Page 9 – Nejat Society

Albania: Cyberattacks and the dead end in the management of Camp Ashraf 3

Ashraf-3, the fortified camp of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) in Manzë, Albania, is a “city of exiles”: approximately 40 hectares with over a hundred buildings, isolated by high walls and checkpoints. Around 2,500 dissident refugees live there under strict internal rules, a “sect” whose members are denied a normal family life and can only conform to the association’s uncompromising line.

To understand the misfortune that has befallen Albania by welcoming these refugees expelled from Iran, let’s clarify that the MEK group originated in Iran in the 1960s as a radical student group (the so-called “Marxists with bombs”), but after the Khomeynist revolution it evolved into a dogmatic, sectarian, and anti-Iranian guerrilla fanaticism. At least 17,000 people have been confirmed dead as a result of MEK terrorist attacks (scientists, politicians, academics, and ordinary Iranians). Its members, who fought against Iran alongside Saddam Hussein in the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran War, are fanatical worshipers of Masoud Rajavi—presumably dead in 2003—and his wife, Maryam. Until recently, the organization was labeled a “foreign terrorist organization” by both the United States and Iran.

After 2003, they proclaimed their renunciation of violence to become “supporters of human rights.” In 2013, the group was granted official refuge in Albania. But what is really interesting is the group’s double standards. While the Rajavi leaders preach a life of austere and revolutionary sacrifice for ordinary members, they themselves live in unbridled luxury in Paris, where they maintain a political umbrella. (Le Canard Enchaîné showed Maryam Rajavi—the group’s self-proclaimed president—and an entourage of bodyguards renting an entire spa resort in Vichy, spending €29,000 in cash on massages, mud baths, and hydrotherapy; the year before, the Rajavis had spent the same amount on travel.) Meanwhile, in Ashraf-3, ordinary members endure a rigid militarization without telephones or news, following inflexible schedules, often sleep-deprived and ill.

For over a decade, Albania has served as a refuge for Mojahedin-e-Khalq exiles. Initially a humanitarian gesture on the Albanian side, the reception of the MEK has now become a serious security concern and is effectively beyond the control of Tirana, which is appealing to its Western allies to investigate the MEK’s crimes in Ashraf-3 by searching for evidence of cyber-attacks launched from within the camp. Hosting the MEK has turned Albania into a “front line” of Iranian hostility. In July 2022, hackers paralyzed the e-Albania portal, delaying school registrations and real estate deposits: a “cyber war” for which Albania immediately severed diplomatic relations with Tehran, accusing it of these actions.

In early 2023, Albanian state prosecutors accused MEK members of secretly conducting cyberattacks and activities against the Iranian government. Months of online surveillance pointed to a vast hidden “troll factory” in Manzë. In June 2023, Albanian authorities decided to intervene, and on June 20, 2023, the “Special Police” raided Ashraf-3 on the orders of a Special Court, armed with search warrants for espionage and cybercrime. The camp sealed its entrances, and the incursion was met with fierce resistance and dozens of injuries, although the exact toll and details are unknown. However, the police seized around a hundred workstations and dozens of laptops, tablets, and drives, saving them from the MEK’s attempted destruction. The Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPAK) formally announced an investigation into “incitement to war, unlawful interception of computer data, interference with computer systems,” and related offenses: a criminal case of unprecedented severity, built on evidence discovered at Camp Ashraf-3.

In June 2025, a hacker group openly boasted of sabotaging Tirana’s municipal websites “in retaliation” for Albania’s hosting of “terrorists.” The Iranian hacker group Homeland Justice claimed to have extracted data from the city’s servers and threatened further attacks, so much so that Albania has now formally asked its NATO and EU allies to help decrypt Ashraf-3’s computers for incriminating evidence.

