Iranian Diplomacy’ interviews Hossein Alaei, a senior Iranian analyst in political and strategic affairs about the current status of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Iraq and the possibility of their deportation from the country Q: Iraqi troops arrived at Camp Ashraf on Monday and took control of the base. However, the Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh has said the army presence at the camp is only aimed at removing some of the problems of the MKO members in accordance with human rights principles. What is your comment on this? A: Ever since Iraq came under the US occupation, one of the important issues for the Americans has been the way they should treat the Mujahedin Khalq who had been operating as an arm of Saddam Hussein against Iran and against the Intifada as well as the political currents opposed to the Saddam regime in Iraq. From the very beginning of the occupation, the US let the MKO and its forces stay inside their camps the most important of which was Ashraf Camp near Baghdad. It assigned the MKO to manage the affairs inside the camp and took control of the external issues itself. The aim was for the MKO to operate inside Iraq under the US control. After the coming to power of a legitimate government in Iraq, one of the important security topics discussed in the security negotiations between the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq has been to decide the fate of the MKO as an anti-IRI terrorist organization. Iran demands dismantling of the MKO bases in Iraq and handover of their members to Tehran. However, the US has not let this happen. The Americans thought they could use the MKO as an organization for both espionage and intelligence in Iran and as a tool for negotiations with the IRI. For the same reason they let them continue operation; some of the MKO leaders were sent abroad under the US control and some others are still in Iraq and under control of the US policies. Under the status quo, the US wants to solve this issue in a way to take the IRI pressure off its shoulder. For the same reason, it has agreed to apparently delegate administration of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government. But the Americans will continue to decide the policymaking and treatment of the MKO. In fact, the Iraqi army will act as a tool in the hands of the US as far as administration of the camp is concerned. In other words, the MKO is not fully under the control of the Iraqi government. For the same reason, the Iraqi government is trying to gradually expand its authorities concerning the MKO and take control of the region. Naturally, the remarks made by the Iraqi government spokesman (Ali Dabbagh) are in line with this policy. Considering that at the time of Saddam Hussein, the MKO was run with the money of the Iraqi government and later with the financial aid of the US and Europe and in some cases with the support of the (post-Saddam) government in Iraq, those remarks (by Dabbagh) are meant to indicate that the MKO are under the Iraqi control. It seems that changes have taken place in MKO management inside Iraq with the Iraqi government playing a bigger role than the Americans. Q: It is said the MKO has received a deadline until eid-ul fitr (end of Ramadan – early October) to leave Iraq. Is this true and feasible at all? A: The Iraqi government is under pressure both from Iran and Iraqi officials who have received blows from the MKO in the course of the Intifada. Therefore, it is just natural for them to try to solve the problem. Perhaps the best way for them and for the Americans is to move the MKO members and spread them out in various world countries. On this basis, it may be said that the Americans plan to form MKO cells in various European and Arab states and even in America. What they have in mind is formation of new MKO cells which could embark on political activities against IRI and at the same time maintain their organization. The Americans are concerned that the MKO members would be handed over to Iran and this could lead to practical dissolution of the terrorist organization. That is why they are trying to do this through the Iraqi government. The important thing for the Iraqi government is that MKO members would no more stay in their soil. Q: Wouldn’t this be to Iran’s detriment when it could exercise the least control over the MKO (after they are out of Iraq)? A: This may be the case in the long run. But in the short term it may be in Iran’s interest because it would help disorganization of MKO which is regarded an armed paramilitary organization. Their concentration in one place would enable the MKO to launch military operations against IRI. This dispersion would probably encourage many MKO members who are looking for an opportunity to split away from the organization to do so and this would cause the organization not to be able to maintain its former consistency. But at the same time, the IRI must pay attention to the point that the Americans may try to create a new organization for MKO. Washington may put an end to MKO military activities and turn them into political cells opposed to Iran in certain parts of the world, including countries which have issues with Tehran such as Europe and America in the future. Q:It is said that Iran has announced it would allow repentant MKO members to return to their home country. Do you think this is an effective step? A: Iran has always been seeking to return (repentant) MKO members to the bosom of their families here, particularly those who have not committed murders or assassinations. The aim is to lead the terrorist organization towards gradual disintegration by breaking their members away from it. This is a policy that has been executed so far and hundreds of them have returned home and reunited with their families. This has been a successful policy. Perhaps, under the present conditions that the MKO is under growing pressure the same policy could be pursued more seriously. According to information coming out of Camp Ashraf so far, many MKO members are reluctant to continue cooperation with the organization. They believe the way the camp is being administered is very despotic and oppressive. They feel they have been wasting their lives for long years with the MKO and are now looking for a peaceful and trouble-free life. Therefore, giving assurances to such persons that they could return home and live a normal life provided that they would not take their past course again, is probably an effective measure.
