NIAC

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Washington’s favorite Terrorists

Since early January 2011, the MEK has spent millions of dollars on lobbyists, PR agents and communications firms to build up pressure on Secretary Hillary Clinton to take the group off of the terrorist list. Their argument is that the MEK rejected violence and terrorism in 2001 and as a result should be de-listed.

Sometime in August, Secretary Clinton will decide whether to keep the Mujahedin-e Khalq on the US’s terrorist list.

Former senior U.S. officials have called Mujahedin “Iran’s hope.” They have said Mujahedin leader Maryam Rajavi “should be recognized as the President of Iran.” Some have already acknowledged received cash to support the organization.

In Congress, massive lobbying efforts have convinced many that Mujahedin is the “main opposition in Iran” and that the Mujahedin speaks for the Iranian people and the Iranian-American community.

Of course, it isn’t true that the MEK has really abandoned its old ways. Ray Takeyh testified before Congress on the subject of the MEK earlier this month, and he addressed the idea that the MEK has changed:

The core of MEK’s ideology has always been anti-imperialism which it has historically defined as opposition to U.S. interests. The MEK opposed the Shah partly because of his close associations with the United States. MEK’s anti-American compulsions propelled it toward embracing an entire spectrum of radical forces ranging from the Vietcong to the PLO. Given its mission of liberating the working class and expunging the influence of predatory capitalism, the United States has traditionally been identified as a source of exploitation and injustice in MEK literature. As the organization has lost its Iraqi patron and finds itself without any reliable allies, it has somehow modulated its language and sought to moderate its anti-American tone.

A recently disclosed FBI report from 2004 reveals Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, Rajavi cult) continued to plan terrorist acts years after they claimed to renounce terrorism. The State Department has documented the MEK’s disturbing record: killing Americans and Iranians in terrorist attacks; fighting for Saddam Hussein against Iran and assisting Saddam’s brutal campaign against Iraq’s Kurds and Shia; its”cult-like”behavior; the abuses and even torture it commits against its own members; and its support for the U.S. embassy takeover and calls for executing the hostages …

In 1991, Iraqi exiles set up the Iraq National Congress (INC) with funding from the CIA. Under the leadership of Ahmad Chalabi, and flush with tens of millions dollars in US government funding, the INC allied itself with the neoconservatives in Washington and unceasingly beat the drums of war, presenting itself as the popular democratic alternative to Saddam Hussein and feeding faulty intelligence to an eager media and Bush administration. Eventually, they succeeded in dragging the United States into disastrous war that cost Americans and Iraqis their lives and caused incalculable damage to American prestige and power.

Now, history may be repeating itself.
A segment of our political establishment that is chafing at the bit for a military attack on Iran has found their INC, in the form of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (also known as the MEK, or MKO),Download Washington Favorite Terrorists

July 23, 2011 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Congressional Leaders Voice Support for MEK Violence

Supporters of removing the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from the U.S. terrorism list convened a hearing on Capitol Hill last week in which they justified the MEK’s use of violence and even cult-like behavior in support of toppling the Iranian regime.

Ali Safavi, a senior member of the MEK’s political wing, the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), coached witnesses before and during the hearing. The NCRI is designated as a terrorist affiliate of the MEK.

Washington, DC – Congressional supporters of the drive to remove the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from the U.S. terrorism list defended the organization’s use of violence at a hearing on Capitol Hill last week. The hearing was also remarkable in that senior leaders of the designated foreign terrorist organization were caught counseling some of the witnesses before the hearing. It is illegal to coordinate with a foreign terrorist organization to advocate on behalf of the terrorist group.

Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, compared the use of terrorism by MEK to violence employed during the American Revolutionary War. He justified the “cult-like” behavior of the MEK, saying American revolutionaries included "religious fanatics and Christian cults.”

Rohrabacher called for the MEK to be removed from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list, which

Alireza Jafarzadeh, who has served as NCRI spokesman, counseled former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey prior to his testimony.

prevents the group from receiving government funding and makes it illegal for MEK to operate in the U.S. "Any group that chooses to use violence to resist doesn’t make them right or wrong,” Rohrabacher stated. “Backing people who fight against tyranny is also something the U.S. should be doing.”

