Articles

Iranian Mojahedin member punished for stealing food cans in a Babrru market

MEK member arrested in Tirana Albania. An Iranian citizen, one of the Mojahedin refugees hosted in Albania, ended up as a defendant in the Court of Tirana, reports Panorama.

He was tried for committing theft, an offense which he committed while living at the Mojahedin asylum seekers refuge in Babrru village.

The trial of 47-year-old Mohsen S. ended a few days ago. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 6 months in prison.

He was tried under ‘obligatory appearance’ as a security measure and will not end up in cells. The court suspended his prison sentence for 18 months during which he must not commit any further offence.

The Tirana Court decision clarified that the defendant, Mohsen S., was currently based at the asylum seekers centre located in the capital’s province of Babrru. On August 31, 2016, around 13:30, he was caught by the owner of a market stealing food goods in his shop.

The market in question is a short distance from the center where Mojahedin asylum seekers have been placed. According to the Court decision, the defendant Mohsen S. placed some food stuff into the bag he had with him and tried to leave without paying. His actions were observed by the owner of the supermarket.

The owner prevented the 47-year-old from leaving his shop. In the refugee’s bag he found three cans of fish, a bottle of a carbonated soft drink and a bottle of ketchup. The supermarket owner informed the police.

After his arrest, criminal proceedings on the charge of theft were brought against the Iranian. The defendant admitted to the theft. At the same time, he admitted that he had also stolen goods the day before in the same market but stressed he was unable to pay because he had not yet received any payment from the Mojahedin organization.

Before and during the trial the defendant admitted the offense and showed deep repentance, asking forgiveness from the Court with the promise that he will not commit such an act again. In justification of the suspension of sentence for the defendant, the court emphasized that he posed little social danger, had no previous convictions and the fact that the defendant is seeking asylum in Albania.

Opinion Website (translated by Iran-interlink)

March 1, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Nasty deals with MKO terrorists

What makes a terrorist who has assassinated your country fellow men a dear trustworthy friend?

The beginning paragraph of the extensively published article of Jon Gombrell of the Associated Press indicates how controversial is the affairs between the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO) and the United States: “An official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s cupboard and no less than considered one of his advisers gave paid speeches for an Iranian exile group that killed Individuals earlier than the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ran donation scams and noticed its members set themselves on fireplace over the arrest of their chief.”[1]

This short statement of the article is enough to learn that the MKO is a cult-like group with deceptive methods of fund raising and brainwashed members who set themselves on fire to protest against the arrest of their She-guru; it has assassinated some US citizens while it is donating large amounts of money to some other US citizens!

A few cases of the MKO’s paid sponsors are discussed in Gambrell’s report while the MKO’s pay roll is full of bipartisan US politicians who intentionally or unintentionally ignore the true nature of the MKO as a destructive terrorist cult. The group has the blood of the Iranian people, Iraqi people, US military personnel and civilians on its hands. The group has also been involved in massacring it own members who disassociated themselves and did not go along with the attitudes and approaches of the Cult during different periods.

Donald Trump’s aggressive policies against Muslim countries, particularly Iran, is warmly welcome by the MKO. The group’s propaganda machine is evidently pleased to see the perspective of further sanctions the US might impose on Iranian people. But, Are the Iranian people deserved to be treated like this? Are they deserved to be banned from entering the US?

Michael Jansen of the Jordan Times writes about Trumps’ hostile acts against Iranians, “Trump needlessly and heedlessly included Iran in the group of seven Muslim countries when imposing his hasty, poorly prepared and ill-conceived ban on US entry on citizens from these countries holding visas.” [2]

“Although federal judges issued restraining orders, temporarily rescinding Trump’s ban, Iranians are upset and confused by this measure, as it is meant to apply to citizens of countries involved in “terrorist” incidents in the US.,” She adds. “There have, in fact, been no attacks by Iranians on US citizens in the US and only one in Iran itself.” [3]

And then, she ironically points to nasty deals that are based on hypocrisy. “This took place in 1975, when two air force officers were killed en route to an air base,” She reminds the audience. “This was before the 1979 overthrow of Washington’s ally, the shah, by the Islamic Revolution.” [4]

She explains that the American terror victims of the MKO were serious to pursue the case of their murdered loved one. “The family of Lt. Col. Jack Turner, one of the victims, filed a lawsuit, arguing his death was in revenge for the killing by the shah’s intelligence agency, Savak, which was supported by the US and Israel, of nine anti-shah elements fleeing arrest,” Jansen repeats what Gambrell had ended his article with. [5]