Most cultish groups in the world are active in recruiting, expanding their activities, and gaining money and power [62]. One cannot resolve the problems related to the cults through a philosophical debate or their denunciation through heated discussions on TV. The threat that the cults impose on our societies goes beyond that. The cults, in fact, threaten the physical condition, psychological health, political power and democratic freedoms in our societies. The cults may even threaten the lives of our people.
In a cult, the self appointed leader is the centre of power and is the one who determines the values and goals. There is no limit to the authority of the leader. He/She will not respond to any-one and preaches a sort of a religion that has been invented by the superficial extraction of elements from this or that religion. Some of the most common and important methods that the leadership of a given cult uses for preserving and expanding its dominating power are:
The physical elimination of its opponents
Discrediting and treating the opponents as traitors before and after the physical elimination,
Slandering, accusing and using abusive language against its opponents and critics
Impetuously inverting the ideological and political positions
Inculcation and making the others believe what the cult says as true and inciting its members to self-humiliation and destruction of their own character are among other main tactics used against who have doubts, questions, hesitations or opposition to the leadership of the cult. The individual by turning to be a devotee inculcates in himself that he has no power to distinguish and understand the issues. Thus it is the leader who builds up the ideas and interprets the meaning of life.
It is the leader who defines what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad and who are friends and enemies. He is not answerable to the followers and there is a huge distance between him and the rest.
He is a person considered beyond a normal human being and capable of doing impossible things; and therefore others should obey and follow him. Contrary to the authentic religions who invite followers to obey God, in cults, the leader of the cult itself takes the place of God and becomes sacred and divine. Most cults try to use a deviated language and culture of religions to gain legitimacy. It is for this reason that they claim that the leader of the cult inspired by divine teachings is aware about the secrets of the world creation and world view and the nature of the human being. That’s why telling lies, deception and temptation and having multiple personas are justifiable in the cult and having these characteristics would be permissible to protect the leader and members of the cult.
