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Herd mentality helped the Rajavis run their cult

Cults make the news when there is a large number of deaths of their victims. Terrorism is also in the news when there is violence or catastrophe, such as numerous acts of terror all over the world by alQaeda, ISIS and other terrorist groups. Not all cults are dangerous but there is a risk and likelihood of violence from cult members. As their name implies, terrorists intentionally use violence to achieve their goals, but cult members are always potentially expected to turn into terrorists.

The same person can be identified as a”cult member”or”terrorist”in one society and at the same time welcomed as a”freedom fighter”or”hero”in her or his own group. In case of members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/the Cult of Rajavi),”terrorist”can simply fit the group based on its evident undisputed background of violent acts although it not listed as a terrorist organization by western states.
The group leaders claim that they are”freedom fighters for people”which is the equivalent of the term”Mujahedin_e Khalq”. However, the group is considered as a cult by experts and based on many evidences. Leaders of the Cult of Rajavi have used manipulative techniques to run their cult.
Herd mentality is a behavior pattern in human beings that helps leaders to program the crowd. Once the crowd is programmed, cult leaders indoctrinate them. Members of the MEK have been enduring the state of being programmed for over 40 years –at least since Massoud Rajavi became the leader of the group.

https://dlb.nejatngo.org/Media/Documentary/Populist_Marxist_Cult.mp4

In the late 1979, following the Iranian revolution and the MEK’s breakdown with the newly established Iranian government, the MEK formed its militia. The semi military MEK members included ambitious youth who were recruited by the MEK agents; they were excited and influenced by their leaders and peers to commit certain acts of violence. They were terribly influenced by the leaders of the MEK. The consequence was the loss of thousands of innocent civilians, the arrest and the execution of a large number of the group members by the Iranian government.
This was how herd mentality functioned. When a crowd is led under herd mentality, it adopts some characteristics:
*They lose fear of the consequences so they commit any violent act that they are ordered or indoctrinated to do even if their victims are children and women. The documents on MEK’s homicide or suicide attacks against civilians is the proof.
*They lose moral responsibility; they are no more sensitive to violation of moral, religious or social norms. They are told to boycott their family, to divorce their spouses, to leave their children, to insult them all and they are coerced to accept.
*They enjoy a feeling of invincibility. Thus they are courageous enough to act unethically, immorally and violently. They are ready to set themselves on fire for the release of their leader Maryam Rajavi.
*The act of the crowd is contagious. This is empowered by peer pressure in the cults. In the Cult of Rajavi peer pressure is a tool to keep members under control. Self-criticism sessions are regularly held inside Camp Ashraf 3 in which members have to confess their thoughts in front of their peers and eventually get verbal and physical abused by them.
*The crowd interests are preferred over personal interests. This turns out to be a jargon in the cults that every cult member should follow. In the MEK, the consequences of such a jargon have been a range of human rights abuses including forced labor, sleep deprivation, mandatory celibacy, separation of children from parents and etc.
Even irrational acts become contagious. Self-immolations of a dozen of MEK members in June 2003 to protest the arrest of Maryam Rajavi by the French Police is an example of irrational acts. Agitated by the group’s propaganda and manipulative meetings, certain members were not able to decide over their lives. Herd mentality and eventually cult-like indoctrinations made them choose that catastrophic death.
*Human herding is usually led by a Demagogue. In case of the MEK, Maryam Rajavi tries her best to play the part of a demagogue. Despite the huge violation of human rights that are taking place in her establishment, she always vows for democracy, women rights and freedom in Iran. Although she hardly ever enjoys Iranians’ public support, her claims can be taken as serious by the isolated members inside the cult or at least she wishes to influence them.
Being in a cult, under the rule of a Demagogue, individuals enter a hypnotic-like state mesmerized by the leader. So the leader can influence the crowd. Glorified as”unique gems”who are”freedom fighters”for the Iranian Khalq (people), the MEK member became more and more suggestible. They started to turn Rajavi’s thoughts to acts. This has had a lot of disastrous outcomes in the MEK. To mention one, you can refer to the marriage of Massoud Rajavi with a large number of female members of the group’s Elite Council.
In human societies, herding often involves people using the actions of others as a guide to sensible behavior, instead of independently seeking out high-quality information about the likely outcomes of these actions. It seems that destructive cults such as the MEK go much further misusing this behavior pattern in human beings. The outcome has been numerous acts of violence against the Iranian civilians, Iraqi Kurds and even their own members.
Those who could manage to leave the MEK, before their departure they definitely could take some time and look at what they were following for decades, who they were following and why. They might be surprised by what they found. That was the time they could make a decision by their own. However, most of these people were not lucky enough to find a way to escape the group.
The human rights bodies including the UNHCR must take proper action to help those MEK members who are under the rule of Rajavi’s cult of personality. The threat of a cult herding some thousand rank and file should not be neglected.
Mazda Parsi

December 10, 2019 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq as an Opposition Group

MEK money transfers under the request of Quadras

Russian And American Geopolitical Scheming And The Destabilization Of Europe

The Spanish government has been recently investigating the activities of Denis Sergeev, a Russian spy and intelligence agent, and his alleged involvement in the rebellious Catalonian election of 2017 in which Catalans voted to secede from Madrid. They say that Sergeev is a member of “Unit 29155” which consists mainly of veterans of Russia’s bloodiest wars, including in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Ukraine.

One retired G.R.U. officer with knowledge of Unit 29155 who spoke anonymously said that the unit was efficient in preparing for “diversionary” missions, “in groups or individually — bombings, murders, anything.” “They were serious guys who served there,” explained the retired officer. “They were officers who worked undercover and as international agents.”

Sergeev went by the alias, Sergey Fedotov and according to the Passenger Name Record (PNR) database, which is used by airlines to document all of their travelers, he took two trips to Spain. In the first trip, Sergeev was in Madrid on November 5, 2016 and stayed there for six days before returning to Moscow through Zurich. Sergeev’s second trip was on September 29, 2017, only two days before the Catalan separatist referendum which occurred on October 1st. This time he stayed in Spain until October 9th and then returned to Moscow through Geneva. There is no known documentation about further trips. This information has been discovered in the investigation opened by High Court Judge Manuel García-Castellón and which is currently sealed but has been revealed by El Pais. The inquiry into Sergeev’s activities is being conducted by the National Police force’s General Information Office.

Vzglyad has a dark history. It was founded by Russian troll and politician, Konstantin Rykov who also went by his internet pseudonym, “Jason Foris.” His snide, trolling and attention grabbing ways earned him millions as an internet entrepreneur and even got him elected into the Russian Parliament. Rykov spent years on the internet as a troll, and would eventually land himself in a position to help put Russia in the battlefield of the trolling world online. Rykov created accounts on Russian social media sites like Vkontakte (VK), Live Journal, and Odnoklassniki, where he accrued large followings by sharing pictures of scantily clad women, telling crude jokes and spreading a satiric, nihilistic brand of humor. He eventually got a position with Russia’s state-owned Channel 1 as the head of its internet department. 2005 would be the year that Rykov would create the online publication, Vzglyad, which would eventually become a mouthpiece for the Kremlin. In fact, President Vladimir Putin’s former deputy chief of staff, Vladislav Surkov, had direct ties to Vzglyad’s editorial department and determined what they published.

Alexander Shmelev, who served as Vzglyad’s editor-in-chief in 2007 and 2008, recounted the type of control the Russian government had on the paper’s articles:

“There were weekly meetings at the presidential administration … Sometimes, there were situations when we published something, and Surkov’s assistant who was in charge of the media, Alexey Chesnakov, called and said, ‘No, please, replace this article,’ or, ‘Please, publish something about this issue.’”

Shmelev, exasperated over how much control the state had over the publication, left Vzgylad. In 2008, when Russia invaded Georgia, the general consensus in online media was that Russia was the aggressor and the antagonist. This pushed Russia to shift its gears from just being focused on television and newspapers to the internet. Russia had to adapt to the world of internet propaganda. Shmelev explained:

“It was discussed that we lost the information war — that on the internet, everyone around the world believes that Russia suddenly attacked Georgia, and the topic of Georgia attacking South Ossetia is never mentioned and that we came to protect it … We need to change this somehow, we need to learn to be proactive, we need to learn to work not only in the Russian segment of the internet but in the internet in general.”