This spiral of hostility was predictable. Albania knew that inviting over 2,500 MEK members onto its soil would provoke Tehran. However, under intense pressure from the United States and the United Nations, Tirana ignored these warnings. The result is that the MEK camp in Ashraf-3 is now a ticking time bomb on Albanian soil, as the group’s own anti-Iranian propaganda has turned Albania into a primary target for Iranian cyber attacks. Western and Albanian analysts now claim that the MEK is “out of Albania’s control” and that Albania has reached a “strategic dead end” in managing the MEK, which has now emerged as a self-governing terrorist enclave that threatens regional security, incubating anti-Iranian propaganda and cyber warfare operations between Iran and the West. The MEK enclave of Manzë is effectively outside Albanian jurisdiction: it has its own internal police force, leadership hierarchy, and code of conduct. With evidence of illicit activity emerging, Tirana is on high alert. Roads to the camp are blocked by checkpoints. Technology agencies and police regularly scan the network perimeter, as the MEK group could hack foreign governments. Hosting the MEK has turned Albania into a target of a hostile foreign power (Iran), far beyond what Tirana could have anticipated.

The case also highlights the double standards of Western policy toward Iran. Indeed, under the guise of promoting democracy in Iran, the European Union has repeatedly praised Tirana for hosting the MEK, removed the group from its list of terrorist organizations, and prominent Western politicians have welcomed MEK leaders with open arms. Tehran, on the other hand, has consistently condemned the MEK as “sponsored terrorism,” calling Ashraf-3 an American plot. It has incited local sentiment against the Albanian authorities, creating divisions within the Albanian public. Some Albanians see the MEK as victims of Iran, while others see it as a group preaching war within its borders.

Maria Morigi of MARX21.IT

Translated from Italian to English by Nejat Society

November 12, 2025 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Appeal from the Family of Mehraban and Kiumars Balaei

To the Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Albania
To the Honorable Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Albania,
Greetings and respect,
Dear sir,
I, Ghorbanali Balaei, the eldest son of my family, respectfully write to you on behalf of all my family members. We sincerely request your assistance in arranging a meeting with my brothers, Mehraban Balaei and Kiumars Balaei, who are currently held in Manza Camp (known as Ashraf 3) in Albania.
If arranging a physical meeting is not immediately possible, we urgently ask that you at least facilitate a telephone connection between us.
My family and I have been waiting for over forty years without any information about the well-being and conditions of my brothers. My brother Mehraban, who was married and father to a son, was captured during his military service. Sadly, until today, he has not been allowed to make even a single phone call to his child.
We respectfully request that—based on your humanitarian mission and legal responsibility to support victims of enforced separation and violence—you assist in restoring communication with our loved ones. We ask that they be permitted, at the very least, to make a telephone call to us.
Thank you for your attention and consideration.
With respect,
Ghorbanali Balaei
+989111848827

November 11, 2025 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Letter of Houshang Pour Ebrahim’s sister to the UN

To: United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
Subject: Request for Investigation into the Whereabouts of My Brother, Houshang Pour Ebrahim

Dear Members of the Committee,
My name is Soghra Pour Ebrahim, and I am the sister of Houshang Pour Ebrahim. My brother, Houshang Pour Ebrahim, was captured by the forces of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) on October 16, 1987, while serving his mandatory military service in the Baneh region of Kurdistan Province, Iran. Since that time, we have had no information about his fate, whereabouts, or condition.

Over the years, our family has made repeated efforts through various organizations and unofficial channels to obtain any news about him, but no clear answer has ever been received. My mother and I remain waiting and hopeful for his return. Sadly, our father passed away after years of grief and uncertainty over his disappearance.

I respectfully request that the esteemed Committee to use its mandate to investigate the fate and current status of Houshang Pour Ebrahim and to inform our family of any findings.

With sincere gratitude and respect,
Soghra Pour Ebrahim

November 10, 2025 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Washington’s Double Standard on Terrorism Betrays the Spirit of Liberty

The U.S. government says its “war on terror” protects freedom. In practice, every new intervention narrows the perimeter of freedom at home. The language of confronting evil abroad has become a cover for expanding state power, channeling public money to defense contractors, and normalizing surveillance that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The pattern is familiar: the more expansive the mission overseas, the more elastic the constraints on government at home.