The leader of the cult forms the society under his/her control in a closed and confidential manner. In this way, secrecy and confidentiality of issues –even minor ones- are vital and irrefutable. Emphasis on protecting the cult secrets is aimed at creating a harsh discipline and security hierarchy based on total and blind obedience. [63]
MKO, taking Marxism as a model, as of its inception and during expansion of its organi-sational structure, administered itself based on democratic centralism or central rule based on majority of votes. According to the Organisation there was a transitional period between the years 1978 and 1979 and between 1979 and 1984 when Rajavi’s authoritarian rule was established and from 1984, the organisation transformed itself into a cult. According to Iran Interlink, 1985 saw the start of the internal ideological revolution:
“[It was] Introduced at the time of the marriage of Massoud Rajavi with Maryam Azdonlou in February 1985. Rajavi declared himself the self-appointed ideological leader of the Mojahedin, or spiritual leader – a role taken over in public by his wife Maryam Rajavi since his disappearance after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Along with this role he introduced ‘phases’ of the Internal Ideological Revolution which would in his terms lead the members to a full understanding of his ideological beliefs. The phases includ-ed daily reporting of thoughts and feelings; forced marriage followed by forced divorces; separation of children from parents; confession of sins including erotic dreams and fantasies. The aim of these phases is to connect the member to the leader with nothing between them in an exclusive relation-ship of total submission to the leader’s will.” [64]
Former member Anne Singleton, on the BBC’s Newsnight programme, also describes the effects of the cult upon her and confirms the many reports of MKO survivors (former members) of the brain washing activities of the group. The piece mentions that many former MKO members gave account of the ‘psychological manipulation’ that was designed by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi to control the minds of the MKO members. Ann Singlton and her husband Massoud former MKO activists who had served MKO for 20 years in “absolute loyalty” were amongst them. It was launched in the name of “permanent ideological revolution”. The project aimed the renunciation of all types of sexual feel-ings and family connections. MKO leaders decreed that every member of the organization should divorce their spouses in order to dedicate their entire effort, energy and thoughts for the sake the Rajavi Family. Ann Singleton states that MKO expected that its members devote their wholel being to the Rajavi family. This was enforced through a system of daily reporting. Any types of erotic thoughts and fantasies had to be reported to the organisation in “details” in the form of complete openness [65].
According to Bahar Irani, the drift towards a cult started before the internal ideological revolution:
“The most explicitly expressed views in this respect are stated in a book entitled Ravand-e Jodaee "the process of separation" edited by a number of MKO’s separated members. The book is in fact the formal declarations of a number of Iranian students in abroad who published it just after the start of the ideological revolution. It investigates the strategic deviations of MKO and Rajavi from the organizational principles that inevitably led the organization into a cult:
“It is highly probable that Mojahedin, if they fail in their identification with liberalism and assuming the political power and face an overall stalemate, will turn into a cult because of their separation and isolation from the masses; something which is not unprecedented in the history. [1]
“In this regard, another ex-member has nearly the same opinion:
“Before the initiation of the military phase in 1980, some eminent political figures imprisoned by Shah [Pahlavi’s regime] who were somehow familiar with MKO envisaged it would turn into a cult! It was predicted that if the organization failed to settle it with the liberals, it had to inevitably suffer isolation and turned into a closed religious cult. [2]
“In this regard, Ali Ferasati, an MKO member, states that in 1984 Rajavi ordered the infor-mation bureau of the affiliated associations to do some investigation about the structure of cults. He says:
“In 1984, the information bureau of associations was asked to investigate the western religious cults. The reason was said to be since the imperialists were pushing policies ahead through religious cults, the organization needed to find out what the cults were doing and under what mechanism. [3]
“As Ferasati points out, he had managed to realize the real intention of Rajavi:
“At the time I got to the bottom that Massoud [Rajavi] was aware of the fact that the organization was getting dissociated and thus, wanted to see how the western cults operated so he could model on them[4]” [66]
In this period, the tendency towards a single person’s rule increased and gradually dominated all over the organisation. From December 1979 Masoud Rajavi’s tyranny became more evident and he became the lead man in the organisation.
“After the death of Mussa Khiyabai in February 1991, Rajavi became the irrefutable ruler of the organisation. From this time, Masoud Rajavi soon engaged himself to downgrade this political/religious organisation into a semi-religious/Mafia cult. Masoud Rajavi sat in place of God and all members of the organisation were duty bound, openly and officially, to bow in front of this new idol.” [67]
Maryam Azadonlou [68] repeatedly in her speeches, talked about “Rajavism” or “Masoudism” school of thought. “Rajavi considers himself the sole rightly designated representative of God on earth and calls the organisation the arrowhead.” [69] The following reasons indicate that the organisation turned itself into a cult:
Adopting a mixed ideology
Sanctification of Rajavi leadership
Its position regarding the family
Organisational divorces
Ideological revolutions and secret inter-organisational relationships
Iran Policy Committee: Pentagon or Terrorist Funding?