Despite the terrorist listing, Ali Safavi, a senior member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, was at the hearing, where he openly counseled witnesses before and during their testimony. The NCRI is the MEK’s political wing and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

The hearing’s witnesses included three former U.S. officials who have actively participated in pro-MEK conferences, including former Bush Administration Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

All three witnesses who previously appeared at MEK conferences unanimously called for the MEK to be removed from the terror list, though none were asked to disclose whether they had received money to support the organization, as have other officials who have advocated for delisting the group.

The lone dissenting voice among the witnesses, former Obama Administration advisor Ray Takeyh, was subjected to an intense back and forth with Representatives on the panel.

Individuals wearing yellow jerseys featuring pro-MEK slogans filled the hearing room to capacity.

Takeyh warned panelists who viewed MEK as a viable alternative to the Iranian regime that the organization has no support in Iran.

“I don’t agree," responded Representative Bob Filner (D-CA). "Even if you’re right, so what?”

Filner laughed off evidence that MEK President Maryam Rajavi is a cult leader, despite reports from the State Department and FBI of “cult-like” practices by MEK that include indoctrination rituals and torture. "She is as intelligent, humorous, humane and humble as anyone I’ve ever met," Filner observed, recounting what he said have been numerous meetings he has held in Paris with Rajavi.

Filner accused Takeyh of justifying violence against the MEK by highlighting the group’s history of terrorism, and said the U.S. should be supporting the organization as a “third way” alternative in Iran because it opposes the Iranian regime.

“These are our friends! We should be getting out of their way and de-list them,” Filner exclaimed. “Let them do what they can! Why are we helping Iran by not helping the MEK?”

Rohrabacher defended the MEK’s history of violence, saying, “This is a territory that’s filled with violence—I would be surprised if there wasn’t any organization that wasn’t in some way involved with using force to protect themselves.”

"Oh I would disagree with that," responded Takeyh. "Within Iran there are many opposition movements, such as the Green Movement, that explicitly reject violence.”

But Rohrabacher was adamant in his support for MEK. “I will have to admit the thing that attracts me to this movement is that it is willing to fight," he responded. “It won’t just be pacifists," Rohrabacher said, referring dismissively to the Green Movement, "it will be people with courage and people who stand up.”

Mukasey, in addition to calling for the MEK to be removed from the terrorism list, urged that MEK members be allowed to resettle in the United States. Mukasey acknowledged that members of terrorist organizations are legally barred from entering the U.S., and suggested legislation be introduced to change the law for MEK members.

Prior to the hearing, Mukasey was witnessed receiving coaching from Alireza Jafarzadeh, who served as the official spokesman for the NCRI before it was declared a terrorist group and its offices raided by the FBI in 2003.

Meanwhile, many were turned away from the hearing or sent to the overflow room to watch the proceedings because the hearing room was at capacity. It was filled with individuals in yellow jerseys emblazoned with the slogans, “De-list the MEK,” “Protect Ashraf,” and “Ramp up sanctions.”

July 14, 2011 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MEK supporters brought to testify before Congress

Former U.S. officials have admitted to receiving cash to speak at pro-MEK conferences. Now, officials who may be getting paid to publicly advocate in support of MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq) are being invited to testify before Congress. MEK supporters brought to testify before Congress

Today at 2pm, a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee is holding a hearing on the MEK in which three out of the four witnesses have appeared at conferences to advocate for the MEK to be removed from the U.S. terror list.

Among the officials is former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who flew to Paris last December to appear alongside MEK leader Maryam Rajavi and call for the U.S. to remove MEK from the terrorist list and start “offering all possible overt and covert support to the opposition.”

Interestingly, the only official testifying today who has not participated in pro-MEK events, Ray Takeyh, has been falsely smeared by MEK as being “pro-ayatollah” and “a leading figure of the pro-Iranian regime circles.”