Through Vladislav Surkov, Putin’s administration began signaling to Konstantin Rykov that they were interested in his skills as a troll. As we read from Molly Schwartz:

“In 2007, Surkov organized private fundraisers for Rykov’s ventures. Rykov was elected to the Russian Parliament in 2008 as a member of the United Russia party, the same party as Putin. Rykov was only 28-years-old.

In return, Rykov developed tactics to help the Kremlin boost support for its image online. Shmelev says that he attracted a new community of supporters for the government by advertising pro-Kremlin articles on sites like Mail.ru, porn websites and humor websites. Rykov showed the Kremlin how to spread competing narratives on social media to deflect attention away from reporting that was critical of their activities.”

Rykov’s Vzglyad site became, and still is a, a means to spreading propaganda and information that Russia wants inculcated online, nationalist and anti-European Union sentiment.

On September 8th of 2017, Vzglyad published another article stating: “Catalan politicians are already discussing what they’ll do after proclaiming independence. One of them told Vzglyad that Catalonia will seek recognition for Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” two regions that Russia recognized as autonomous and independent from Georgia in 2008. This one politician was J. Enric Folch Vila of the obscure Catalan separatist party, Solidaritat Catalana. In September of 2016, Folch attended a conference in Moscow funded by the Russian government and organized by the Russian Anti-Globalization Movement (MAR). “We were invited by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, because the reason for the meeting was to meet other nations without a State or that seek to achieve independence. Basically, the objective was to contact other nations or countries that are in these processes, and make a change of impressions,” explained Folch. According to the president of the Anti-Globalization Movement, Alexander Ivanov, about 30% of the group’s general budget come from the Russian government. They have also received separatists from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Catalonia, and the Basque country. One thing that is fascinating about this group is how its name “anti-globalism” echoes the rhetoric of those on the Alt-Right, that is, that they are against “globalism,” which simply means, amongst other things, that they are against immigration and want to create a fixation on national pride and tribalism.

This tribalism can be seen in Folch who has called for open rebellion against Madrid and says that the days of reasoning with Spain are over, exlaiming : “We will follow our own law, our own institutions, our own Catalan Republic”.

In 2017, Pravda, the official newspaper for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, put out an article that said: “if Catalans hold the referendum and unilaterally declare independence, there will be a precedent for the EU similar to Crimea.” This article was shared by two Twitter accounts owned by Pravda, @pravda.ru and @pravdaonline, both of which have over a quarter of a million followers. Another Twitter account that advances the pro-Russian view, while at the same time disseminating propaganda for European nationalist parties (like the AfD), is Voice of Europe , which has over a quarter of a million followers. This page has retweeted posts sympathetic to the Catalan cause and with sensational titles like: “Spain BOILS: EU REFUSES to act for Catalonia despite Spain ‘violating basic human rights,’” or “Spain in CRISIS: Troops sent in as 40,000 protest over ‘WAR’ on Catalan independence vote.”

The Spanish Twitter account for RT (the most popular media voice for the Russian government), RT en Espanol which has over three million followers, and its Facebook page (currently over seven million followers) has posted stories with titles like “Catalonia: the dictator Francisco Franco has returned victoriously.” This last line on Franco implies that Spain, because she has suppressed the Catalan separatist movement, is like her past “dictator,” Francisco Franco.

The agenda of these media publications is to rile up the separatist side to vote in favor for their cause. Spain’s Defence Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal, said back in 2017:

“What we know today is that much of this came from Russian territory … These are groups that, public and private, are trying to influence the situation and create instability in Europe”

When Spain’s Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, was asked if he is emphatically sure of Russian meddling, he responded: “Yes, we have proof.” According to Dastis, a Spanish investigation confirmed a plethora of fake accounts on social media expressing support for Catalan separatism. These accounts were traced back to Russia and another 30% of them to Venezuela.

It makes sense as to why Russia would have an interest in Catalan nationalism, just like it makes sense that they would have an interest in nationalist parties like the AfD in Germany. By splitting up Spain, several things happen: firstly, it would destroy the European Union as we know it today, and secondly it would give the pretext to Germany to reinstate herself as the military ruler of Europe.

Germany is currently the economic controller of her continent, but she is still under American eyes when it comes to military defense. If Catalonia splits from Spain, it would trigger a continental emergency that Germany would then use to justify a return to militarism in the name of ‘European unity.’ Lets remember that Nazi Germany’s warpath did not begin in Poland nor Czechoslovakia, but in Spain, when the Spanish Civil War broke out after Franco and soldiers loyal to him overthrew the Left-wing government of Manuel Azana. Hitler used the conflict as an excuse to send in the German military to fight off the Left-wing forces that were combating the nationalists who would be on the side of Franco.

Hitler and Mussolini sent over 90,000 troops into Spain to back the Spanish nationalists (Ganser, NATO’s Secret Armies, ch. 8, p. 104) During the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union supplied the Spanish Left-wing fighters with weapons and training. It was a proxy war between Germany and Russia for power and influence over Europe. Hitler helped Franco’s regime, not because he really sympathized with Catholics who were being butchered by the anarchists and Republicans (Hitler butchered millions of Catholic Poles), rather he did so because he wanted to expand Germany’s geopolitical leverage, hence why Franco sent the Spanish military’s Blue Division to the Russian front to fight alongside the Wehrmacht (Ibid). Stalin backed the Popular Front government which was a coalition of Left-wing parties such as the Spanish Communist Party and the PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party). What is very interesting is that the PSOE, through Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, is the very party that today authorized the removal of Franco’s remains from the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum, an action which has angered the Right-wing but has pleased the Left. As we read from Time Magazine:

“While few defend the human rights abuses under Franco’s regime, many have argued that moving his remains serves little purpose and that his family should decide where he rests. “Sanchez has spent a year playing with [Franco’s bones] to try to divide us into reds and blues, but at this point this no longer matters to many Spaniards,” Alberto Rivera, leader of the centre-right Citizens, tweeted after the ruling.

Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s far-right party Vox, which in 2018 became the first far-right political force to win seats in national elections since Franco’s death, attacked the exhumation as “profaning tombs and digging up hatreds”.”

While the Left in Spain is becoming more aggressive, with Catalonian Leftists working for separatism and the Socialists removing Franco’s remains, the Right-wing in Spain is also rising, and this is indicated in the fact that Vox — a nationalist and Right-wing party — went from being an obscure party to one that has 52 seats in the parliament (out of 350 seats), the first time a Ring-wing party won more than one seat since Spain returned to democracy in the 1970s. With the intensification of the Right-Left rift in Spain, its as if a strategy of tension is being done to cause all of this.

Vox in fact received a substantial amount of cash from the People’s Mujahideen of Iran (the MEK) which, until recently, was classified as a terrorist organization but nonetheless has been getting American backing thanks to people like Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton and Newt Gingrich.

With such high level Republicans backing the MEK, it is fitting to quote Dina Esfandiary who wrote that the Trump administration “provides a platform to groups like the Mujahideen-e Khalq, an exiled Iranian resistance group once listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government”.

In April of 2019, documents leaked to El Pais revealed that between its founding in December 2013 and the European Parliament elections in May 2014, Vox received almost a million euros from the MEK’s front group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). It was not as though the financial relationship between Vox and the NCRI began gradually, but right when Vox was founded. Joaquín Gil, a journalist with El Pais, explained: “From the day it was founded in December 2013—the same day that it registered as a political party with the Spanish Ministry of Interior—Vox started to receive Iranian funds”. These funds came from different countries including the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and Italy in amounts ranging from 60 to 35,000 euros, totaling almost 972,000 euros, from December 2013 to April 2014, right before the 2014 elections. According to Gill, Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca, who was a leading member of Vox, “asked his friends at NCRI … to instruct its followers to make a series of money transfers.”