Promoters of Communist Terrorists
The Iran Policy Committee (IPC) promotes the Iranian Communist MEK (MKO, PMOI, NCRI, Rajavi Cult, or Pol Pot of Iran) terrorists, the murders of American military officers, Rockwell International employees, and large numbers of Iranians and Iraqis. The United States State Department has listed the MEK as a Marxist terrorist organization since the administration of former President Bill Clinton. In 2003, American and coalition forces attacked the MEK at Camp Ashraf, Iraq, killing some of the communist terrorists. Then, the American government ordered the American military to protect these terrorists.
So, who would promote the evil Rajavi cultists?
Professor Raymond Tanter, IPC President
Bruce McColm, Empowerment Committee Chairman
Captain Charles Nash, Military Committee Cochairman
Advisory Council:
General Thomas McInerney, chairman
Attorney William A. Nitze
Ambassador Richard Schifter
Professor Raymond Tanter
Ambassador R. James Woolsey
Military Committee:
Captain Charles Nash, Military Committee Cochairman
Major General Paul Vallely, Military Committee Cochairman
General Thomas McInerney
General Edward Rowny, Military Committee Cochairman
Diplomacy Committee:
James Akins, Diplomacy Committee Chairman
http://www.iranpolicy.org/
Who funds the Iran Policy Committee?
The IPC operates as a public charity:
Not-for-Profit Status
Contributions payable to the Iran Policy Committee (IPC) are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. The Committee is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and is publicly supported as described in 509(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Committee’s IRS identification number is 20-2883425
To maintain this not-for-profit status, the Iran Policy Committee must disclose its finances in the details required in annual Form 990 disclosures. Members of the public may request copies of the Form 990 disclosures from the accountant for the Iran Policy Committee:
Margaret Bartel
Bartel & Associates
911 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Telephone: (703) 548-4250
Email: mbartel@bartelassociates.com
The Virginia Board of Accountancy shows her Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license number 31623 as expired as of March 31, 2008.
Iran Policy Committee’s 2007 Financial Disclosures
R. Bruce McColm and Margaret Bartel signed the 2007 Form 990 on August 14, 2008.
The Iran Policy Committee claimed to have received $454,450 during 2007 in direct public support. Form 990 does not include the individual disclosures of large sources of support.
In 2007, the IPC used its Washington, DC address (instead of Margaret Bartel’s address): Alban Tower, Suite L34, 3700 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016.
The Employer Identification Number is 28-2883425.
The IPC claimed to have operated at a deficit of $247,191. Claimed compensation for officers, directors, and key employees was $118,750. Raymond Tanter, President = $87,500
R. Bruce McColm, co-chair = $15,625
Chuck Nash, co-chair = $15,625
Salaries and wages of unnamed employees = $50,701.
Professional Services = $191,812
There were no disclosures that any of these amounts included wage claims in a divorce case by Constance Andresen-Tanter.
Accounting fees = $21,548
Legal fees = $89,976
Travel reimbursements were $22,077.75 for Tanter and $6,476 for McColm.
The IPC claimed that Professor Raymond Tanter loaned $169,904 to the IPC to pay bills. Professor Tanter is a retired professor who serves only as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Professor Tanter has failed to honor agreements to make monthly payments to Constance Andresen-Tanter. Where is the documentation from the divorce case judge that such claimed loans were approved?
Who is Margaret Bartel?
For an overview of some of Margaret Bartel’s other activities, see:
http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=1493&name=Margaret-%22Peggy%22-Bartel
She was involved with persons and organizations promoting Ahmad Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress (INC).