Unfortunately, none of this comes as a surprise. In fact, the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and top members like Ted Poe (R-TX), are themselves avowed supporters of the MEK. They even recently led a delegation to Iraq where they pushed the MEK agenda and promptly got themselves kicked out of the country. The embarrassing incident prompted the U.S. Embassy in Iraq to publicly distance itself from Rohrabacher and his pals and explain the group did not speak for the U.S.

If only now somebody would step up to explain why the laws aren’t being enforced to prevent former officials from getting paid to appear alongside terrorist leaders like Maryam Rajavi.

July 9, 2011 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Tell the U.S. Government to Say NO to Mujahedin Khalq

Sometime in August, Secretary Clinton will decide whether to keep the Mujahedin-e Khalq on the US’s terrorist list. This is a decision that will have significant implications for the Iranian-American community, the United States and the people of Iran.

Members of NIAC have urged us to speak out, because delisting the Mujahedin would undermine the peaceful Iranian pro-democracy movement . It would threaten the free voices of the Iranian-American community in the US. And it would allow the Mujahedin to receive US funding and become a powerful force in support of war with Iran, just like the Iraqi exiles who deceived us into war with Iraq did.

Supporting terrorists and replacing Iranian regime with an undemocratic cult that tortures its own members is a recipe for disaster.

In Congress, massive lobbying efforts have convinced many that Mujahedin is the “main opposition in Iran” and that the Mujahedin speaks for the Iranian people and the Iranian-American community.

It’s time to set the record straight.
Tell Congress, the State Department, and the Justice Department: the Mujahedin does NOT speak for the Iranian-American community and does NOT represent Iran’s peaceful democratic movement.

July 9, 2011 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Zionist Neocons on overdrive to use Mojahedin Khalq terrorists

Desperate times, Desperate Americans
Zionist Neocons on overdrive to use Mojahedin Khalq terrorists

Clinton Testifies on Iran Sanctions, Nuclear Enrichment, and the MEK

Washington, DC – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared before separate Congressional panels Tuesday and Wednesday to testify on the State Department’s budget and priorities. The hearings featured a series of pointed exchanges regarding Iran’s nuclear program, US sanctions, and the terrorist designation of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK).

Clinton reiterated the Obama Administration position, first made explicit in an interview with the BBC in December, that the United States, as well as the international community, could accept a verifiably peaceful enrichment program in Iran if the country allays international concerns about its nuclear program.

Responding to Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Clinton said, “It has been our position that, under very strict conditions, Iran would sometime in the future, having responded to the international community’s concerns and irreversibly shut down its nuclear weapons program, have a right [to enrichment] under IAEA inspection.”

Chabot, who is the Chairman of the House Middle East Subcommittee, suggested the US should return to the “zero-enrichment” stance towards Iran adopted under the Bush Administration. He highlighted a Senate letter demanding that the US reject any solution to the Iran nuclear issue that allows a civilian enrichment in Iran. Non-proliferation experts have warned that such a position would pose unrealistic obstacles to a resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue and have supported the Obama Administration’s stance.

Several House Representatives also questioned Clinton regarding the MEK, an organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) since the inception of the terrorist list in 1997. Top Democrat on the Terrorism subcommittee, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), was among several Representatives who endorsed removing the group from the list. Sherman has previously said the MEK, which enjoys little support among Iranians because of attacks its carried out against civilians and its allegiance with Saddam Hussein, should not be considered a terrorist organization because “they are enemies of enemies of the United States.”

More than a half-dozen of the MEK’s supporters sat in on the House hearing, a fact acknowledged by Clinton. Organization supporters also demonstrated outside of the Senate.
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), who has introduced a resolution calling for the MEK to be removed from the terror list, compared the organization to other historical opposition movements in the Middle East. […]

House Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) also asked for “US protection of the many residents of Camp Ashraf,” the organization’s base in Iraq. While Ros-Lehtinen emphasized an Iranian and Iraqi government role in abuses at Camp Ashraf, Human Rights Watch has reported that MEK leadership actually commits abuses within the camp, including forced separation from family and physical abuse that has led to death. The RAND Corporation has also reported that the MEK is “cult” and that up to 70% of the individuals at Camp Ashraf are held by MEK leadership against their will.