Vidal-Quadras has confirmed that the NCRI organized the international fundraising campaign for Vox and the group was willing to discuss the matter with Spanish journalists. “We knew that it was a new party, but not a far-right one,” a spokesperson for the NCRI told El País. In fact, Vidal-Quadras admitted that the NCRI organized the international fundraising campaign for Vox. “We knew that it was a new party, but not a far-right one,” a spokesperson for the NCRI told El País. Its difficult to believe the NCRI when it was obvious from the beginning that Vox had nationalist beliefs. The main question is: what interest does an Iranian lobbyist group have with Spanish nationalists? The NCRI is backed by influential American political agents like Giuliani and Bolton. Thus it would not be shocking if it is indeed the US government backing Vox through a third party, and that the support for Vox and Catalonian nationalists by international players like Russia and the US is simply a strategy of tension to get the whole of Europe to implode.

Is it possible that the removal of Franco’s remains is really part of a strategy of tension to get the Right and Left to eventually implode in violent war within Spain? It would not be surprising, given the fact that the Soviet Union backed the Left during the Spanish Civil War. It would not be to our shock if the US is also backing the Catalan cause, since even back in 1947, the OSS (the CIA’s precursor) armed Catalonian nationalists to overthrow Franco in what is known as Operation Banana.

It was a failed operation nonetheless, since not everyone in Washington or London agreed to topple Franco and some saw him as an asset. So the militants were arrested and the coup failed. Franco solidified his relationship with the US in 1953 after he made a deal with the Americans to allow missiles, soldiers and airplanes and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) antennas in Spain. The United States backed the Spanish nationalists since the Franco regime was a true bulwark against Communism.

US intelligence collaborated with Spanish intelligence to combat Soviet influence; this was part of NATO’s Gladio operation. Andre Moyan, a leading Belgian counter-intelligence agent during the Cold War, said in an interview with the Communist newspaper, Drapeau Rouge, that Spain had played “a key role in the recruitment of Gladio agents” and that his first contacts with the Spanish Gladio network occurred in October of 1948 when “a cell of the network operated in Las Palmas” on the Spanish Canary Islands. Spain had become a center for Italian Right-wing radicals bent on overthrowing Italy’s government. For example, the Right-wing extremist, Marco Pozzan, a member of the terrorist organization, Ordine Nuovo, which was behind the massacre in the Piazza Fontana (in which 17 people were murdered) in 1969, revealed to judge Felice Casson in 1984 that there was a plethora of Italian fascists operating in Spain during the final years of Franco’s rule.

After Prince Valerio Borghese organized a failed neo-fascist coup against the Italian government on December 7th of 1970, 100 of the plotters fled to Spain. Borghese, as well as Carlo Ciuttini and Mario Ricce, regrouped in Spain under the command of the known neo-fascist terrorist, Stefano Della Chiaie. While in Spain, Chiaie was hired by the former Nazi, Otto Skorzeny (who was hired by the Spanish government as a security consultant) to target any enemies of Franco, especially anti-fascists. (Ganser, NATO’s Secret Armies, ch. 8, pp. 105-108)

If the United States was backing nationalists during the Cold War, and since the Cold War has never really ended, it would not be shocking that the US is still backing nationalists in Spain. NATO supported stay-behinds or Right-wing paramilitaries in Europe during the Gladio operation, and we know for a fact that the vice-president of Vox, Victor Gonzalez, has been involved in paramilitary training. In fact, we know this from our own personal conversion that we had with Gonzalez back in 2015.

We were in Madrid for a conference and Mr. Gonzalez, impressed by the subjects we delved in, sat by us to have a conversation on politics and religion. In the middle of the conversation, Gonzalez told us that he was a part of a secretive Catholic order that was involved in paramilitary training. He even said that he was jumping off of planes as part of the training. As he explained, this training was being done to prepare for a war with Muslims since, as he told us, “If we don’t fight them outside of Europe, then we will fight them in the streets.” He did not tell me the name of the order and when I requested an interview with him to discuss the paramilitary group he explained that he would first need permission from his superior. Weeks later we contacted Mr. Gonzalez and requested an interview to discuss his political ideology and paramilitary activity, but he declined. The fact that the vice-president of the biggest nationalist party in Spain has been, admittedly, involved in paramilitary training, should at least make us suspicious. Vox has been financed by the US-backed Iranian lobby, and its vice-president has been involved in paramilitary training. We wrote Gonzalez for this article but he declined to write us back. The apparatus has the trappings of a Gladio operation.

Russian outlets have been advancing the propaganda for Catalonian nationalism while backing other nationalisms like that of the German AfD, while at the same time the US government under the Trump administration has been pushing Germany to stop being independent on the US for its defense. Both of these actions are extremely dangerous. Russia wants to split the European Union, and if this occurs it will accelerate Germany to pursue militarist aims, since the a fragmented EU will be a national security disaster and will give Germany the opportunity to claim that allies no longer care about Europe and that European countries should follow Germany as the continent’s defender. In addition, with the US pushing for Germany to not be dependent on the US for defense spending, the Germans are taking this as a green light for German military independence. A Germany bent on military independence, alongside a fragmented Europe, will only spell disaster, and that is a revival of German military power. Russian trolling for anti-EU sentiment, and the US’ pushing for Germany to pay for her own defense, are ingredients for the recipe of Europe’s implosion.

By Walid & Theodore Shoebat
December 6, 2019

December 9, 2019 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 265

++ After the fuel demonstrations in Iran were quashed, Iran’s right wing claimed the MEK was behind the violent unrest. The MEK also claimed they were behind it. Genuine opposition groups and demonstrators said they need to have the right atmosphere and conditions so that people can demand their rights without the interference of MEK, Pompeo, bullets, burning buildings and vandalism. Commentators say that interference by MEK and such like in the protests has led to people supporting the current ruling regime or at least refusing to come out on the streets. Western support for MEK and the demonstrations at the same time is stopping the democratic processes and the struggle of the genuine human rights organisations.
++ The soul of Massoud Rajavi issued a statement in Farsi (which was not translated into English). In it he has been lashing the Saudis alongside Iranian media outlets in London (BBC Persian, Iran International, Man-o-To). Rajavi’s ghost specifically referred to Massoud Khodabandeh’s statements about gold and money being paid to MEK by the Saudis, saying these are all lies. He also verbally lashes the Saudis, telling them that they couldn’t even retaliate for the Yemeni drone attack (alleged to have been by Iran) on their oil facilities (he means they didn’t start a war against Iran) and that they are not capable of standing up to Iran.
++ The point that Massoud Rajavi’s rant has only been issued in Farsi (and from Massoud Rajavi who is presumed dead and not the current leader Maryam Rajavi) shows this has been done only to shut up the dissent inside the camp rather than being about biting the hands feeding them. Ebrahim Khodabandeh of Nejat Society wrote a short note of explanation saying that after losing Saddam, Rajavi found the Saudis as the MEK benefactor. Now that the Saudis have started talking with Iran Rajavi is in deep shit. Khodabandeh advised Rajavi to let the MEK hostages go free as it is unlikely that any other benefactor could be found to replace the Saudis.
++ After the earthquake in Albania and casualties were reported, MEK gave no response. Critics of the MEK say the MEK should publish the names of any victims to inform the families of the hostages in the camp. Instead, the MEK issued propaganda (only in Farsi) that they are helping the Albanian people – photos are published of the MEK giving glasses to a child inside a building in the camp. (Albanian news shows that the free glasses – given to the MEK by America as part of a medical care package – were distributed among the local population well before the earthquake.) In any case, MEK critics say, why not help the MEK members? What is this? Why are you helping the Albanians and not your own people?