For example, Boxwood, Inc. was used as a corporate vehicle for several years. Disclosures are available from the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission for corporate ID 0589920-8. The 2004 and 2005 annual reports to Virginia for Boxwood, Inc. showed an address of 911 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. This is the same address used for the Iran Policy Committee prior to 2007. These annual reports showed Francis Brooke as president, Aras Kareem as director, and Margaret Bartel as secretary, treasurer, and as registered agent. In the 2006 annual report, Aras Kareem was no longer included. Instead, Margaret Bartel was shown as a vice president and director.
Other activities included working in Iraq on Defense Intelligence Agency-funded programs.
http://www.iraqfact.com/zPic_brooke.html
http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/2004_07.html
For Margaret Bartel’s political campaign contributions, see:
http://www.opensecrets.org
On June 27, 2006, Margaret Bartel contributed $500 to James Webb (Democrat—Virginia).
http://webb.senate.gov/
Divorce Settlement in France
There has been a divorce case (07 DRB 102) in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Family Court, Domestic Relations Branch, before Associate Judge Michael Ryan. However, on September 2, 2007, Raymond Tanter and Constance Andresen-Tanter met in France with NCRI leaders to negotiate a divorce settlement. Raymond Tanter offered to withdraw his petition for divorce and to pursue a non-contested divorce if Constance Andresen-Tanter would accept the return of her personal property in Apartment 507 of Alban Towers in Washington, DC plus a payment schedule for payments of $30,000 for bills and of $150,000 for her new life. At a hearing on March 5, 2008, Associate Judge J. Michael Ryan reviewed this settlement offer.
Defend Constance Andresen-Tanter
While Professor Raymond Tanter and the NCRI can pay large sums of money to attorneys, Constance Andresen-Tanter has no access to enough money to defend herself in court. Lawyers, political leaders, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), members of the media, literary agents, anti-war activists, women’s organizations, anti-communists, and opponents of the neo-conservatives (neo-Trotskyites) should come to the defense of Constance Andresen-Tanter and learn what is really happening at the Iran Policy Committee.
Her contact information is:
(212) 920-7748 mobile telephone
Shiite leader takes up Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO), mass graves with human rights minister
BAGHDAD, Aug. 30 (VOI) – The deputy head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), Ammar al-Hakeem, on Saturday discussed with Iraqi Human Rights Minister Wejdan Mikhaeel measures taken to deal with the issues of Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) and mass graves.
"Sayyid Ammar al-Hakeem on Saturday morning received Wejdan Mekhaeel, the human rights minister, at his office in Baghdad," according to a release issued by the SIIC as received by Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
"The two sides conferred on human rights issues, especially those related to the government measures taken to deal with the MKO file, in addition to the mass graves left by the former regime," it added.
The MKO, a group opposing the Iranian regime, has taken the Ashraf camp, (57 km) northeast of Baghdad, as a base since the 1980s, as the former Iraq regime cooperated with that organization during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988).
The SIIC, itself formed in Iran in the 1980s under its older name the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), had a military wing (Badr Brigade) that fought side by side with the Iranian army against the Iraqi troops during that war.
Document – Iraq: No Iranians in need of protection should be sent to Iran against their will
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT
AI Index: MDE 14/023/2008
28 August 2008
Iraq: No Iranians in need of protection should be sent to Iran against their will
Amnesty International has written to both the Iraqi and US governments reminding them of their obligations under international law and urging them to continue to provide protection to people affiliated to and members of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq.
In its letters, Amnesty International reminds both governments that members of the PMOI in Iraq are ‘protected persons’ under international humanitarian law and, therefore, should not be expelled or forcibly returned to Iran.
In its letters to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamil al-Maliki and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Amnesty International expressed concern at recent statements made by senior Iraqi officials criticising the presence of members of the PMOI (also known as Mojahedeen Khalq Organization – MKO) at Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s northern governorate of Diyala. On 3 July 2008 ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, one of the main political parties represented in the Iraq government, reportedly said that the "MKO’s presence in Iraq lacks any legal or international covers," and accused the organisation of "aiding and abetting the former regime in killing Iraqis…." He is also reported to have accused the MKO of seeking “to fuel” sectarian conflict in Iraq and adopting an “aggressive position toward the parliament and the elected national government".
