An interview with Batool Soltani on MKO self-immolations – Part 24

Sahar Family Foundation: Ms. Soltani, in our last session, you pointed to instances of the organization’s persuasive approaches in its contact with the victims’ families with particular emphasis on Neda’s family. Did not such dual behavior raise any suspicion when the family saw that on the one hand the organization eulogized Neda as a holy martyr but on the other hand claimed her immolation as an impulsive and willful act? Did the organization or Maryam have any other scenario to justify the dual deal?

Batool Soltani: it is a good point. In General, the organization had adopted a dual position concerning the immolations. You could easily make out two images of the victims; an image was to demonstrate them as holy individuals to fuel its propaganda machine and encourage others to take the same line, and the other, to put the responsibility of immolations on the victim themselves to dodge any charges against the organization. But, as you pointed out, the organization is clever enough not to err and prepares an exact scenario before stepping into action. To make Neda’s family to believe, for example, the organization forged a journal that it claimed belonged to Neda.
 
It contained some personal photos and some recollections from her family and friends and especially notes indicating her enthusiastic devotion and commitment to Maryam. Neda’s parents were simple people who could simply believe as if their daughter’s life was tied to Maryam and finally, they appeared to be convinced to show no reaction even if they could not believe it all at the bottom of their hearts.

At the end, they came to be persuaded that their daughter had committed suicide and they could change nothing for her loss. Then, the organization put two choices before them; to move in parallel with the organization’s scenario in glorification of their daughter’s death or take an opposite side and spoil everything and sully their daughter’s name. Facing such a dilemma, of course they preferred to consent to the organization’s will and follow its scenario. Thus, in spite of the fact that they might have discerned the contradiction in the organization’s manner, they faced the bitter truth that they could in no way change anything. Of course, I am not sure if Neda’s parents or other victims’ families had ever become aware of such contradiction. In any case, the organization had thought of a plan to ward off any criticism or charge. The first priority was to make them reconcile themselves to the organization through a variety of offers, threatening, deception and smearing the reputation. Each can be a different subject to talk about.

SFF: In relation to the approaches you pointed out, what could have been the reaction of the organization if Neda’s family took a different turn against it?

BS: Naturally, the organization would face a rocky road to ride but not impossible. It always had a trick up its sleeve and the best working one would be to classify them as the opponents. Everything would be clear then and the organization did to the family whatever it would do vis-à-vis its opponents. To mention, remember Reza Asadi the father of Zohreh Asdi. The father separated from the organization while his daughter is still a member. Or the case of Somayeh Muhammadi whose father strives to get his daughter out of Camp Ashraf. The least charge against them is that the organization has labeled them the agents of IR regime. The organization does everything to spoil their characters and indicting them for a variety of baseless charges of theft, immorality and the like.

Imagine a defector in its worst become the agent of the regime, it might be possible. But being so scoundrel an individual was impossible especially when he had served the organization for some time and they had disclosed nothing about such a rogue. Anything for the organization is either black or white, nothing in the middle. You have to be either on its side or the opposite against whom it has adopted an antagonist attitude to the end. Even if a defector had once been exalted as a hero, nothing can save him from the wrath of the organization by joining the opposite side.

I mean to say that it could be the same thing with the families if they failed to compromise with the organization. Only if it happened that Neda’s family had taken an antagonistic route against the organization, the first person who stood against the family would be their own son living in Ashraf. And only God knows what charge would be posed against them and they would be accused of what untold scandals; and it was enough to mobilize the sympathizers against them to disturb and annoy them and turn their life into a real hell.
 
The organization had always a coin with two sides at hand; a brilliant, alluring side and a hell of a bad side and I have seen the bad side abroad when it decided to treat the opponents. The simplest approach was to instigate hatred among the sympathizers and the opponents; there was nothing more to do but to sit and watch them finish the job themselves. For sure, the organization had shown the other side of the coin to Neda’s family and what it was capable of doing to change things completely; they could choose to become wretched, dejected people who could not even dare to visit their daughter’s tomb.

It is a tactic for the organization not to open a war front at the first stage and to arrive at a compromise through other approaches and promises. That is because it may inflict much cost on the organization and a longer process to follow if it shows an antagonistic attitude from the very beginning. Of course, there is a red line nobody should ever transgress; the sanctity of leadership, Maryam and organizational principles should never be violated. Now imagine Neda’s family had taken a different path and had fallen with the organization; their very first move to make preparation for their daughter’s burial and mourning would turn as a backlash against themselves and they would face accusations of being provisioned and provided for by Iranian regime and more.

An odd but common approach was to coerce members to endorse in their own handwriting that they had entrusted whatever they had to Massoud and Maryam, as I did myself. We put it in writing to announce we were possessions of the two and had willingly chosen our path of struggle and devotion. We also stated that our emotional communion with family and relatives was not a superficially common and limited but relatively ‘pardakhtgar’ (an organizational jargon meaning sacrificing all love and emotion for a greater cause).