In English:

++ Several articles identify MEK as an artificial and insidious force interfering in the fuel protests in Iran. It is acknowledged that ordinary Iranians are not seeking regime change but are protesting genuine grievances. When the violence started, ordinary Iranians went home. MEK are seen by analysts as an externally promoted force which wants to introduce extremism.
++ Following the earthquake in Albania, a report was published in Balkans Post claiming that many MEK members were killed and injured. Since the MEK has kept silent on the issue, there is no way of knowing what happened behind the closed doors of the camp.
++ Nora Doyle-Burr, Valley News reports on some MEK supporters. Maria Ryan, Cottage Hospital CEO and consort of Rudi Giuliani, has exposed herself – as many MEK fans do – as a fool for the taking. Apparently, she was moved by the plight of Iranian women only after hearing about them from Maryam Rajavi and the MEK. Since then Ryan has travelled around a bit promoting the MEK, with Giuliani. “The New York Times reported in 2011 that the group paid speakers of diverse political backgrounds between $10,000 and $50,000 per appearance”, writes Doyle-Burr. Enough said.

December 8, 2019 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq as an Opposition Group

MEK absolute silence over the Albanian earthquake

US Favors ‘Regime Change’ Not Diplomacy with Iran: Ex-US Senate Candidate

Mark Dankof, a former US Senate candidate, said the US administration is interested in “regime change” not diplomacy with respect to Iran.
“They are obviously interested in ‘regime change,’ not diplomacy, with the interests of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Central Banks, Oil-Gas Consortiums, and Armament Manufacturers being paramount,” Dankof told Tasnim.
Mark Dankof is a broadcaster for The Ugly Truth Podcast. Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, the son of a United States Air Force Colonel, he graduated from Valparaiso University in 1977 and from Chicago’s Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1983. In recent years, he has pursued post-graduate work in systematic theology and theological German at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Formerly the 36th District Chairman of the Republican Party in King County/Seattle and later an elected delegate to Texas State Republican Conventions in 1994 and 1996, he entered the United States Senate race in Delaware in 2000 as the nominated candidate of the Constitution Party against Democratic candidate Thomas Carper and Republican incumbent William Roth.

Following is the full text of the interview.
Tasnim: In an interview with BBC Persian on Nov. 21, the US special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said Washington is “very pleased” with protests over a fuel price hike in Iran, adding that the maximum pressure against Iran will continue. US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also took to Twitter to express support for the protesters. Open support for rioters has just reinvigorated the Islamic Republic’s official narrative that the real goal the United States pursues through maximum pressure is not to bring Iran to the negotiating table but to cause “regime change” in the country. What do you think? What is behind this kind of US policy?
Dankof: It is clear that “regime change” in Iran is the goal of the Neo-Conservative, Zionist foreign policy of the Trump Administration. As I stated in an interview on the Republic Broadcasting Network this afternoon, and on UK EuroFolkRadio yesterday morning, the situation in Iran must be understood not only in light of what the CIA and British intelligence did in Tehran with Operation Ajax in 1953, but in contemporary terms in the 4 decades since the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979 with ongoing American and Israeli subversion in various cities and provinces of Iran, along with the current American Empire machinations in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Bolivia, Venezuela, and now Hong Kong among others. Pompeo’s recent announcement giving Israel the green light to steal the West Bank along with solidifying their theft of East Jerusalem (al-Quds) must also be added to this demonic mix and overview. Jewish settlement in Hebron (al-Khalil) alone has now tripled, as but one example of the ramifications. The American backed horrors in Gaza and Yemen amplify a very blood-soaked picture.
Tasnim: Reports by Iranian intelligence services say that the US and its allies in the region meddled to stoke recent unrest in Iran. They say clues have been found proving that they intervened to create the turmoil. Bahman Reyhani, a military commander in Kermanshah, said “the rioters belonged to anti-revolutionary groups and America’s intelligence services”. What are your thoughts on this?
Dankof: All of the published reports over time indicate that the Saudi-backed terror groups are involved in (Sistan and) Balouchestan Province terrorist operations coming across the Pakistani-Iranian border. In Khuzestan Province, where unofficial reports indicate Iran has discovered a new potential deposit of oil in southwestern Iran, both groups and the nefarious Muhajedeen-e-Khalq (MEK-MKO) are apparently involved in the ignition of violent incidents. The MEK is clearly involved in the troubles in Tehran, and in Golestan Province and Iranian Azerbaijan.
The MEK headquarters in Tirana, Albania, has been regularly entertaining leading American Neo-Conservatives and Zionists in public photo-ops. The New York Times has extensively covered the Neo-Conservative, Zionist politicians who have been on the MEK payroll, and who helped remove them from the American State Department list of Officially Designated Terrorist Organizations. The money of the MEK is traceable to Saudi Arabia, and Israeli players in this New Great Game. It is fascinating to note the absolute silence over the recent Albanian earthquake and the report of the Balkans Post and Iran Interlink that the MEK headquarters there was devastated. I’m fishing for more information on this report, and what the damage and casualties there might mean to this key asset in the American-Israeli-Saudi war on Iran.
As far as Kermanshah, (military commander) Bahman Reyhani’s initial report may later lead to more information publicly on these “anti-revolutionary” groups, in terms of specific identification of the organizations involved. Dr. Philip Giraldi has already confirmed to your agency (Tasnim) that American, Israeli, and Saudi fingerprints are all over these operations. I concur.
Tasnim: Last Wednesday, the director-general of the anti-espionage department of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said a number of elements that were seeking to collect information on the riots and transfer it to foreign countries were identified and arrested before they could carry out their mission. “These elements that had received CIA-funded training in various countries to gather information under the guise of citizen-journalists had been monitored for quite a long time,” the official said. How much do you think the CIA, Mossad and Saudi spy agency were involved in the riots?
Dankof: As I have already indicated, I believe it to be logically indisputable that the CIA, Mossad, and Saudi are involved in funding these subversives and provocateurs, and providing legends and covers for those operationally active in these incidents. The use of “citizen-journalists” and fake NGO “human-rights” activist profiles is a regular feature of these “spontaneous” uprisings and “color revolutions.” One presumes the interrogations of those apprehended yielded all kinds of additional information and evidence for Iranian intelligence and the internal security apparatus.
Tasnim: Iranian officials have repeatedly said that US sanctions against Tehran have dealt a blow to the prospects of talks between Washington and Tehran. It seems that Trump administration has closed the door to diplomacy. Do you share the opinion that the White House is not interested in diplomacy when it comes to Iran?
Dankof: They are obviously interested in “regime change,” not diplomacy, with the interests of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Central Banks, Oil-Gas Consortiums, and Armament Manufacturers being paramount. Trump unilaterally and illegitimately abrogated the multilateral JCPOA, P5+1 nuclear treaty being adhered to by Iran. The Treasury and State Department have instituted economic sanctions on Iran that are a literal declaration of war on Iran by other means. This has led to predictable political unrest in Iran, exacerbated by the wartime gasoline rationing designed by the Iranian government to bring national consumption of gasoline down from 110 million liters to 70 million annually. Once the economic distress led to more publicly expressed political dissatisfaction and unrest, American, Israeli, and Saudi intelligence began unleashing the MEK/MKO terrorists and subversives within the country, with an assist from the Saudi Wahhabist groups, depending on the region and location involved. It is as simple as that.
But it may get worse. The economic sanctions and deployment of terrorists and provocateurs in cities and provinces must be seen as the last stage in “regime change” endeavors short of an overt military attack on Iran.
The endgame may well be a False Flag event somewhere, falsely and deliberately attributed to Iran, that would provide the cover for such an attack. This is how evil and ruthless these people are.

December 7, 2019 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

BBC Persian: What MKO has done in Albania?

MKO Camp in Tirana, Albania. It has been for 6 years that MKO’s members living in a camp on a hill, 30 kilometers from Tirana. In a report compiled by two BBC reporters it reads:

“the MKO has strict rules for its members. They are often dressed in the same clothes and are strictly monitored to the extent that thinking about sex is forbidden, too. They have even been deprived of outside communication, using mobile phones, and internet access for years.”

Many analysts consider the MKO as a cult.

A cult that has a lot of money, holds large meetings annually and in recent years, it has also pursued the fight against the Islamic Republic on social media.