Earlier, on 18 June 2008 Iraq’s government spokesperson Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh said that the Iraq cabinet had “decided to emphasize the decisions made previously that consider the MKO as a terrorist organization and should leave Iraq.”
Amnesty International considers that those living in Camp Ashraf would be at grave risk of torture or other serious human rights violations if they were to be returned involuntarily to Iran, whether by the Iraqi authorities or by the US-led MultiNational Force (MNF). The organization has told the Iraqi and US governments that it strongly opposes any such forcible returns, either of those at Camp Ashraf or of other Iranian nationals who currently reside in Iraq having left Iran for political reasons or to escape persecution.
Amnesty International urged both governments to provide promptly a firm assurance that they will prevent the forcible return to Iran of any Iranian refugees and asylum seekers, currently in Iraq, who would be at serious risk of torture or persecution there, respecting the principle of non-refoulement.
The organization emphasised that before any final decision to remove an individual to their country of origin, there should be an independent, individual assessment of the potential risk of serious human rights violations, including the death penalty and torture. No person should be returned, either directly or via a third country, to a situation where they would be at risk of torture or other serious human rights abuses.
Amnesty International urged the Iraqi and US authorities to work together with UNHCR, and others as appropriate, to find a satisfactory long term solution to the situation of PMOI members and supporters currently at Camp Ashraf.
Background Information
Amnesty International has been monitoring the situation of members and supporters of the PMOI in Camp Ashraf. Following the US-led military intervention in Iraq in 2003 about 3,400 members of the PMOI were disarmed by the US-led forces at Camp Ashraf. Since that time PMOI members living in the Camp, which is managed by the MNF, have been designated as “protected persons” under Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prevents extradition or forced repatriation to Iran as long as the US-led Multinational Force (MNF) is present in Iraq.
Camp Ashraf – International law to determine MKO fate
The Iraqi government says the county will deal with the anti-Iran Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) based on International regulations.
Ali al-Dabbagh, Iraq’s government spokesman, said that his country is seeking to gain full control of the terrorist group’s Camp Ashraf from US forces.
The comment comes as the Iraqi military forces have surrounded the camp since Wednesday night.
The Ashraf Camp in Diyala province was the headquarters of the MKO members during the reign of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but has been converted to a training center for MKO terrorists under the US control since the 2003 invasion of the country.
The Iraqi official warned the terrorist group against engaging in any political activities inside the country.
"Iraq will support voluntarily return of MKO members to Iran or any other countries," Dabbagh said, adding "Iraq will not consider expelling MKO members forcefully from the country and will deal with them according to international regulations."
Along with at least six other sites in Iraq, Camp Ashraf was given to the MKO as their headquarters and training site by the former US-backed Iraqi dictator.
It was from this base the MKO launched operations against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war and later assisted Saddam in violently suppressing the Iraqi Kurds during the 1991 uprising.
The MKO is blacklisted by many countries including EU member states as a terrorist organization. The group has claimed responsibility for hundreds of terror attacks inside Iran.
Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf said on Sunday Iraq’s government has given the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization a six-month deadline to leave the country.
He told the Arabic radio Nawa that the Iraqi forces have taken control of Ashraf military base where the MKO were deployed.
Iraqi lawmakers had earlier urged the Iraqi government to expel the Mujahedin Khalq Organization from Iraqi territory.
In an interview with the Mehr News Agency, Iraqi lawmaker Ali al-Adib said the Iraqi Constitution requires the government to prevent terrorist activities in the country.
“Iraq should not be used as a base for aggression against neighboring countries or as a venue for helping forces who take hostile actions against Iraq’s neighbors.”
“Iraq can provide political asylum to foreigners but will not provide asylum to groups which have a military and political nature, such as the MKO, which has carried out some activities against the Iraqi nation and was a part of the oppressive regime of Saddam.”