The contradiction is starkest in Gaza. U.S. officials condemn terrorism but continue to arm and shield an ally whose campaign has killed tens of thousands and devastated the territory. Humanitarian agencies report mass displacement, widespread hunger, and a crippled health system. In the diplomatic arena, Washington has repeatedly vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire even as it advances fresh weapons packages.

This moral blind spot is not confined to one conflict. During the Cold War, Washington funneled support to the Afghan mujahideen – a decision memorialized in official records – only to confront successor movements in later decades. In Syria, Kurdish-led forces became the principal U.S. partner against ISIS even as NATO ally Turkey labeled affiliated groups terrorists and pressed military campaigns against them. Definitions shift with alliances; the underlying violence does not.

The Iranian exile group known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) offers another example of strategic elasticity. The group’s history includes attacks that killed U.S. citizens in 1970s Tehran, a fact acknowledged by U.S. government sources. Decades later, after an intense and well-funded lobbying effort, the State Department removed the MEK from its Foreign Terrorist Organization list in 2012.

Endless war feeds on fear, and fear consolidates power. Drone warfare was sold as precise and surgical, yet senior commanders themselves warned that killing civilians can be counterproductive – the “insurgent math” that every innocent death creates new enemies. The broader empirical record is mixed, but even the optimistic studies concede a pattern of backlash risks and strategic tradeoffs that should caution against routine reliance on force.

Sanctions are often marketed as a humane alternative to war, yet U.N. experts have repeatedly warned that sweeping unilateral measures punish entire populations, triggering shortages and eroding basic rights – effects difficult to square with a professed commitment to human dignity. If policy aims include stability and liberty, collective punishment is a poor instrument.

Meanwhile, the political economy of intervention hardens. The world’s major arms producers reported another rise in revenues in 2023, with U.S. firms accounting for roughly half of global sales – momentum propelled by ongoing conflicts and procurement cycles that outlast headlines. The incentives are aligned for more of the same.

If opposing terrorism were truly the goal, policy would prioritize ending the interventions that nurture it. That would mean halting arms transfers that fuel atrocities, rejecting collective punishment via sweeping sanctions, and abandoning the conceit that liberty can be delivered from 30,000 feet. Security grows from peace, commerce, and diplomacy – not from empire.

The libertarian tradition teaches that freedom and empire cannot coexist. Every bomb dropped abroad echoes at home as expanded surveillance authorities and normalized exceptions to the rule of law. To defend the American republic, policymakers should discard the imperial reflex that keeps creating enemies and rediscover a foreign policy consistent with the spirit of liberty.

Ultimately, reclaiming liberty demands moral courage – the courage to admit that power cannot purchase peace, that domination cannot deliver safety, and that genuine security begins with restraint. When the nation learns once again to measure strength not by the size of its arsenal but by the integrity of its principles, it will rediscover the freedom it claims to defend.

Sophia Gonzalez of AntiWar.com

November 8, 2025 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Emotional Dependency of MEK Children on their Arms

The recruitment and use of child soldiers by any armed group is a violation of international law, including the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts. The recruitment and use of child soldiers by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) has been documented by human rights organizations and international bodies, including Human Rights Watch and the United Nations.

These reports detail instances of children being subjected to military training, ideological indoctrination and participation in operations against Iran. The practice is a clear violation of international law, which defines a child soldier as any person under 18 years of age who is part of any regular and irregular armed force or group in any capacity.

The MEK has consistently denied these documents, claiming that individuals under 18 were not involved in combat and that minors in their camps were there for educational purposes!
However, testimonies from former child soldiers of the MEK and independent investigations contradict the denials, providing evidence of the systematic use of children in their ranks.

Amir Yaghmai, former child soldier of the MEK is one of the first individuals who testified against the MEK. He was of the four children of Mujahed parents whose story was documented in Sara Moin’s documentary, Children of Camp Ashraf.

Moin’s documentary highlights the experience of Amir as a child soldier, detailing his life within the MEK’s cult-like structure and the psychological impact on his upbringing. Amir also began writing his story on X social network.