“The commander and members of this group [anti-shah elements], the Mujahedin e-Khalq, were executed in 1976,” Jansen links the MKO terrorist background to their today’s paid sponsors. “It does not make sense that the Turner family is suing Savak, which is long gone, or the Mujahedin, an enemy of the current Iranian regime and the friend of some senior members of the Trump administration.” [6]

By Mazda Parsi

References:

[1] Gambrell, Jon, Clarification: Trump-Iranian Exiles story, The Associated Press, February 16, 2017

[2] Jansen, Michael, Keeping Iran a bogeyman to further destabilise the region, The Jordan Times, February 8, 2017

[3] ibid

[4] ibid

[5] ibid

February 27, 2017 0 comments

Iran

Iran, a Major Victim of Terrorism

From the very beginning of the Revolution in 1979, Iran has suffered many terrorist attacks. One could even say Iran is somehow one of the major victims of terrorism in the world. If you take a look at the history of countries in the world, you’ll notice that no other country has ever lost such a great number of officials in terrorist acts as Iran has. Interestingly, those who are claiming to be at war with terrorism provide those responsible for the death of civilians with office and the free rein to work in their countries.

The contradiction sharpens and reaches to the point that one of these terrorist groups rented an office a block away the White House which is the so-called pioneer of war on terror! All these measures prove the fact that terrorism is divided into two forms of "good" and "bad" from the point of view of certain Western countries; since they describe those who are for them as "good terrorists" and those who are against them as "bad terrorists".

That is why each year Iran faces different kinds of labels by the West as well as the usurper Zionist regime.

Below you will find brief accounts of the terrorist attacks carried out against the Iranian people over the last 38 years.

Attacks by Mujahedin-e-Khalq

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (also called Mujahedin-e-Khalq, MeK or MKO) is a terrorist organization regarded by the Iranian, the U.S. governments, and others as a terrorist organization. This group has publicly accepted the killing and assassination of 17000 innocent Iranians (including both ordinary people and government officials).

On 28 June 1981, bombs set by the MKO killed 70 high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic Party, including Chief Justice Mohammad Beheshti who was the second highest official after Ayatollah Khomeini at the time. Two years after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the MKO detonated bombs at the headquarters of the now-dissolved Islamic Republic Party. Two months later, the MKO detonated another bomb in the office of the president, killing President Rajai and Premier Mohammad Javad Bahonar. Their attacks did not succeed in overthrowing the Islamic Republic of Iran government.

There is also a deep-seated resentment toward the group in Iraq because of its criminal past. The MKO widely supported Saddam in his brutal crackdown on opponents.

In recent years, attacks carried out by the Mujahedin-e-Khalq include:

Asadollah Lajevardi assassination (1998)

Two members of Mujahedin-e-Khalq assassinated Asadollah Lajevardi, a prosecutor and director of Evin Prison, along with his brother and a bystander on 23 August 1998.

Assassination of Ali Sayad Shirazi (1999)

On April 10, 1999, 6:45 local time Brigadier-General Ali Sayad Shirazi, deputy chief of staff of the regular army of the Islamic Republic and a military adviser to the Supreme Leader of Iran, was assassinated outside his house as he left for work. The People’s Mujahedin of Iran claimed responsibility for the assassination of Sayyad Shirazi.

Attacks by Taliban extremists:

Mashhad bombing (1994)

On June 20, 1994 explosion of a bomb in a prayer hall of Imam Reza shrine in Mashhadthat killed at least 25 people. The Pakistani daily The News International reported on March 27, 1995, "Pakistani investigators have identified a 24-year-old religious fanatic Abdul Shakoor residing in Lyari in Karachi, as an important Pakistani associate of Ramzi Yousef. Abdul Shakoor had intimate contacts with Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and was responsible for the June 20, 1994, massive bomb explosion at the shrine Imam Ali Reza in Mashhad".

Mazari Sharif killings (1998)

On August 8, 1998 the Taliban assisted by Al-Qaeda, attacked the Afghan city of Mazari Sharif killing 11 Iranian diplomats and journalists along with thousands of Afghan civilians, in what was considered an attack motivated by takfir against Shia.

The Taliban were also thought to have "secretly" backed anti-Iranian terrorist groups. The group received weapons and support from the Taliban.

The group sought to overthrow what it called the "Shia Iranian government", despite the fact that Iran has always been home to both Shias and Sunnies and has always strived to foster amity and unity amongst all Muslims of different faiths.

Jundallah (since 2003)

Jundallah is a notorious terrorist organization in Balochistan. It is believed to have to have killed 800 Iranians. The group has been identified as a terrorist organization by Iran and Pakistan and many have confirmed it is linked to Al-Qaeda. It is also believed to receive support from the US government.