Al-Adib said the Iraqi government is negotiating with international organizations to expel the MKO from the country.
“The Red Cross has not yet received a clear message from the countries which are prepared to accept this group. I believe most of the countries have refused to accept these people,” he stated.
“Iran has recently said those MKO members who have not committed any crimes will be forgiven, but my information says some of the MKO members are preventing those who want to turn themselves in (from doing so).”
The Mujahedin Khalq was set up in the mid-1960s to oppose the U.S.-backed dictatorship of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution but soon launched a campaign of assassinations and bombings in Iran.
The MKO was supported by Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war but was disarmed after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Tehran Times Political Desk
Representatives of the families of thousands of Iranian victims brutally assassinated by the MKO terrorist group have visited Britain to protest about the government’s decision to remove it from its proscribed list.
The relatives, led by Seyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, presented reams
of documentary evidence of the MKO’s hideous crimes to officials at the Home Office and Foreign Office as well as the Islamic Human Rights Commission during their visit.
Hasheminejad, whose father was assassinated by the MKO, said that it was "surprising" that while US and European courts were reviewing the group’s terrorist label, it was still claiming responsibility for killing more innocent people.
The British government proceeded to remove the MKO from its proscribed list under the Terrorism Act 2000 in June, despite ministers publicly proclaiming that they disagreed with the decision.
"The MeK (MKO) was responsible for a series of vile acts of terrorism over a long period. They have never publicly renounced violence and only gave up their arms in the face of the overwhelming might of US forces in Iraq," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.
The visit to London was organized by the Habilian Association for terror victims’ families, which has recently compiled a comprehensive list of all the victims of more than 1,000 bombings, hand grenade and mortar attacks and assignations carried out in Iran by the MKO.
The association told IRNA that it was planning to legally challenge a London court ruling that led to the MKO being deproscribe under terms legislated by the government but which has the right to amend.
"Iranian people would consider the UK Court of Appeal’s decree to remove the MKO from the list of banned organizations as an unfriendly act," it said."
"No doubt, the escalated tension between Iran and the West plays a role to keep the MKO on the scene as an instrumental use against Iran," Habilian said, questioning whether the removal was really in the UK’s national interests.
Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdulkarim Khalaf said on Wednesday that members of the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) must leave Iraqi soil within the specified six-month deadline.
"Regarding the principle of good neighborliness and non-intervention in neighbors’ affairs, the Iraqi government will not allow regional terrorist groups, including MKO and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), to use Iraqi territory for operations against others," said Khalaf in reaction to views of certain political groups and wings about the six-month deadline set by the Iraqi government for the MKO to leave Iraqi soil.
Khalaf said that over the past two days, half of Ashraf garrison, the main bastion of the MKO in Iraq, has been delivered to the Iraqi army by American troops.
Americans, however, are still having the responsibility to control the garrison and it is said that it will remain under their supervision until Iraq takes over responsibility for Diyala province.
Hakim: MKO had direct cooperation with al-Qaeda in past five years Baghdad
A member of Iraqi Supreme Islamic Assembly said on Wednesday that the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization had direct cooperation with al-Qaeda group in the past five years.
Seyed Ammar Hakim told IRNA that the MKO members, in addition to direct cooperation with the al-Qaeda, had been accomplice in the Baathist regime crimes and had also cooperation with terrorists in the past five years.
He rejected any claims on relation between expulsion of the MKO members from Iraq and Iran-US agreement, stressing that expulsion of the MKO members from Iraq is the resolve of the Iraqi government and nation.
By providing the US officials with incorrect information, the MKO members caused arrest of several outstanding opposition personalities who were active in anti-Saddam movement, a number of whom are still in the US prisons, Hakim added. 
He said that the MKO members were also active to launch protest gatherings against the newly established Iraqi government trying to weaken the democratically elected government in the past few years.