The MKO has no good relations with journalists, but invites politicians from different countries to their meetings. Among them are U.S officials some of which has close ties to the MKO. Including this character: Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Giuliani has repeatedly recommended the MKO as a strong alternative to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which can establish democracy. “We are going to focus on Iran. The policy change that is the goal of our government or the regime change that the MKO has been working on for a while. If massive changes don’t occur in Iran, nothing in the Middle East will be correct.”
John Bolton, Former Donald Trump security adviser is also a major supporter of the MKO.” Ayatollah Khamenei’s Revolution “would not last until its 40th anniversary.”

According to US media these men were paid to speak in MKO’s meeting.

Saudi Prince and Former head of Saudi intelligence, Turk Faisal, referred to Massoud Rajavi the MKO’s founder as deceased in MKO’s conference in 2016 in Paris.

Massoud Rajavi was seen 16 years ago in public for the last time. Since then, only voice messages of him have been played for MKO’s members. Rumors of his being killed in US-led coalition attacks on Saddam Hussein’s government have been circulated in the same year, but there is no evidence.

Maryam Rajavi, who is considered by the members of the organization as the president-elect, has been the head of the National Council of Resistance since then. The MKO was previously on the EU, US and Canada terrorist list. The Council of Europe in 2008 and the United States in 2012 removed MKO from this list.

The MKO’s website explains: The MKO seeks to replace Iran’s religious dictatorship with a democratic and pluralistic State based on separation of religion and government. That respects individual freedoms and equality of men and women.

Many in Iran believe that this group opposed to the Islamic Republic is a marginalized and isolated group that they have no sympathy for the majority of the Iranian people.

Farrin Aassemi BBC – Translated By Terrorspring.com

December 5, 2019 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Seven Reasons Why MEK Should Be Considered a Cult

A recent report by BBC once more revealed facts on the world inside the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi). The investigated report describes members of the MEK as those”who mustn’t think about sex“. Although the BBC correspondents were not allowed to enter the group’s headquarters in Tirana’s countryside, they could interview former members of the group. Not surprisingly former members are accused by the MEK of being agents of the Iranian regime.
Meanwhile, the report quotes the group’s longtime sponsor Rudy Guilliani as saying:”If you think this is a cult, then there’s something wrong with you”
“These are people who are dedicated to freedom,”he said, referring to the uniformly dressed and gender-segregated MEK members present in the hall. [1]
However, testimonies of the former members including Hassan Heyrani and Gholam Mirzai interviewed by BBC, confirms numerous testimonies made by other ex-members of the group. The entire evidences prove that the Mujahedin Khalq is a cult-like group if not a cult. However, many cult experts argue that the MEK is a cult in which lives of members are under daily threat and the cult itself is a threat for the outside world. Rick Alan Ross an American deprogrammer, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Cult Education Institute asserts:”The MEK fits well into the definition of cult”. [2] Here are reasons why the MEK should be considered a destructive cult listed by Rick Ross and confirmed by the testimonies of former members and journalists’ accounts of the group of which just a few examples are stated:
Mind Control (undue Influence): Manipulation by use of coercive persuasion or behavior modification techniques without informed consent. Hassan Heyrany told BBC of the leadership’s oppressive control of his private life inside the MEK.
The nadir of Heyrany’s life with the MEK an evening meeting he was obliged to attend, according to BBC. [3]
“We had a little notebook, and if we had any sexual moments we should write them down. For example, ‘Today, in the morning, I had an erection.'”[4]
Romantic relationships and marriage are prohibited by the MEK. It was not always like that – parents and their children used to join the Mujahideen. But after the bloody defeat of one MEK offensive by the Iranians, the leadership argued it had happened because the Mujahideen were distracted by personal relationships. Mass divorce followed. Children were sent away – often to foster homes in Europe – and single MEK members pledged to stay that way. [5]

Charismatic Leadership: Claiming divinity or special knowledge and demanding un-questioning obedience with power and privilege. Leadership may consist of one individual or a small core of leaders. In the MEK, the couple Masoud and Maryam Rajavi are the core of MEK’s cult of personality. Their leadership is so undisputed that no one dares to ask about the whereabouts of Massoud Rajavi who has been disappeared since 2003 and even his death was declared by Saudi prince Turkie Faisal in the group’s gathering in Paris.
“Rajavi and his wife are the defining role of authoritarian charismatic leadership that has become the focus, defining element and driving force of MEK,”Rick Ross says.”There are no checks and balances to their power, meaningful accountability or transparency.”[6]
Deception: Recruiting and fundraising with hidden objectives and without full disclosure of the use of mind controlling techniques; and the use of”front groups.”
MEK recruiters had their fraudulent techniques to recruit young Iranians looking for a better life outside Iran. They were promised to be granted European passports but their own ID cards were confiscated by the MEK as soon as they entered the group.
Once they are in the group, members are bombarded with fake news and propaganda about the outside world particularly Iran. They are constantly promised by the group leaders that the overthrow of the Iranian government is close. They are so isolated from the reality that cannot believe their eyes when they see an Albanian child talking on a mobile phone. According to the BBC report, Gholam Mirzai was astonished that even children had mobile phones. [6]

https://dlb.nejatngo.org/Media/Documentary/PressTV_Someone_Absent_Here.mp4

Moreover, several charity associations that in fact were front group of the MEK have been delegitimized by European states.
Exclusivity: Secretiveness or vagueness by followers regarding activities and beliefs. The MEK’s internal relations were secret to the outside world until the early 2000s when a large number of members started defecting the group. The increasing process of defection resulted in huge revelations on the mysterious issues inside the MEK. Elizabeth Rubin of the New York Times Magazine, described the group’s Camp Ashraf in Iraq as “fictional world of female worker bees.” [7]
Alienation: Separation from family, friends and society, including a change in values and substitution of the cult as the new”family;”evidence of the subtle or abrupt personality changes. The latest example of an alienated member who was interviewed by BBC is Gholam Mirzai who has not seen his family for almost 40 years.”When Mirzai left to go to war against Iraq in 1980, he had a one-month-old son,”BBC reports.”After the Iran/Iraq war ended, his wife and other members of his family came to the MEK camp in Iraq to look for Mirzai. But the MEK sent them away, and told him nothing about their visit. This 60-year-old man never knew he was a much-missed father and husband until he made that first call home after 37 years.”[8]
“They didn’t tell me that my family came searching for me in Iraq,”he told BBC.”They didn’t tell me anything about my wife and son. All of these years I thought about my wife and son. Maybe they died in the war… I just didn’t know.”[9]
Exploitation: Can be financial, physical, or psychological; pressure to give money, to spend a great deal on courses or give excessively to special projects and to engage in inappropriate sexual activities, even child abuse. According to RAND report sponsored by the US Defense Department, members of the MEK are subjected to forced labor, sleep deprivation, mandatory celibacy. [10]
BBC’s account on the exploitation in the MEK states:

“Romantic relationships and marriage are prohibited by the MEK. It was not always like that – parents and their children used to join the Mujahideen. But after the bloody defeat of one MEK offensive by the Iranians, the leadership argued it had happened because the Mujahideen were distracted by personal relationships. Mass divorce followed. Children were sent away – often to foster homes in Europe – and single MEK members pledged to stay that way.”[11]

However, the most shocking issue on human rights abuses in the MEK is polygamy. Massoud Rajavi married dozens of female members of what is called the Elite Council in the MEK. He had sex with a large number of these women. The Guardian reported the horrible story of female victims of the MEK. Batul Soltani was sexually abused by Massoud Rajavi before she left the group. [12]

Batoul Soltani - MEK former member of the Leasership Council

Besides, Female defectors Zahra Mirbagheri, Batul Soltani and Nasrin Ebrahimi revealed the list of a hundred women who underwent forced hysterectomy surgeries. They became barren under the order of the Rajavis. [13]
Totalitarian Worldview (we/they syndrome): Effecting dependence, promoting goals of the group over the individual and approving unethical behavior while claiming goodness. That’s why all defectors of the MEK are labeled as traitors and agents of the Islamic Republic. The group leaders indoctrinate the rank and file that”anyone who is not with us is against us”.
Hassan Heyrani, Gholam Mirzai and other defectors of the MEK –who live in Albania or any other side of the world speaking to the media about what they underwent in the cult-like system of the group—are accused of being spies of the Iranian Intelligence. [14]
“Now he scrapes by in the city, full of regrets and accused by his former Mujahideen comrades of spying for their sworn enemy, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran,”BBC write about Gholam Mirzai, the 60 year old former cult member. [15]
Rajavi’s totalitarian character allows him to have sex with dozens of female members of the group but members mustn’t even think about it.