Zahedan bombing (2007)

A car filled with explosives stopped in front of a bus full of Revolutionary Guards in Ahmabad district, Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan Province at 6:30 a.m. on 14 February 2007. A few seconds later the bombs exploded, killing 18 Guards.

Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attack on 15 February.

The Iranian government has arrested five suspects, two of whom were carrying camcorders and grenades when they were arrested, while the police killed the main "agent" of the attack.

Tehran attacks (2001)

MKO members fired five rockets at the general command of the Internal Security Forces in Tehran, killing and injuring several, on 7 January 2001. MKO members fired mortar shells at several government buildings, including the Supreme Court, in Tehran on 21 January 2001.

Ahvaz Bombings (2005)

The Ahvaz bombings were a series of bomb explosions that took place mostly in Ahvaz, Iran. The first bombing came ahead of the presidential election on 12 June.

Shiraz bombing (2008)

A terrorist bombing inside a mosque in Shiraz in April 2008 killed 14 people including 10 men, 2 women and 2 children. More than 200 were also injured.

Scientist assassinations (2010 -2012)

Four Iranian nuclear scientists-Masoud Alimohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan-were assassinated between 2010 and 2012, and one further scientist wounded in an attempted assassination. Two of the killings were carried out using magnetic bombs attached to the targets’ cars; Darioush Rezaeinejad was shot dead; and Masoud Alimohammadi was killed in a motorcycle bomb explosion. Israel was behind the killings. In 2011-12, the Iranian authorities arrested a number of Iranians it said had carried out the assassination campaign on behalf of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service. Western intelligence services and U.S officials are said to have confirmed the Israeli connection. In June 2012, the Iranian government stated that it was confident it had arrested all the assassins.

Moshe Ya’alon, the Israeli defence minister, stated, "We will act in any way and are not willing to tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran."

According to private American intelligence firm Stratfor, a fifth Iranian scientist was poisoned by Mossad in 2007. In January 2015, the Iranian authorities thwarted a further attempt by Mossad to assassinate an Iranian nuclear scientist.

February 25, 2017 0 comments

Iran

Ten things Iranians can do to preempt a Trump war

Donald Trump wants the US to go to war with Iran, but Iranians can still stop or at least delegitimise his efforts.

Are nations entirely helpless in the face of blatant warmongering targeting their homeland? What can ordinary people do, independent of the state that is ruling them, to prevent, or at least make it difficult, for US militarism, now under the command of a mentally unstable “commander-in-chief”, first to demonise before starting to bomb them?

For those of us who still actively remember the preparatory stage of the United States-led invasion, destruction, and occupation of first Afghanistan in 2001 and then Iraq in 2003, we know how demonising entire nations was and remains the indispensable first step before starting to bomb a country.

That history has now assumed an added urgency. Donald Trump needs a war and all the indications point to Iran as what seems like the easiest target in his crosshairs. He will never pick a fight with China, or Russia, or even North Korea. Like all bullies, he picks a fight he thinks (falsely) he can easily win.

A war with Iran will “justify” his Muslim ban, drum up his xenophobic base, distract people from his terrifying domestic atrocities, create a state of emergency in which no resistance is tolerated, critical thinking and civic opposition will be equated with treason, Muslim registry and even internment will not be too off their marks.

In what follows, I enumerate 10 things Iranians, as a people, can do to preempt a war on their country. Although I will be specific to Iran – for I think it is the most obvious target of Trump’s warmongering – the same ideas can be extended to any other potential target of US militarism, which predates and will outlast Trump.

Reclaim the nation

First and foremost reclaim the term “Iran” for the nation and away from “the state” that rules over it.

In the current diplomatic and journalistic parlance, “Iran” summons both the “nation” and the “state” that claims it together. This is a false coupling.

As a signifier, “Iran” belongs to the Iranian people. The state, the current or any other, is an appendix to it.

Like all other states around it, “the Islamic Republic” is today integral to a geopolitics of the region with almost all their soft and hard powers active in each other’s territories.

From Turkey to Iran to Saudi Arabia – at the head of an eleven Arab nation coalition – are militarily engaged outside their own borders.

Turkish, Iranian, and Arab nations are trapped inside their states and have little to no control over their diplomatic and military operations.

States seek to survive their hostilities, while nations pay the unfathomable price of suffering their leaders’ decisions. Reclaim the name of the country and do not allow it abused as the first political move towards a military attack.

Second, denounce those treacherous forces among the expat opposition – now led by the cultic People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), and Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah – that demand “regime change” in Iran.

Neither of these characters has the slightest legitimacy inside Iran. A blind hatred of the Islamic Republic is definitive to these expat forces, no matter what the consequences for Iranians as a people. That hatred is categorically different from any legitimate critical stand vis-a-vis Iran.

