members of the Iranian delegation accompanying Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his visit to the United States to address the 67th session of the UN General Assembly.

The incident came days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton notified Congress that she plans to take MKO (also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCR) off a State Department terror list.

The MKO is blacklisted by much of the international community.

Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

The group, 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 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.

October 1, 2012 0 comments

Iran

American overt use of MKO terror group clear sign of U.S. political bankruptcy

The U.S. today is facing political bankruptcy, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Foreign Policy adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, ISNA reported.

The adviser was commenting on the US administration’s intention to exclude the MKO terrorist outfit from the enlisted terrorist groups.

"This is a sign of political failure," Velayati said.

The United States has removed the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MKO or MEK) from its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The State Department said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the decision, effective September 28, in view of the MKO’s public renunciation of violence, the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism by the group for more than a decade, and their cooperation in the closure of their paramilitary base in Iraq.

The move means Washington will no longer block the group’s property and interests in property in the United States and that U.S. entities may engage in transactions with the MKO without obtaining a license.

The adviser also underscored that any change in the Iran-U.S. relations must be announced by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei himself.

"Islamic Republic’s general policy towards the U.S. remains as it was, and it will not change unless it is declared so by the Supreme Leader," Velayati said.

Nearly a week ago, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while in NY, named the reasons how the relations between the U.S. and Iran can improve.

Ahmadinejad said that Iran’s nuclear issue will be solved if the U.S. withdraws from its position against Iran.

"The U.S. has chosen confrontation policy against Iran since Islamic Revolution occurred in 1979," Ahmadinejad said. "However, if American leaders pursued friendly policy towards Iran, then both sides would gain benefits from good relations."
Trend, Azerbaijan, September 29 2012
http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2071067.html

Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 29 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/

October 1, 2012 0 comments

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