This part of his memoirs indicates how the MEK child soldiers were manipulated by the group authorities and eventually emotionally dependent on the arms and ammunitions of the group’s army. Based on Amir’s testimony, when the US military wanted to disarm the MEK in 2003, arms had been so vital to the MEK members that a female member (a mother) handed her child soldier son to the American Colonel in exchange for the arms!

Amir Yaghmai writes:
“A female commander named Leila – who had sent me to Iraq from Paris – came forward, dragged one of the teenagers towards the colonel and shouted: ‘Please! Take my son, but don’t take our tanks! We need them for freedom!’ The boy, Amin, found himself between the Mujahideen and the Americans, looking at his mother and the Americans in amazement, not knowing which way to go. It was a strange scene, beyond this world as we know it.”

Amir quotes another child soldier named Hanif who cried at the American Colonel, “Peel my skin me alive! Break my teeth! But don’t take my tank!”
Child soldiers of extremist groups like the MEK develop a profound emotional dependency on their arms due to the complex interplay of psychological mind control. After years of isolation at Camp Ashraf, weapon had become a source of security in highly insecure and threatening situations. The MEK’s ideology always glorified armed struggle, imbuing weapons with a sacred or heroic significance, with had been deepened the Child soldier’s emotional bonds with their arms. This dependency made disarmament an extremely challenging for MEK members in particular child soldiers.

Mazda Parsi.

November 5, 2025 0 comments

Massoud Rajavi

The Rajavis’ illusions against the rationalism of Gen Z

Many economic, political, and social activists are talking about the potential benefits of Generation Z. This social group is considered both as a driving force in the economy and business and as a political force for change. However, the debatable fact is that Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, as the leaders of a group of which average age of members is over 50, are trying to bring themselves closer to Generation Z.

Sociologists classify people born in different periods into different groups based on fundamental changes in lifestyle. They call those born between 1964 and 1981 “Generation X,” those born between 1982 and 1997 “Generation Y” or millennials, and those born between 1997 and 2010 “Generation Z” or the Internet generation.

Research shows that Generation Z is committed to personal freedom. Their behavior falls into the liberal category in classical orderings. Masoud Rajavi, the disappeared leader of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) has recently called Generation Z as “the central core of future uprisings”, and Maryam Rajavi has lined up a number of surviving children of Mujahed parents in her recent propaganda shows boasting of the support of the younger generation of Iran (!).

It is necessary for the leaders of the MEK to learn more about certain concepts and words like Generation Z. Massoud Rajavi, as the creator of Rajavi’s personality cult, must understand that although Generation Z seems to be selfish and to consider themselves superior to others, they are so skillful in tolerating and accepting different and opposing beliefs, races, social levels, genders, and tastes. To the extent that some sociologists call them a generation of rationalism, pluralism, or plurality of beliefs. While tolerating others’ opinion is one of the missing concepts in the MEK.

The leaders of the MEK should note that trustworthy researches on the characteristics of Generation Z in various countries show that this generation has a great appetite for understanding the situation and the forces behind events. They do not easily accept media discourse. Therefore, Maryam Rajavi’s performance of forced rituals with a large group of women wearing forced hijab at Camp Ashraf 3, simply gives a glimpse of the real behind-the-scenes of her gathering with young people in European cities.

Unlike the reality of the MEK, where there is no room for dialogue and its members are suppressed for the slightest dissenting opinion or personal thought, Generation Z expresses their feelings easily, and believes in dialogue to resolve conflicts and improve the world. Members of this generation believe that change is achieved through dialogue. Common goals and motivations for doing great and new things bring them together, and they analyze and make decisions based on the data they collect from their communication networks.

Unlike the internal relations of the MEK, which are based on constant self-criticism and severe self-censorship, Generation Z usually avoids self-censorship. They present their demands without confrontation and conservatism, and express their opinions about family members, classmates, colleagues, friends, managers, and the government fearlessly.

Due to the historical record of the MEK, especially under the ruling of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, the MEK is highly unlikely to influence Generation Z in Iran. The MEK is known above all as a destructive cult with a history of extremism, terrorism and collaboration with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War. This criminal record has deprived the group of the support of the majority of the Iranian people, including the younger generations.