Our real love and devotion all had to be spent for the accomplishment of higher and dearer causes and for Massoud and Maryam; they were the central integrity of all love and devotion and all families had to be grateful of entrusting the life of their children into the hands of the two. I am sure Neda too had signed such papers before committing immolation and had conceded her life and love to Maryam which could be used as a winning card before her family.

To be continued

An interview with Batool Soltani on MKO self-immolations – Part 23

Sahar Family Foundation: Remarkable in the immolation’s observation is the subject of the organization’s establishment of relation with the family of the victims. First, it is of significance to learn from what angle the organization does look at the families.

Second, how it opens relations with them; third, is the family background ever important to select the suicide, and forth, what deterrent role this family backgrounds plays to affect selection of the victims? And last, elucidate the impact of the 17 June self-burnings on families as you have witnessed.

Batool Soltani: Your questions although they all focus on a single issue, they can be discussed from a variety of aspects concerning the organization’s furthering relations with families. Let’s begin with some introductory details and I will further explain if needed. The organization keeps a confidential file for members with whatever ranking and organizational background in which there is certain sub-file containing information about the members’ family; the individual statistics of any family member, social class, job status, political inclinations and where they live, that is to say, inside or outside of Iran.
 
The latter information is highly important for the organization and it cares about the families’ dwelling in foreign countries. All supervisors were sensitive to find out if the members under their command had any member of their family residing in any foreign country.

It was much because the presence of a family member in a foreign country could be challenging and would cost the organization a lot. From a political-security point of view, they could possibly infiltrate the organization under any pretext to get it into trouble. As a result, members whose family or some member of their families lived abroad were suspected to be bonded with an infiltrator. I will explain how they could cause trouble. The organization became hypersensitive to families especially in the case of occurring suspicious deaths, suicide operations, missing of members and imprisonments and the like. When, for instance, a member like Soheil Khata died of a suspicious cause, the organization cared not the least because he had nobody abroad. Nobody knew he died of suicide or was murdered. His death was no cause of trouble because he had nobody abroad to question the organization, but it could be different if he had.

Now compare the organization’s indifference to Khata’s death and its manner and conduct with Neda’s family before and after her suicide operation. That is because Neda’s family lived abroad since long and they could push the organization into real crisis if they wanted and reacted against her death. So the organization mobilized all its power to bring her family under its control and, I believe, the organization had been in close contact with her family even before her self-immolation. It is even of magnitude to work first on her father or mother and I am sure they worked according to a scenario as I know that is how they act.

Here is the evidence to prove my claim. Following the immolations, Mozhgan Parsai stated that the immolations had inflicted heavy responsibility on the organization abroad. She meant Neda’s immolation with regard to her family’s living abroad could get the organization into big trouble and that calculated steps had to be taken when dealing with her family.
 
It was not important in the case of Marzieh Babakhani because she had nobody living abroad. Mozhgan insisted that all had to be mobilized to concentrate on Neda’s family and especially on her brother who was in Camp Ashraf. She issued additional orders to watch him directly and closely and to establish specific contact with him to further and justifiably clarify the issues. They in the organization know the right time for the right action through the proper means.

It is also of great concern in what country the families live, in England, France, Germany or any other European or non-European country. That is because the juridical systems in these countries could influentially affect the results of any lawsuit by the families against the organization. Remarkable in the organization’s ploy was Maryam’s showy behavior with Neda Hassani’s family. From the very beginning, Maryam started with a ceremoniously emotional demeanor and would weep tears in their presence to show her grief over her death. She wept for her and, at the same time, praised her spontaneous act in a show of her ultimate commitment to repudiate responsibility of her death and avert any lawsuit by her family.
The organization had even purchased gifts and presents to give her family on occasions. It moved just according to a preplanned scenario. Noteworthy in this entire affair was that all these factitious manners were filmed and photographed for widespread propaganda shows that were heavily reflected in the media.

SFF: Sorry to interrupt Ms. Soltani. Let’s continue the subject corroborated with your evidences in the next session. What were other issues the organization explicitly stressed on in relation to Neda’s family? Did they merely intend to gratify the family or implicitly made threatening to deter the family from engaging in any lawsuit against the organization?

BS: As I said, the organization mainly tried to persuade them that Nada’s immolation was not an organizationally persuaded action but impulsive. Of course all was implicitly stated otherwise it could imply organizational disobedience and Maryam was reluctant to use such terms directly. She rather meant to persuade the family that Neda’s death was the outcome of her great devotion and commitment to her leader and thus, on the one hand Neda would be the sole responsible for her own death and on the other hand, it would be Maryam who pocketed the merit of her action. Of course, Maryam showed so distraught with grief for Neda’s death that her parents who, impressed by Maryam’s performance, forgot about their own grieves and began to condole her on their own daughter’s death. Although it might be hard to believe and digest, but it really happened and the organization acted much cunningly in its role playing; to send an innocent to her death and then to sit weeping along with her family and then, not only escape trial on charges of her death but to make the family feel indebted to the murderer.

To be continued