By Mazda Parsi

References:
[1] Pressly, Linda & Kasapi, Albana, The Iranian opposition fighters who mustn’t think about sex, BBC News, November 11th, 2019.
[2] MEK fits well into definition of cult, Mehr News Agency, February 8th, 2017
[3] Pressly, Linda & Kasapi, Albana, The Iranian opposition fighters who mustn’t think about sex, BBC News, November 11th, 2019.
[4]ibid
[5] MEK fits well into definition of cult, Mehr News Agency, February 8th, 2017
[6] Pressly, Linda & Kasapi, Albana, The Iranian opposition fighters who mustn’t think about sex, BBC News, November 11th, 2019.
[7] Rubin, Elizabeth, The Cult of Rajavi, The New York Times Magazine, July 13th, 2003.
[8] Pressly, Linda & Kasapi, Albana, The Iranian opposition fighters who mustn’t think about sex, BBC News, November 11th, 2019.
[9] ibid
[10] Goulka, Jeremiah & Hansell, Lydia & Wilke, Elizabeth & Larson, Judith, The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq, A Policy Conundrum, National Defense Research Institute, August 4th, 2009.
[11] Pressly, Linda & Kasapi, Albana, The Iranian opposition fighters who mustn’t think about sex, BBC News, November 11th, 2019.
[12] Merat, Aron, Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MEK, The Guardian, November 9th, 2018.
[13] ibid
[14] Pressly, Linda & Kasapi, Albana, The Iranian opposition fighters who mustn’t think about sex, BBC News, November 11th, 2019.
[15] ibid

December 4, 2019 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Recruited By Giuliani,Maria Ryan is lobbying for the MEK terrorists

Cottage CEO has high profile away from work
WOODSVILLE — Cottage Hospital CEO Maria Ryan has made headlines due to her friendship with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whom she accompanied to a state dinner at the White House in September.

And her appearances with Giuliani, who has become embroiled in the controversy over President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, also seem to have raised her profile in other venues. In addition to her day job running the 25-bed hospital in Woodsville, Ryan has in the past couple of years been speaking and writing on the subject of the rights of women in Iran, work that has brought her — with Giuliani — to places as far from home as Paris and Albania.

Ryan’s travels with Giuliani have also taken her to the far-flung locales of Israel to visit a hospital and London to see the Yankees play the Red Sox.

Ryan, in remarks during a May 2018 appearance at the Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights and Democracy in Washington, addressed the question of what brings her to the issue of human rights in Iran.

“You may wonder why I am here,” she said, according to excerpts of her remarks posted on the website of the Organization of Iranian American Communities, which hosted the convention. “I’m not Iranian, I’m not a politician, I’m just a human being who was very compelled by the story I heard about the (Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq).”

Ryan said in the excerpts of the May 2018 convention that she has been “really affected” by stories of the plight of the Iranian people.

“I’ve had my ups and downs in life and my struggles,” she said in May 2018. “I had to overcome poverty. But never was I persecuted on a daily basis. Never was I told my opinion doesn’t matter because of my gender. Never was I tortured or had loved ones kidnapped or killed.”

Ryan did not respond to interview requests, and her executive assistant, Missy Lund, said last week that Ryan will not be conducting any interviews “for the next several months” because of a transition in the hospital’s marketing department.

But Lund confirmed that Ryan had visited Albania in July and had written an opinion piece in September for The Hill. Giuliani has ties to The Hill’s Republican owner, Jimmy Finkelstein, a friend who raised funds for Giuliani’s failed 2008 presidential bid.

Ryan’s piece in The Hill, titled “Women are crucial to resisting Iran’s regime,” said that Ryan and other “sponsored” speakers attended the annual conference of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and visited Ashraf 3, home to members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq political movement.

“I met many brave women who survived the mullahs’ brutal crackdown,” Ryan wrote. “Many said they had suffered in torture chambers for long years. They shared their stories with me, their personal suffering and the loss of loved ones.”

In response to a question about whether Ryan had ever traveled to Ukraine or been in meetings with Giuliani where Ukraine was discussed, Lund said via email, “As far as the Ukraine goes, Maria has never been to the Ukraine nor has she been involved in any of the issues pertaining to the Ukraine.”

Lund also said that “any charity work that Maria has done has been during her scheduled time off from Cottage Hospital.”

Ryan’s work on such topics diverges from her career path in New Hampshire.

https://dlb.nejatngo.org/Media/Interview/ReportTV_MEK.mp4

A Manchester native in her mid-50s, Ryan owns properties in Lisbon, N.H., and Manchester. She married at age 17, had three children, and entered nursing after earning an associate degree at New Hampshire Technical Institute in 1989. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at the University of New Hampshire in 1994 and a master’s degree from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H., in 1997. She is a board-certified nurse practitioner and registered nurse.

In 2000, Ryan was named chief nursing officer with the for-profit Hospital Corporation of America, a nationwide chain of hospitals, then joined Cottage Hospital in 2006 as chief nursing officer and chief operating officer. She became CEO of Woodsville’s critical access hospital in 2010.

Ryan earned $318,000 in 2017 for leading the roughly 250-employee hospital in rural Grafton County. It had an operating budget of $33.9 million for the fiscal year that ended in September 2018, according to Cottage’s most recent 990 tax filing.

A 2017 profile of Ryan in the Valley News’Enterprise business magazine described her collecting photographs of herself with Republican politicians such as Sen. Marco Rubio, former House Speaker Paul Ryan and former President George W. Bush.

“My meeting schedule is like a hamster wheel, but if I have five minutes sometimes I’ll just go and ask permission to go in and meet patients,” she said at the time. “And it just fills my heart.”

She also went target shooting, accompanied by a Valley News photographer, at a fish and game club in Bath, N.H., where she used both her .38-caliber snubnosed revolver, which she said was her concealed-carry gun, and a .357-caliber revolver.

William Taxter, a Lyman, N.H., resident who chairs Cottage’s board, said he was unaware of Ryan’s speeches about human rights in Iran.

“When she does travel, it’s on her vacation time,” said Taxter, a semi-retired stonemason. “It’s not an issue at all.”

It’s challenging for the small hospital to maintain its place in the increasingly competitive health care market, but Ryan has managed to do that, he said.

“I think she’s doing a great job,” he said.

A Cottage news release earlier this year noted that she had been awarded the “coveted Louis Gorin Award for outstanding achievement in rural health care” by the National Rural Healthcare Association.

As for her international travels, the Mujahedin-e Khalq — the group Ryan has spoken in support of — has a “checkered history,” said Nicholas Miller, a government professor at Dartmouth College.

The group, first formed as an Islamic socialist group in the 1960s, was designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department in the late 1990s. It was allied with Saddam Hussein and has participated in terrorist attacks in Iran the past.

Since then, the Mujahedin-e Khalq has positioned itself as a democratic movement and successfully lobbied to be removed from the United States’ list of terrorist groups in 2012, during the Obama presidency, said Miller, who does not know Ryan nor of her involvement with the group specifically.

Given the Trump administration’s opposition to the current regime in Iran, the Mujahedin-e Khalq might be viewed as a potential partner and successor government, Miller said.

For Mujahedin-e Khalq supporters, such as Giuliani and Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton, “the enemy of Iran is their friend kind of by default,” Miller said.

While it goes without question that the current regime in Iran has a poor human rights record, Miller said it’s not clear that the Mujahedin-e Khalq offers “a great model for human rights.”