The MEK’s strict ideology, internal dictatorship, and numerous coercions in personal life have separated them from the demands of a generation that seeks freedom of choice, freedom of expression, and democratic values. Like their counterparts around the world, Iranian Generation Z is known for its strong emphasis on individual rights, free access to information, and a desire to create change based on modern democratic principles.

The past and present behaviors of the MEK, including its cult-like and authoritarian internal structure, and its historical collaboration with foreign powers hostile to Iran such as Saddam and Israel, are considered counter-values to Generation Z.

Thus, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi lack the necessary ability to attract the support of a generation that has critical thinking and believes in individual freedoms. The MEK leaders, with their organization’s problematic past, have nothing to say against the rationalism of Generation Z. This generation does not allow Massoud Rajavi’s fabricated, outdated ideology, which has the most illusory content, to emerge.

Mazda Parsi

November 3, 2025 0 comments

Maryam Rajavi

Maryam Rajavi’s controlled messaging over open dialogue

Maryam Rajavi’s public appearances and interactions with the media have been largely controlled and strategic, primarily focusing on presenting the narrative the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK) as a pro-democracy opposition to Iranian government.

There is no publicly available record or credible report of Maryam Rajavi having participated in a formal, unscripted debate with an opposing point of view or undergoing a challenging, in-depth interview with independent journalists where she is pressed on controversial aspects of her organization’s activities over the past four decades.

Her media engagements typically include prepared statements, speeches at rallies, and interviews with sympathetic news outlets or journalists where the questions are often pre-screened or aligned with the MEK’s democratic gesture. All interviewers follow the specific agenda of the group.

The absence of such engagements is often attributed to several factors. One primary reason cited by critics and observers is the MEK’s highly centralized and authoritarian structure, which discourages independent scrutiny and dissent. The MEK has faced numerous accusations of cult-like practices, human rights abuses against its own members within its camps, and a lack of internal democracy, which challenging interviews or debates could expose.

Furthermore, the MEK’s history of violent struggle and its designation as a terrorist organization by some countries (though later delisted by the US and EU) has led to a cautious approach to public relations, prioritizing controlled messaging over open dialogue.

The MEK’s strategy is focused on maintaining a consistent public image, concentrating on its opposition to Iranian government and its so-called vision for a democratic Iran, while avoiding situations that could lead to critical examination of its past or internal mechanisms such as cult-like practices under the despotic ruling of Maryam Rajavi and her disappeared husband Massoud Rajavi.

Some analysts argue that the MEK’s hierarchical and authoritarian structure, with the Rajavis at its apex, is incompatible with the transparency and accountability expected of a democratic leadership. The group’s documented history of internal purges, isolation of members, and strict ideological control are reasons why open debate format would be problematic for their narrative.

It is difficult to consider Maryam Rajavi a democratic leader of a democratic organization based on her consistent avoidance of open, challenging journalistic scrutiny and the documented internal practices of the MEK, despite her widely propagated ten-point plan for future of Iran.

Mazda Parsi

October 28, 2025 0 comments

"Tirana to Tehran" Conference, a journey between cultures and truths

Former members of the MEK

Tirana to Tehran Conference held in Tirana

In the premises of the “Fresku” hotel in Tirana, a conference on the topic “From Tirana to Tehran” was held yesterday, organized by the Nejat Society Albania. The event was received with great interest by numerous citizens, intellectuals, journalists and families whose relatives are trapped in the isolated camp of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in Manzë.

The hall was full of interested participants, who followed with attention every word of the speakers and their touching stories about the violence, isolation and deceptions in the destructive cult of Rajavi. The atmosphere was warm, emotional and full of solidarity with the families of the MEK victims.
Representatives of the Albanian community also participated in this conference, expressing their indignation at the way the group manipulates people and uses Albanian territory for political and terrorist purposes. Some of the speakers, former MEK members, shared their personal experiences, showing the true and violent face of the group and the abuses that occur within the camp in Manzë.