There must remain no false claim that any one of these discredited expat oppositions represents the Iranian people. They do not.

Third, give voice to the legitimate internal dissidents who oppose foreign intervention and domestic tyranny at one and the same time.

These forces must be mobilised to denounce war and demand civil liberties in one breath. Their active opposition to a possible US war on Iran will have domestic, regional, and global echoes.

Fourth, the more democratic, a nation the lower the possibility of a military invasion by the US and its allies.

If the ruling regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq had any semblance of democratic legitimacy, they would not have been so easily demonised, invaded, and destroyed.

Iranians do not live in a democratic country. They cannot freely mobilise a demonstration denouncing Trump’s warmongering and Ali Khamenei’s tyranny at the same time.

Nevertheless, they habitually turn their periodic presidential and parliamentary elections into a major force to register their democratic will within the tight limits of the ruling theocracy.

The forthcoming presidential election in May 2017 must be turned into a full spectrum of staging their antiwar and democratic will, whether they opt to participate in this election or boycott it, they must use it as a stage to show the world their opposition to “regime change” by nefarious forces cooked up in the US, Europe, and their own region.

Fifth, the globally celebrated Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and the lead actress Taraneh Alidoosti have publicly denounced Trump’s Muslim ban and declined to come to the US to attend the Academy Awards for which their new film, Salesman, has been nominated.

In a bold and brilliant move, Sadiq Khan, the Muslim mayor of London, has just announced on that designated night – February 26 – he will have a public screening of Farhadi’s film at Trafalgar Square, in which around 10,000 people are expected to attend, and leading British filmmaker Mike Leigh is scheduled to speak.

On this, and other international public scenes, Iranian artists and intellectuals and their non-Iranian colleagues must use their forum to denounce war on their homeland.

Iran without borders

Sixth, the expat intellectuals must clearly and unequivocally denounce economic sanctions and war on their homeland.

They must remember how expat Iraqi intellectuals were used and abused by the US propaganda to pave the way for the invasion of Iraq.

Whatever qualms they may have with the ruling regime – and they are plenty – is secondary to the territorial integrity of their homeland and the physical wellbeing of their people.

Seventh, prominent Iranians in the US in various industries must start employing their social capital and call their senators and representatives, opposing more sanctions and warmongering against their homeland.

They need to find out more about the so-called “Authorization of Use of Force Against Iran Resolution, H J Res 10”, introduced by Representative Alcee Hastings days before Trump’s inauguration.

They need to find out who inspired this man to pave the way for the US military action against Iran, and how to counter it.

Eighth, Iranians outside their homeland must join antiwar mobilisations in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, and make their voices integral to all other antiwar voices. They must exit their habitual nativism and learn a far more global antiwar culture.

Ninth, the Iranian community in the US has an even more critical role to play. They must join the massive protests against Trump’s domestic and foreign policies. If their concerns against war on Iran is to be taken seriously, they must equally care about Trump’s war on the environment, on Native American rights to their lands, voter suppression, the immigrant communities, deregulation of Wall Street, assault on public education and healthcare.

Tenth, none of these may, in fact, prevent the war, but they can strip American militarism of any claim to legitimacy.

Our task is not to side with either of the two ruling regimes in Iran or the US. Our task is to unite Iranians, Americans, and other nations against any and all acts of violence and warmongering in any country.

By Professor Hamid Dabashi at Columbia University, New York

Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

February 21, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Rajavi’s “crocodile tears for oppressed Syrians”

The misleading, deceptive and false propaganda of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/the MEK/the Cult of Rajavi) is plainly clear to a large number of people regardless of their political viewpoint. Ben Davies is an analyst and writer, formerly filming in Syria in 2013 with the primary focus on the Middle East, with an emphasis on Syria, Iraq and Iran. He is an anti-Bashar Assad and so an anti-Iran journalist –although he introduces himself as independent in his website. His emphatic focus on Syria, Iraq and Iran has led him to the case of the MKO. In August 2014 he wrote a probed article on the group and its support for the Syrian opposition titled “Revolt Without Rajavi: Syria’s Opposition Must Not Embrace the MEK”.

Ben Davies describes the efforts of the MKO propaganda to voice its support for “Syrian people”. “The support given to the MEK (or rather, the approval that some anti-Assad activists show in its general direction) is down to the fact that since the start of Syrian revolution against the Assad regime in 2011, the group has spiced up its usual monotonous, anti-Iranian regime rhetoric with anti-Assad rhetoric too,” he writes. It was just a few months later, in December 2014 that Davies posted a perfectly investigated article on how the MKO propaganda system works.