Clinton told the committee that the State Department is currently reviewing the MEK’s designation as a terrorist group and is committed to protecting the residents of Camp Ashraf as the United States reduces its presence in Iraq.

Members of Congress also repeatedly pressed Clinton on the issue of sanctions, urging for unilateral measures against firms from China, Venezuela, and elsewhere that have allegedly invested in Iran’s energy and banking sectors in violation of US sanction law. Clinton emphasized successful efforts to build an international sanctions regime and noted that the Obama administration is the first to impose sanctions on Iran under the Iran Sanctions Act. “I became the first secretary of state to impose any sanctions,” Clinton said.

Ros-Lehtinen and others in Congress are reportedly drafting new sanctions measures to expand Congress’ role in the sanctions process and limit the President’s authority. Clinton warned against actions that could weaken the international sanctions effort. “When you’re trying to sanction Iran,” she said, “no matter how powerful the United States is economically and no matter how much we can do on our own, it is imperative we get the international community to support it, otherwise there is just too much leakage.”

March 5, 2011 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Pressure on Administration to Take MKO terror Group off Terrorist List

Washington, DC – Efforts in the House of Representatives to press the Obama Administration to remove the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MEK) from the United States list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations have accelerated in the past week.

The State Department describes the MEK as a “cult-like” terrorist organization that “uses propaganda and terrorism to achieve its objectives.” Human Rights Watch has reported that MEK leadership has engaged in human rights violations against its membership at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.

But last Tuesday, six Members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging that the State Department remove the Marxist Islamist group from the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

The letter highlights a House resolution, H.Res. 1431, calling for the group’s removal from the terrorist list, introduced by California Democratic Representative Bob Filner, one of the MEK’s staunchest supporters in Congress. The MEK, which is known by numerous aliases, including MKO, the People’s Mojahadeen of Iran (PMOI) and the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), has an active presence on Capitol Hill, and the Filner resolution has garnered over 100 cosponsors.

“Removing the MEK from the FTO [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] list is not only the right thing to do, but it also sends the right message to Tehran,” reads the letter, which was signed by Representatives Filner, Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Ted Poe (R-TX), Judy Chu (D-CA), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), and Mike Coffman (R-CO).

According to the State Department, the MEK has “staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and killed several US military personnel and civilians,” and until 2003 received Oil-for-Food program subsidies from Saddam Hussein to plan and execute future terrorist attacks. The MEK’s “leadership and members across the world maintain the capacity and will to commit terrorist acts in Europe, the Middle East, the United State, Canada, and beyond,” reads the State Department terrorist designation of the group. Additionally, the State Department says the MEK has “cult-like characteristics”:

"Upon entry into the group, new members are indoctrinated in MEK ideology and revisionist Iranian history. Members are also required to undertake a vow of "eternal divorce" and participate in weekly "ideological cleansings." Additionally, children are reportedly separated from parents at a young age. MEK leader Maryam Rajavi has established a "cult of personality." She claims to emulate the Prophet Muhammad and is viewed by members as the "Iranian President in exile."

The MEK asserts that it no longer engages in terror tactics. But a 2007 Rand report (pdf) describes the MEK as “skilled manipulators of public opinion.” The report, commissioned on behalf of the US Department of Defense, says, “During the more than four decades since its founding, the MEK has become increasingly adept at crafting and promoting its image as a democratic organization that seeks to bring down Iranian tyrants, both secular and religious.”

The group’s supporters in Congress call the MEK the “main opposition in Iran,” although top Green Movement leaders have denounced the group. […]Iranians widely oppose the MEK because of the terrorist attacks carried out by the group in Iran, as well as its allegiance with Saddam Hussein, who utilized the group to carry out attacks during the Iran-Iraq war and to suppress the Kurdish population in Iraq.[…]

Representative Brad Sherman, Democrat from California, said last week that his Subcommittee on Terrorism “should take that bill seriously,” and blamed the State Department for not providing necessary briefings on the matter. Sherman, who has previously stated that sanctions should punish the Iranian people, said that he has a briefing request from intelligence officials pending on the MEK designation. Sherman has argued that the US should not designate groups like MEK as terrorists because they are “not enemies of the United States but are enemies of the enemies of the United States.”