A special moment was the speech of Aldo Sullolari, president of Nejat Society Albania, who had just returned from a trip to Iran. He spoke about his meetings with many Iranian families who are waiting with hope for news from their relatives trapped by the MEK in Albania. “The voices of these mothers and fathers must be heard here, in Albania, where their isolated sons are. Our association will continue to be a bridge of communication between them,” Aldo emphasized with emotion.
The conference also read several messages from families suffering from the MEK’s violence and terror. Those messages touched everyone’s hearts, showing the pain that this cult has caused for many families.

At the end of the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to talk with members of the Nejat Society Albania and with former members released from the camp, expressing their full support for their humane and courageous initiative. Many of them emphasized that such activities help the Albanian public to better understand the dark reality inside the MEK camp.

The “Tirana to Tehran” conference showed once again that the truth cannot be hidden. The voice of families, the love of mothers and relatives for their children, and the desire for justice are stronger than any propaganda or deception of the violent MEK cult.

“Tirana to Tehran” Conference, a journey between cultures and truths

October 25, 2025 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Taha Hosseini former member of the MEK recounts his experience

“Entry to Ashraf is free, exit is forbidden. You will stay here until you die.”
Fahimeh Arvani, the 6th defendant in the trial of the leaders of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) told Taha Hosseini when he asked her to return his ID documents to him because he wanted to leave the group.

Taha Hosseini is a former member of the MEK. He is one of the thousands of people that the MEK lured into the organization through deception and fraud. He is one of those who fell into the trap of the MEK’s kidnappers in Turkey while he had traveled there to find a job.

The MEK recruiters told Taha that they have a large factory in Iraq which only recruited Iranians. A female MEK recruiter in Turkey told him, “The wages they give you here are very low. Turks have no mercy on Iranians. We recruit labor in Turkey.

We have a very large factory in Iraq. Only Iranians work in Iraq. We do not hire non-Iranians. We had people work in our factory in Iraq for a year, after a year they said they want to go to Europe, they went to Europe with a lot of money and now they live there and help their families financially.”

Taha was convinced to move to Iraq to work in the so-called factory. He gave his passport to them. Eventually, he was taken to Iraq where he was faced with the MEK’s military camp in Iraqi dessert. He was shocked to see people with military uniforms. There was nothing like a factory.

Two women with khaki military uniforms and red scarves welcomed him. One of them introduced herself and said, “I’m Fereshteh, the army’s reception officer, and my deputy is Marzieh.” Taha asked her, “What is the army doing in your factory!?”

Fereshteh Yeganeh, the high-ranking member of the MEK who is the 42nd defendant in the trial of the leaders of the group, replied, “Which factory? Here is Camp Ashraf, the place of war with the regime [Islamic Republic of Iran]!”

In response to Taha’s complaints he shouted, “Camp Ashraf is a battlefield, give whatever documents you have to Sister Marzieh, we will give them back to you later if you need them.” Thus, they confiscated his passport, ID card, and birth certificate.

Taha Hosseini was then given a military uniform to wear. Although he did not want to be a member of the MEK, he had no way out. In the reception unit he got to know some other guys who had been recruited in other countries under the fake job promise.

He was under military and cult-like pressure for four years with no access to the outside world. He was suppressed by the group leaders when ever he asked to contact his family.

In a meeting that Taha asked Fahimeh to let him leave the camp, she said, “Don’t even think about running away! If you run away from Camp Ashraf, Iraqi forces will arrest you and say you are a spy and execute you. Erase the thought of escape from your mind! You have entered into our organization, do whatever we tell you!”

Taha Hosseini could manage to escape the group only after the collapse of Saddam when the US army disarmed the MEK in 2003 and supervised Camp Ashraf for a while.

In 2004, Taha returned to his hometown, Arak in the central province of Iran. He got married and had children. He is now a welder and happy with his life.

“Rajavi and his gang have no humanitarian feelings.” Taha Hosseini says. “Rajavi has trained a bunch of crooks and fraudsters in his own school. They deceive people and ruin their lives. I hope no young person falls into Rajavi’s trap.”

October 20, 2025 0 comments

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