As an ordinary Leeds lass who spent two decades embroiled in a foreign terrorist organisation in the 1980s and 90s, I was deeply disappointed by the NUT’s vote to reject the Home Office’s Prevent strategy (Report, theguardian.com, 28 March).
The MEK appearance at the programme reportedly made the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, to withdraw from the event, the Nation’s Ali Gharib reported on Wednesday. To much criticism by the Iranian authorities, Shaheed has extensively reported on the violations of rights in Iran …
The MEK cut a ‘swath of terror’ in the Middle East, but leaders have worked hard to convince the west they are peaceful now..The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 changed everything for the MEK. Its fighters at Camp Ashraf, near the Iranian border, and other sites near Baghdad were disarmed by the Americans. The MEK leadership moved swiftly to distance itself from Saddam Hussein..
“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…
A separate justice system for American Muslims, the US embrace of terrorism, and other key political facts are highlighted..MEK achieved its goal by doing more than merely changing the beneficiaries of its actions from Saddam to the US and Israel. It also found a way – how it did so remains a mystery – to funnel millions of dollars into the bank accounts of key ex-officials from both parties..
US policy change on banned Iranian group came after extraordinary fundraising operation to transform its Images.. To the US government, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK) was a terrorist group alongside al-Qaida, Hamas and the Farc in Colombia. The MEK landed on the list in 1997 with American blood on its hands and by allying itself with Saddam Hussein along with a long list of bombings inside Iran.
The campaign to bury the MEK’s bloody history of bombings and assassinations that killed American businessmen, Iranian politicians and thousands of civilians, and to portray it as a loyal US ally against the Islamic government in Tehran has seen large sums of money directed at three principal targets: members of Congress, Washington lobby groups and influential former officials.
But the openness of the campaign and the large amounts of money backing it, with donations to congressional campaign funds and large payments for speeches in support of the MEK aka MKO/PMOI, has prompted an investigation into potential breaches of laws against financial dealings with banned organisations ..
However, there are limits to the logic of”the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. The decision by the US and UK to permit arms sales to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq propped up a regime even worse than the one it was fighting against (Iran), and enabled Saddam to subsequently invade Kuwait…. there is a strong credibility gap between the group’s rhetoric and its past actions, especially its associations with Saddam between 1986 and 2003.According to the Council on Foreign Relations, MEK directly participated in the savage reprisals against ..
the People’s Mujahedin, otherwise known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq, called monafeqin (hypocrites) by their detractors and either PMOI, MKO or MeK for short, have been around for nearly half a century..Iranians who live in Iran regard the PMOI as totally marginal to contemporary politics. At best it’s seen an embittered faction whose main constituency is gullible western politicians. At worst, its members are regarded as lunatics who sided with the enemy..