That formulation was repeated last week at the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Rep. Rohrabacher, who told Administration officials that the MEK, “are currently allied with us in the war against radical Islam, especially against the regime in Iran,” and “should not be taken for granted.” The hearing, on the topic of the US transition to a civilian role in Iraq, provided a platform for Congressional MEK supporters, including the Committee’s incoming chairwoman, Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen, to press Administration officials about Camp Ashraf in Iraq.

MEK supporters in Congress have frequently cited the human rights conditions at Camp Ashraf, which is now under jurisdiction of an Iraqi government that is viewed as hostile towards the group, as a justification for removing the group’s terrorist designation. However, Human Rights Watch filed a report on behalf of the UN Refugee Agency asserting that MEK leadership committed human rights abuses against its own members. The 2005 report (No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camp) notes that abuses “ranged from prolonged incommunicado and solitary confinement to beatings, verbal and psychological abuse, coerced confessions, threats of execution, and torture that in two cases led to death.”

November 27, 2010 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Trita Parsi’s response to MKO’s allegations against NIAC

Trita Parsi’s Response to Eli Lake’s Story

Here’s the response from the National Iranian-American Council to Eli Lake’s article which suggests that the group lobbies for Iran:

Washington DC – NIAC is proud of its work to advance US national security through a smarter and more effective policy on Iran. NIAC rejects the insinuations made by Washington Times that its activities are in violation of tax laws, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and lobbying disclosure laws.

NIAC has provided tens of thousands of documents and all its financial records in order to prosecute a defamation case against Hassan Dai. Those documents prove the allegations made against NIAC are completely false. The judge denied Dai’s motion to dismiss the case on 18 out of 19 counts. Realizing this, the defendants have decided to maliciously leak those documents to a reporter at the Washington Times, Eli Lake, in an attempt to litigate the case in the media rather than in a court of law.

NIAC is a 501 (c)3 educational organization representing Americans of Iranian descent. It engages in educational, advocacy and limited lobbying activities in accordance with US laws and regulations. NIAC does not lobby on behalf of the Islamic Republic. NIAC advocates on behalf of the Iranian-American community, who overwhelmingly oppose the policies of the government of Iran.

Mr. Lake’s article does not present any evidence for any of its claims and stops short of making any direct accusations. Instead, it makes insinuations and engages in conspiratorial speculation, presumably with the aim of sowing seeds of doubt in the minds of the public about NIAC and fabricating a controversy around the organization.

This follows by now a familiar pattern in which neo-conservative activists have sought to smear and defame NIAC by making accusations, innuendos and speculation, without providing any evidence to back their claims.

In fact, evidence is to the contrary. Why would Ambassador John Limbert, a former hostage imprisoned for 444 days by the government in Iran, join the advisory board of an organization that supposedly represents the interests of the very same government that imprisoned him? This claim is illogical at best and ludicrous at worst.

Mr. Lake has selectively focused on emails and documents that fit with his pre-determined verdict against NIAC. Though the basis of Lake’s article is misinformation about NIAC provided by Hassan Dai, Lake did not ask a single question about our lawsuit, why it was filed, our understanding of Dai’s political motivations and Dai’s connections to the Iranian terrorist organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq. NIAC encouraged Lake to investigate the evidence of Dai’s role in the Mujahedin-e Khalq. However, Lake declined to investigate his own sources.

It is clear that some neo-conservative elements wish to divide the Iranian Diaspora at a time when unity is needed more than ever for the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people to be achieved. While some prominent figures in the Iranian Diaspora have misunderstood NIAC’s activities, we are reaching out to them and we refuse to walk into this trap of pitting members of the community against each other.

NIAC has given the Iranian-American community a powerful voice in Washington DC that has effectively pushed for greater focus on human rights in Iran, opposed war between the US and Iran, opposed broad-based sanctions that hurt the Iranian people while strengthening its hard-line government, and supported diplomacy between the two countries to resolve their differences in a peaceful manner.