This former writer of Radio Free Syria warns about Maryam Rajavi’s hypocritical rhetoric for the Syrian opposition giving a brief of the MKO’s violent past, its alliance with Saddam Hussein and combat against its own people. “The problem is not with the words”, he writes about Maryam’s “well-worded performance” for Syrian people. “The problem is with who is speaking them. Rajavi is able to so fluently describe the horrors that a sadistic dictatorship puts people through because she runs one herself in the MEK’s base.”

Davies explains the cult-like system ruling the MKO fairly:

“The ways in which the mujahideen work are almost identical to the very regimes they ostensibly despise. Yes, they claim to be strongly opposed to Khamenei’s regime in Iran. Yes, they have a history of fighting against it (to the point of self sacrifice all too often), and yes, they claim to strongly support the Syrian revolution. Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the MEK, even met with former SNC leader Ahmed Jarba, and regularly condemns the Assad regime.

“Maryam and Massoud literally and metaphorically watch over the lives of their followers.

“While it is true that the MEK did indeed start out as an idealistic (and it still is, at the ground level, where many genuinely believe in fighting for Iran) organisation which helped to unseat the repressive regime of the Shah, it degenerated into a dystopic cult, ruled by the two-headed tyranny of the Rajavi couple. Members have been forced into self-criticism sessions in which they are forced to humiliate themselves if they get any thoughts about the opposite sex, men and women have been forced to divorce if they are married (although this didn’t stop Maryam and Massoud from getting together of course), members are taught that they must give themselves over utterly to Maryam and Masoud, dissenting members are imprisoned and killed.”

The journalist also refers to parts of an article written by the prominent journalist of the New York Times, Elizabeth Rubin who was first to label the MKO as “the Cult of Rajavi” in 2003. Rubin’s first-hand account on the life of MKO members in Camp Ashraf was at the time a huge revelation on the oppressive cult-like system the Rajavis run.

Besides, Ben Davies quotes Rubin’s second article on the MKO in 2011 after she got to know about paid speakers such Rudy Guilliani, Howard Dean and Michael B. Mukasey who spoke on behalf of the MKO in the group’s rallies. “I thought I was watching The Onion News Network. Did Mr. Giuliani know whom he was talking about?”, Writes Rubin who is stunned with the exaggerated compliments of Giuliani for Maryam Rajavi.

Davies blames the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for ignoring the warnings of journalists and scholars, delisting the MKO from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations of the US State Department. Thus, he warns the leaders of Syrian opposition on the futile and even destructive fallouts of approaching the Cult of Rajavi:

“I would personally very much like to know what Ahmed Jarba, then head of the Syrian National Coalition, was thinking when he met with Rajavi in May 2014. What was he hoping to achieve? Did he think that such a meeting would give his unpopular, disorganised, and so far ineffective coalition some sort of clout? Did he imagine that he would gain access to their bottomless pits of pecuniary resources? Was he naively trying to establish some perverse form of solidarity with the Iranian people through this organisation? In short, was he as heartless or thoughtless as the group’s western backers seemingly are?

“If he was seeking any of these things, he will be disappointed. Far from bringing him any clout, meeting with the MEK can only earn derision and disdain from the majority of well-informed, sane, non-fraudulent pro-democracy activists, Iranian and otherwise. As one US state department official frankly admitted about the group: “They are the best financed and organized, but they are so despised inside Iran that they have no traction.” Such a meeting only lends ammunition to pro-Khamenei propagandists, which they can use to smear the Syrian opposition by mere association with the Rajavi death cult.

“It isn’t like he could gain any form of useful resources or funding from such a meeting either. All the MEK’s money, when it isn’t being used to enable Maryam to live in luxury far from her suffering followers in the baked Iraqi desert, is used for endless lobbying in the west. Running a PR machine for a Middle Eastern 21st century Marxist cell cum Heaven’s Gate Sect takes up a lot of money, after all. He isn’t going to see a penny of it.

“If he was seeking to establish solidarity with the Iranian people, then he’d come to the wrong place altogether. Iranians despise the MEK; not only did it fight against their young men in the Iran-Iraq war and kill so many of its fellow Iranians, but it deliberately fed Saddam Hussein’s regime intelligence on Iranian targets to bomb, costing the lives of thousands more. The MEK has also teamed up with Israel to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists.”

Although Davies announces his disdain for the Islamic Republic and Bashar Assad constantly, he is reasonable to denounce the MKO as a treasonous force. “Syrian revolution activists, freedom advocates and opposition members should think carefully when it comes to the MEK,” he write. “Yes it claims to support you in its finely crafted words and rhetoric, yes it does fill its websites with news of the resistance fighters’ military successes, and yet it has a history of fighting the regime in Tehran… By killing and fighting against its own people.”