Misagh Parsa, a Dartmouth professor of sociology, said the Mujahedin-e Khalq, sometimes known as the MEK, has not abandoned its initial goal of establishing an Islamic-socialist state in Iran, “whatever they say in the west” about the group’s interest in democracy.

Conditions in Iran will not improve by replacing one group with another, Parsa said.

“Democracy will not come without a revolution,” he said.

Whether or not people who speak at conferences in support of the MEK, such as Giuliani and Bolton, actually believe in the group’s cause, they likely get paid to be there, Miller said.

The New York Timesreported in 2011 that the group paid speakers of diverse political backgrounds between $10,000 and $50,000 per appearance.

Ryan has participated in the Iran-related events with Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer whose international work has been under increasing scrutiny as Democrats in Congress press for impeachment. On Tuesday, The Washington Postreported that Giuliani’s consulting business is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York that he once led.

In her May 2018 remarks, Ryan said, “I was very thankful that Mayor Giuliani and people from the American government helped MEK resettle in Tirana, Albania.”

Giuliani also mentioned Ryan in his remarks at the time, saying “Dr. Ryan … runs a hospital in New Hampshire and she’s one of the top executives in New Hampshire. And as you will see, she’s a woman, and a mother, and a grandmother. But she has a full-time, very important job as the head of a hospital. And she is working with us to make sure that the health care facilities at Tirana are as good as they were at Ashraf and better.”

Giuliani referred to Ryan as “Dr.” because she holds a doctorate in health care administration from Warren National University, an online school that closed in 2009 following a failed accreditation bid.

He also referred to Ryan as a “doctor” when he represented her daughter Vanessa, his personal assistant, in an insurance fraud case in Florida last year, according to the Miami Herald.

Ryan also uses the “Dr.” title on a personal webpage, drmariaryan.com, through which she can be booked for speaking engagements. The website says it is “Powered by: Montagne Communications,” a leading public relations firm in New Hampshire.

Ryan was the only hospital administrator on a panel on “policy in Iran,” organized by the Paris-based Foundation for Middle Eastern Studies, or FEMO, and the Alliance for Public Awareness in Paris in June of 2018. The panel otherwise included current and former U.S. and European politicians and diplomats, according to an outline of the event on FEMO’s website.

Some trips have been closer to home. Ryan accompanied Giuliani, who is going through his third divorce, to a state dinner at the White House for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in September of this year. Both have denied any romantic relationship, according to The Washington Post.

Vanessa Ryan, in a September interview with the New York Times, also denied that her mother and Giuliani, her employer, were having an affair. Instead, she said her mother sometimes serves as a consultant for Giuliani. For her part, Ryan referred to Giuliani as a “business partner” in a July tweet.

About a week before the White House dinner, Ryan tweeted a picture of herself standing next to Trump. He is wearing a red “Keep America Great” hat and she is wearing a sundress. Both are giving a thumbs up to the camera. She notes in the tweet that she also met Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.

Ryan’s tweets also include photos of her wearing a Patriots jersey and dancing with the actor Jon Voight during a Super Bowl party. Trump awarded Voight the National Medal of Arts on Thursday.

Taxter, Cottage’s board chairman, was aware that Ryan knew Giuliani, who visited Cottage in 2018.

“I’ve always liked him,” Taxter said.

As for Ryan, her speaking topics include, “but are not limited to,” health care, leadership, empowerment and humanitarianism, according to her website.

The site says Ryan “is passionate about creating value for the consumer and is a fierce defender of patient rights. Her secrets to success are simple: be transparent and passionate, have enthusiasm and insight, listen well, and be visible.”

Valley News

Valley News Staff Writer Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213. Valley News Staff Writer John Gregg contributed to this report.

December 3, 2019 0 comments

Albania

Earthquake Destroyed MEK Camp in Albania

Devastating earthquake destroys the PMOI/NCR base in Albania, possibly dozens dead, survivors blame Iran

On 26 November, early Wednesday morning at 3:54 local time, northwestern Albania was struck by a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter northwest of the capital Tirana. The maximum perceived intensity was VIII (severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. The tremor was felt in all parts of the country, and in places as far away as the Italian city Taranto and the Serbian capital Belgrade, some 370 kilometers northeast of the epicenter. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Albania in forty years. There have been hundreds of aftershocks, of which four have been greater than 5-magnitude.
Following the deadly earthquake, the Albanian government declared Wednesday a day of national mourning and a state of emergency in the Durres and Tirana regions. The earthquake razed several buildings to the ground in the port city of Durres and the surrounding villages, trapping dozens of people. Material damage and casualties have been reported in Tirana also. Neighboring and European Union countries have reacted to the earthquake with sending civil emergency rescue teams and financial aid.
For more than 36 hours, civil emergency crews, police, the army and specialized rescue teams from other countries have been digging in the ruins of collapsed buildings seeking survivors. The authorities say they have so far rescued 45 people. According to the latest official data, at least 48 people were killed in the earthquake, with 790 injured and more than 20 missing. These numbers are far from complete, especially considering the official hiding of foreign victims.

Unreported foreign casualties
While Albanian citizens living in Tirana and Durres, 30 km and 15 km from the epicenter respectively, had some luck to avoid disaster, the members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) aka National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCR) had none. Stationed only 5 km from the epicenter of the main earthquake, as well as less than a kilometer away from the epicenter of powerful 5.3-magnitude aftershock, the residents of poorly built barracks of the Ashraf-3 base have experienced true horror.

And everything almost went unreported. Standing with a colleague at the entrance of Tirana’s hospital in search of new information and tragic personal experiences, we were surprised to see a column of emergency vehicles led by a police car, trumpeting and shouting “Clear the way!” Wondering who is so important that ordinary civilians have to get out of the way, including wounded women and crying children, we followed the column until it stopped and politely asked the police officer about the VIP patients. “No camera, get back,” he ignored our questions and tried to drive us away.
Standing aside, but at a decent distance, we saw paramedics fastly carrying wounded on stretchers inside, at least two dozen of them. Some were covered with sheets full of blood, probably half dead, while others were howling in some incomprehensible language. Foreigners, therefore special treatment, I think to myself. But who? Too many for some embassy staff, too much well-treated for tourists, I wondered.
Given the obvious secrecy and strict police measures, we decided to change our approach. Instead of asking sensitive details with the press cards, we dodged the cops and approached one young paramedic: “They sent us here, we are translators, where should we go?” I asked him with self-confidence. “So you speak Iranian,” he responded. “Of course I speak Persian, or Iranian, as you inaccurately say,” I taught him differences and repeated the question about direction. “Second floor,” he explained, showing us where to go, and left quickly.
For me, things immediately started to make sense. Few in Albania do not know that there is a base near Tirana with 4,000 members of the controversial Iranian opposition group, displaced in 2016 from Iraq at the request of the US government. We journalists know a little more. Their compound is highly guarded and residents are strictly controlled, with no contact with the outside world. Several fugitives from the base gave shocking stories, and Albanian journalists who reported about their cases were facing tremendous pressures and harassment. Thus, this disastrous situation turned out to be a gold mine, a unique opportunity to find out what happened there. And what was happening earlier.

Repeating the same approach, I introduced myself as a translator and entered the hospital building. Fortunately, being busy in all that mess, none of the hospital staff asked additional questions or demanded documents, nor know Persian. Neither do I. Therefore, I hoped to find a sufficiently lively and friendly English speaker among the casualties, and I did. Teymur, a skinny mustachioed man in his late 50s, spoke English badly and slowly, but honestly.

“Not fair, we’re razed, but Tehran is not”

“It started shaking while I was sleeping in our dormitory with many others,” Teymur begins his experience. “At first the bed started to shake and I saw many waking up, then the windows and ceiling bursting down. Comrades in our and adjacent dormitories started screaming, some shouting that we were under attack. Finally, the structure began to collapse and the beam fell on my legs. I can’t feel my legs. In the half-dark I saw large chunks falling down, some were crushed, instantly dead. All this happened in less than a minute. Soon there was a lot of dust and I couldn’t see anymore, I just yelled for help. It felt like Mersad.”