November 21, 2009 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

NIAC issues statement against MKO misinformation campaign

NIAC Stands by its Record of Pursuing Peace Through Diplomacy

The following statement was issued by NIAC in response to today’s article in the Washington Times:

November 14, 2009 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

The Risk of a US-Iran Proxy War

Washington DC – NIAC held a briefing yesterday on Capitol Hill to shed light on the risk of a possible proxy war between the USA and Iran through various sectarian and political groups in Iran and Iraq, including the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The event featured Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.), an expert on strategy and military organizations.

Gardiner spoke of the clandestine support offered by Iran for groups in Iraq and by the USA for entities using violence against Iran.

He argued that the proxy war is already well under way, even though it contradicts the diplomatic approach currently propagated by the US military and state department, and even though some of the possible groups supported are designated by the US State Department as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

The proxy war has created an atmosphere, in Gardiner’s view, in which incidents that otherwise could be handled could now ignite a much larger conflict.

Gardiner’s presentation took place against the backdrop of recent media reports pointing towards a US-Iran proxy war with clandestine US support for militant groups fighting Tehran and vice versa. The briefing provided lawmakers and staff in Congress an opportunity to look more deeply into this issue.

The event is part of NIAC’s US-Iran Policy Program, which is funded by the Ploughshares Fund, the Kenbe Foundation, the Pluralism Fund, the Colombe Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Julia Murray, NIAC, Jul 31, 2008

http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1187&Itemid=2

August 3, 2008 0 comment

Hassan Dai

NIAC Files Defamation Lawsuit against Hassan Daioleslam

Washington, DC – On April 30, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) filed a lawsuit against Hassan Daioleslam in response to his defamatory articles about NIAC. Daioleslam, who has been identified by former members of the terrorist-listed Mujahedin organization as a member of the group’s executive committee, has since early 2007 mischaracterized NIAC’s anti-war and pro-diplomacy activities as serving the interest of the Iranian government. His writings have mostly appeared on right-wing blogs and in neo-conservative outlets.

NIAC welcomes a substantive debate on issues concerning Iranians Americans. It has repeatedly asked Daioleslam to engage in a constructive dialogue, but despite NIAC’s efforts, Daioleslam has continued to do nothing but defame NIAC through defamation, slander misquotations and false linkages to entities and figures that have played no role in NIAC’s inception, operations or development.

Hassan Daioleslam

The decision to pursue legal action against Daioleslam has been motivated by NIAC’s strong conviction that the undemocratic practice of using defamation and character assassination to achieve political ends must be eradicated in order for the Iranian-American community to fully mature politically and play a strong role in American democracy.

“The Iranian-American community desires and deserves to play a positive role in American democracy,”said Alex Patico, co-founder of NIAC.”But practices such as slander and defamation do not belong in a democracy. The rule of this great democracy is that freedom of speech comes with great responsibility. You simply cannot lie and slander with impunity.”

Disagreements on matters of policy are natural and healthy, but personal attacks merely detract from healthy debate, chill the energies of well-meaning participants, and distort the process. If such attacks are not grounded in truth, the process suffers even further.

In Iran, like in most on-democratic countries, defamation and character assassinations are often treated as a legitimate part of politicking. In the United States, some Iranian Americans still operate under that assumption, despite having become a part of a country where such tactics are legally prohibited.

NIAC is not the only entity slandered by Mr. Daioleslam. He has a track record of attacking and defaming any individuals in the US who advocate a non-military path towards resolving tensions between the US and Iran. Besides NIAC, Daioleslam has also attacked Professor Vali Nasr at Tufts University, Robin Wright of the Washington Post, foreign policy experts Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations and Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institute to name a few.

NIAC welcomes a fair debate on the merits of war and peace, but Mr. Daioleslam’s tactics do not serve such a debate and are not legitimate components of it. They are not only destructive, but illegal.

“Our hope is that the lawsuit will not only put an end to the defamation activities of Hassan Daioleslam, but also the general practice of defamation, slander and rumor making in the Iranian American political culture,”said Trita Parsi, NIAC President.”Our community will never live up to its full potential in America unless these undemocratic practices are put aside.”

National Iranian American Council

May 15, 2008 0 comment

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