February 20, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Trump cupboard choose paid by ‘cult-like’ Iranian exile group

An official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s cupboard and no less than considered one of his advisers gave paid speeches for an Iranian exile group that killed Individuals earlier than the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ran donation scams and noticed its members set themselves on fireplace over the arrest of their chief.

Elaine Chao, confirmed this week as Trump’s transportation secretary, obtained $50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, beforehand known as a “cult-like” terrorist group by the U.S. State Division.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani additionally was paid an unknown sum to speak to the group, generally known as the MEK.

Greater than two dozen former U.S. officers, each Republican and Democratic, have spoken earlier than the MEK, together with former Home Speaker and Trump adviser Newt Gingrich. Some have publicly acknowledged being paid, however others haven’t.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence seems over at Elaine Chao shortly earlier than her swearing-in as transportation secretary on Jan. 31. Chao obtained $50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, categorised within the U.S. as a terrorist group till 2012. (Susan Walsh/Related Press)

Whereas nothing would have prohibited the paid speeches, they elevate questions on what affect the exiles could have within the new administration.

Already, a gaggle of former U.S. officers, together with Giuliani, wrote a letter to Trump final month encouraging him to “set up a dialogue” with the MEK’s political arm. With Trump’s ban on Iranians getting into the U.S., his administration’s name this week to place Iran “on discover” and the imposition of latest sanctions on Friday, the exile group could discover his administration extra welcoming than any earlier than.

Uncovered particulars of Iran nuclear program

A possible alliance with the MEK would hyperlink the U.S. to a gaggle with a controversial historical past that has gone in opposition to American pursuits up to now by supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. After fleeing Iran, the MEK joined forces with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It later uncovered particulars of the clandestine nuclear program run by Iran, which views the MEK as its sworn enemy.

“The Mujahedeen have backed the profitable horse. They’re going to have some no less than entree into the administration,” mentioned Ervand Abrahamian, a professor on the Metropolis College of New York who wrote a ebook on the MEK. “I believe it weakens the U.S. as a result of the extra they’ve entry to the administration, the extra individuals in Iran are going to be petrified of something the U.S. does.”

The MEK lengthy has cultivated a roster of former U.S. and European officers to attend its occasions opposing Iran’s clerically run authorities. It pays for the looks of many.

Chao, the spouse of Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, spoke earlier than an MEK convention in 2015 in Paris. She additionally had a seat subsequent to Maryam Rajavi, the “president-elect” of the Nationwide Council of Resistance of Iran, the political arm of the MEK.

Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks at a pro-democracy rally on Sept. 24, 2013 in entrance of portraits of deceased members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. The group blamed Iraqi safety forces for killing 52 of its members on Sept. 1, 2013 in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. (Mariko Tama/Getty Pictures)

Chao obtained a $50,000 honorarium from the MEK-associated Alliance for Public Consciousness, in keeping with a report she filed with the U.S. Workplace of Authorities Ethics. Chao obtained one other $17,500 honorarium for March 2016 speech she gave to the Iranian-American Cultural Affiliation of Missouri, which MEK opponents additionally hyperlink to the exile group.

The Division of Transportation mentioned in a press release that Chao has a “robust document of talking out in help of democracy and girls’s rights within the Center East,” however “has not spoken to MEK occasions.”

It added that her speeches have been delivered alongside bipartisan members of Congress, governors, prime ministers, ambassadors, generals, former FBI Administrators and “many different influential voices.”

Giuliani has acknowledged being paid for his appearances at MEK occasions. Nonetheless, he hasn’t filed a authorities disclosure type since his failed 2008 Republican presidential bid, so it is unclear how a lot the MEK has paid him in whole. Giuliani didn’t reply to an AP request for remark despatched by way of his aides.

Gingrich has additionally spoken to the MEK earlier than, together with at a gala in 2016, though it isn’t clear whether or not or how a lot he was paid. Gingrich couldn’t be reached for remark. The White Home additionally didn’t remark.

‘The core of the coverage that we’re advocating is to be powerful with the Iranian regime, to not ignore its crimes in opposition to the Iranian individuals.’ – Mohammad Mohaddessin of MEK political wing

The MEK welcomes the incoming Trump authorities, as “some individuals inside this administration” plan to alter American insurance policies towards Iran, mentioned Mohammad Mohaddessin, the chairman of the international affairs committee of its political arm.

“The core of the coverage that we’re advocating is to be powerful with the Iranian regime, to not ignore its crimes in opposition to the Iranian individuals,” he mentioned.