Later, on the Internet I found out that Mersad was the name of the 1988 military operation in which Iranian army destroyed their troops in a canyon. Asked to evaluate the number of dead and the damage in their base, Teymur says:

“At dawn I was pulled out of the rubble. They lined us up the road and we waited for emergency vehicles. I heard that some were taken to Durres, others to Tirana. I saw seriously wounded and dead, perhaps dozens. I don’t know exactly. Earlier in the ruins I was calling out the names and out of twenty comrades in dormitory, only three answered me. But I know very well that the dormitory barracks have been destroyed, some razed to the ground, some badly damaged. Most of the base staff were sleeping, the rest were at computers in a hall, working an eight-hour night shift online. There are casualties there too, the ceiling has fallen and ruined our hard work. Simply not fair!”

It was astonishing that Teymur spoke calmly about the dead and wounded, but started to blubber like a baby about the computer hall. He seemed to be more upset by infrastructure losses than by human casualties. I asked him why the computer hall is so important to him.

“We arrived in Albania three years ago and since then we have been preparing for a new life. We have been told that our dear Saudi and Israeli allies have invested a lot of money in our base and infrastructure, that we are safe here. We have been told that we have full support of the US government and all their allies, mister Bolton even promised us to celebrate together in Tehran soon. A year ago, we got new computer equipment and for months we worked hard, promoting human rights and democracy. Just ten days ago, we saw Iranian people on the streets and Tehran buildings ablaze, we thought our dreams had come true. But today, no revolution, no halls, no computers. Everything was lost!”

“It has something to do with Iran”

Teymur’s raised voice elicited the reaction of his colleague in the next bed, chanting something like “mark bar this, mark bar that.” Asked to translate from Persian, Teymur explained that his comrade was cursing Iran and its government. “Why,” I asked.

“It has something to do with Iran, no doubt, we all know that,” Teymur claimed. I was pretty dazzled and asked him if he wants to say that Iran caused the earthquake.

“Yes, yes! How is it possible that an earthquake hits us directly? We were told that the earthquake epicenter was very, very close to our base, that there had been no such strong earthquake for decades! Is it a coincidence that it strikes precisely in the early morning hours when all comrades are at the base, inside the barracks? Someone obviously planned to cause as many casualties as possible! How is it possible that an earthquake strikes us just five days after the suppression of our revolution inside Iran? This is pure revenge! I’m sure that Iranian fingerprints exist. In fact, the Albanian police already announced that they had uncovered Iranian agents who were planning attacks against us, just a month ago. Maybe their agents buried and activated powerful bombs, maybe they use high frequencies via satellites to provoke earthquakes, I read that it’s possible. Iran should not posses such advanced technology, I hope our brother Trump will increase sanctions against their research networks, or respond by force,” Teymur said.

Just when his story was becoming more and more interesting, our conversation was interrupted by a security guard who banged on the door. “Who gave you permission to interview the casualties? If you don’t have an interview permit, get out”, security guard yelled, threatening to take our equipment. “If you publish anything in the media without permission, we will sue you and you will regret it,” a corpulent patron of alleged democracy fighters threatened us at the end.

BY Balkans Post,

December 1, 2019 0 comments

Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

Defectors in EU Parliament: Violation of Human Rights in the MEK

A delegation of former members of the Mujahedin Khalq attended a conference in the European Parliament.

On Thursday, November 21, a delegation of MEK defectors including Ghorban Ali Hosseinnejad, Isa Azadeh, Mohammad Karami, Reza Sadeghi Jebeli and Ali Akbar Rastgou attended the conference “Shrinking spaces: Policing humanitarianism and human rights defenders” held by the Greens in the European Parliament, Brussels.

Reza Jebeli - Eu Parliament

The conference addressed how the criminalisation affects the rights of citizens and discuss ways to protect NGOs and human rights defenders. The speakers of the panels included a number of Greens MEPs and guest speakers such as experts and authorities of the Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
Socializing with other participants, MEK defectors tried to describe the conditions of refugees who are behind the bars of the cult-like MEK establishment in Albania. They stated that the Cult of Rajavi (MEK/MKO) has deprived its members of their basic rights.

The defectors clarified that the MEK members do not enjoy the right of education, marriage, having family, contacting the outside world; they have no access to modern communication tools.

The audience were impressed by the human right violations that take place in the MEK. Responding to their questions, defectors informed them of the most recent conditions of dissident members who are inside the MEK camps and defectors who have left the group.

November 26, 2019 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 264

++ The main issue in Farsi was the BBC report from Albania which was translated into Farsi as well as French and Albanian. The MEK went into overdrive, swearing and threatening. They used their maximum resources in Farsi and English to try to bend reality to their version of events in order to discredit the BBC. Some of those who are close to them in Albania are questioning this and say this is making things worse. ‘Why are MEK calling them “Ayatollah BBC” when Iran’s worst enemy is the BBC’, they ask, ‘it doesn’t add up’. MEK’s Shahin Gobadi told members in a meeting that ‘we do this to make others stop, we make the price of criticism so high that they won’t dare write against us. They know that if we swear at the BBC, we will do the same against them’. The only supporter MEK could find to defend them is Lord Clarke of Hampstead, a veteran MEK advocate in the House of Lords. However, no outlet was interested in publishing his writing, so it had to be re-hashed between MEK sites – Iran Focus, Iran News Update, NCRI, MEK etc. Ironically, someone who has had access to some of the mass of emails complaining to the BBC using pseudonyms, has given a quick analysis. And it happens that they all originate from Tirana and the troll farm and three IPs in London. Which are also the same IPs as Iran Focus and Iran News Update. When this was exposed in Farsi there was a furious backlash. Some ex-members commented and challenged MEK ‘what did the BBC say that is not true? You won’t answer what the BBC said, but which bit of the report haven’t you announced yourself – the divorces, the separation of families, etc?’.
++ The moment the MEK and Pompeo entered into the protests everyone went home. Many opposition personalities are saying we have been forced to shut up and not complain about anything. Whatever happens in Iran, Pompeo or Bolton or MEK want to highjack the protest or demonstration. Therefore, we are stuck. Ironically, these opposition writers have had to address the government they are protesting against to solve this problem. They demand the Iranian government deal with these interlopers and provide more security so they can hold genuine protests and demonstrations. ‘We have to side with the government because our common enemy is Pompeo and MEK’ they say. We ask our government to deal with this external threat so we can have our activities.
In English:
++ The MEK members in Albania (members and formers) continue to hold a disturbed fascination for the media there. Formers accused by MEK’s Ali Safavi of being ‘agents of the Iranian regime’ were interviewed by several media outlets to give their side of the story. Whatever MEK does seems to not work out well for them, though they have still been able to keep a tight hold on those captives in their enclave.
++ Linda Pressly and Albana Kasapi’s radio report for the BBC was written up as a long and detailed article which through interviews and quotes exposes the whole controversy of the MEK’s presence in Albania. Some Albanians commented to Iran-Interlink privately that the country was much better off before MEK arrived.
++ Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, an expert on US foreign policy, in an interview with the Balkans Post, says that given the MEK’s past – which she talks about in the interview – it would not be surprising that MEK is used to “carry out acts of terror and sabotage in Europe and place the blame on Tehran”.

++ Several Iranian media outlets published articles in English reviewing various aspects of MEK’s history of enmity against their former country – what is referred to as MEK’s ‘dark history’ of assassinations and bombings which killed over 12,000 Iranian civilians. In one article, MEK’s history of support for the hostage takers at the American embassy in 1980 is exposed through its own publications.
++ MEK’s role in the recent protests against fuel price rises is demonstrated through various articles to have been extremely negative and damaging. Iranian protesters saw very quickly and clearly that their spontaneous activities had been highjacked by the US and its agents like MEK and Reza Pahlavi. They went home. The activities of Iran’s genuine indigenous opposition groups have again been quashed; their genuine grievances exploited by external agents for regime change. It must be clear by now that nobody in Iran wants regime change and especially not with US-backed MEK involvement.

November 22, 2019

November 24, 2019 0 comments

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