The White Home had no remark.

The MEK shaped in 1965. They embraced each Marxism and the concept of an Islamic authorities after the violent overthrow of the American-backed shah who dominated Iran on the time. Their title, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, means “the Folks’s Holy Warriors.”

Marxist splinter faction blamed for U.S. deaths

They carried out a string of focused assassinations hitting Iranian officers, in addition to Individuals. Nonetheless, the MEK at this time blames a Marxist splinter faction of the group for killing the Individuals.

The MEK fled Iran and later discovered refuge from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Closely armed by Saddam, MEK forces launched cross-border raids into Iran throughout its with battle with Iraq, additional alienating the group from common Iranians. The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001.

The U.s. State Division has described the MEK as having “cult-like traits.” When French police arrested Rajavi in 2003 as a part of a terrorism investigation, MEK members responded by lighting themselves. A minimum of two individuals died.

Through the years, the MEK has mentioned their group receives cash from Iranians to fund their operations. Nonetheless, the group has been focused by a collection of investigations around the globe for operating charity scams.

Mohaddessin blames the investigations on a concerted misinformation marketing campaign carried out by Iran.

MEK despatched letter to Trump for dialogue

The MEK’s success in getting former U.S. officers behind them might be seen in a letter dated Jan. 9 despatched to Trump simply earlier than his inauguration.

“We repeat the decision for the U.S. authorities to determine a dialogue with Iran’s exile resistance,” learn the letter signed by Giuliani and others.

Whether or not Trump’s administration kinds nearer ties to the MEK is but to be seen. Nonetheless, exile teams have not at all times been confirmed to be dependable American allies within the Center East. Exiled politician Ahmad Chalabi closely lobbied the administration of President George W. Bush to invade Iraq by pushing false allegations of weapons of mass destruction and hyperlinks to al-Qaeda.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t reply to a request for remark.

However whereas the MEK continues to pay former U.S. officers for his or her time, the household of the American lieutenant colonel killed in Iran in 1975 has filed a $35-million federal lawsuit in Colorado in opposition to the group and Iran.

The explanation for the lawsuit, Jack Turner’s household says, is easy: “In contrast to the U.S. hostages, our father by no means had the prospect to come back residence.”

February 18, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Keeping Iran a bogeyman to further destabilise the region

During his presidential election campaign, Donald Trump proclaimed long and loudly that he sees Iran as Washington’s regional enemy.

He pledged to “tear up” the agreement providing for the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, reached in 2015 by Iran and six world powers.

Aware that the other five signatories of the deal would not accept a unilateral US abrogation, he has since retreated by saying he would actively “police” the deal, to force Iran to abide by its commitments.

Ironically, it is the US, rather than Iran, that failed to honour its obligations by obstructing sanctions relief, particularly in the banking sector.

Last weekend, US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, admitted that the US is in no position to roll back the nuclear agreement.

He said it is not possible to “reconstitute the multilateral sanctions that were put in place” to compel Iran to confine its nuclear programme to providing fuel for power plants and medical isotopes.

Iran ended research on bomb making without making any device in 2003, and there is no evidence that it has resumed this effort.

Trump needlessly and heedlessly included Iran in the group of seven Muslim countries when imposing his hasty, poorly prepared and ill-conceived ban on US entry on citizens from these countries holding visas.

The largest number of people excluded are Iranians, as they are citizens of the largest and most populous country of the seven, the others being Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan.

Although federal judges issued restraining orders, temporarily rescinding Trump’s ban, Iranians are upset and confused by this measure, as it is meant to apply to citizens of countries involved in “terrorist” incidents in the US.

There have, in fact, been no attacks by Iranians on US citizens in the US and only one in Iran itself.

This took place in 1975, when two air force officers were killed en route to an air base. This was before the 1979 overthrow of Washington’s ally, the shah, by the Islamic Revolution.

The family of Lt. Col. Jack Turner, one of the victims, filed a lawsuit, arguing his death was in revenge for the killing by the shah’s intelligence agency, Savak, which was supported by the US and Israel, of nine anti-shah elements fleeing arrest.

The commander and members of this group, the Mujahedin e-Khalq, were executed in 1976.

It does not make sense that the Turner family is suing Savak, which is long gone, or the Mujahedin, an enemy of the current Iranian regime and the friend of some senior members of the Trump administration.

The administration threatened to put Iran “on notice” for test firing a medium-range ballistic missile at a time US, British, French and Australian naval manoeuvres were taking place in the Gulf, just off the Iranian coast.

Both the missile launch and the exercises were provocative, intended to generate a verbal response.

Tehran contended the test did not violate the nuclear deal or US Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the nuclear accord and calls on Iran not to launch ballistic missiles “capable of delivering nuclear weapons”.

Prior to the Trump-era test, Iran had carried out 11 tests since the signing of the deal. The US and other sponsors did not respond.

Trump ordered sanctions to be imposed on 25 individuals and entities said to be identified with the missile programme, a slap on the wrist for propaganda purposes.

Trump keeps beating the war drums to maintain the myth that Iran is the major destabilising force in this region and the world’s “biggest state sponsor of terrorism”, although neither allegation is true.

This region is being threatened and destabilised by Sunni takfiris associated with Daesh and Al Qaeda, who are the main instigators of terrorism here and abroad, rather than by Shiite Iran.

The US also contends that the Houthi tribal rebels fighting Saudi-sponsored forces in Yemen are “proxies” of Iran.

This is a blatant lie. Iran has given verbal support to the rebels, but is not financing, arming or advising their forces as it is doing for the Syrian army in its fight against an array of mainly takfiri insurgent groups, including Daesh and Al Qaeda.

Dan De Luce and Paul Mcleary, writing in Foreign Policy, say: “Trump’s aides see Yemen as an important battleground to signal US resolve against Iran and to break with what they consider the previous administration’s failure to confront Tehran’s growing power in the region.”

They argue that this approach could trigger Iranian retaliation against the US in Iraq and Syria or, fancifully, war with Iran.

Tehran is not committed to the Houthis as it is to the survival of the Assad government in Syria and to the Shiite fundamentalist-dominated government in Iraq.

The Republicans have simply refused to come to terms with the fact that George W. Bush installed the current pro-Iranian regime in Baghdad.

By handing over secular Iraq to this regime, the US provoked the Sunni takfiri backlash that the US is now trying to contain.

Russia and Iran have shouldered this responsibility by deploying forces in both Syria and Iraq. Consequently, Washington should consider joining Moscow and Tehran in this endeavour, instead of suggesting cooperation with Russia and whipping up tensions with Iran.

To stiffen Trump’s resolve to deal harshly with Iran, the Republican-majority Congress has begin drawing up legislation empowering him to wage “pre-emptive war” on Iran, at any time he chooses, without seeking authorisation from the legislature.

The stated aim of such a war would be to prevent Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapon, although, under the nuclear deal, Tehran has dismantled most of its nuclear programme and would need many months to build nuclear devices.

Therefore, the declared objective of such a bill would be to mount a war based on lies, like the disastrous 2003 war waged against Iraq by the previous Republican president.

Make no mistake. A war on Iran would not be limited to strikes against the country’s well-protected nuclear facilities. The US would have to destroy Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases and naval installations to prevent retaliation against US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as against Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The flow of oil from the Gulf to Europe and Asia would stop. Iran’s Lebanese partner Hizbollah could strike Israel. Russia could supply Iran with high-tech weaponry and munitions, turning a US war on Iran into a regional and international conflagration, and plunging the fragile world economy into a fresh recession or even a major depression.

By Michael Jansen, Jordantimes.com

February 16, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Once More “Backing the Winning Horse” Doesn’t Work for the MKO

The new US administration under Donald Trump seem to be the ideal “Imperialism” for the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ Cult of Rajavi). The recent belligerent steps of President Trump and his republican colleagues have been warmly welcome by the group. This “confrontation” cheers up the MKO propaganda websites because it is replaced by what they call “The Obama era policy of appeasing Tehran”. The group is hopeful to see its multi-million dollar lobbying campaign finally works.

However, one of the negative points of Trump administration criticized in the mainstream media is what the MKO is boastful of. “An official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Cabinet and at least one of his advisers gave paid speeches to organizations linked to an Iranian exile group that killed Americans before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ran donation scams and saw its members set themselves on fire over the arrest of their leader,” reported the Associated Press. [1]

The thoroughly investigated article written by Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press tends to stay unbiased and documented on the issue. The journalist has tried his best to quote all parts involved in the case. However, the audience can conclude that the MKO’s opportunists are seeking to take the attention of the US government by the cost of denying the fundamental values of their organization.

“A potential alliance with the MEK would link the U.S. to a group with a controversial history that has gone against American interests in the past by supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran”, Jon Gambrell suggests. “After fleeing Iran, the MEK joined forces with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.”

“The Mujahedeen have backed the winning horse. They are going to have some at least entree into the administration,” Ervand Abrahamian, the prominent historian and the professor at the City University of New York who wrote a book on the MEK, told gambrel. “I think it weakens the U.S. because the more they have access to the administration, the more people in Iran are going to be scared of anything the U.S. does.”

What professor Abrahamian says about the opportunistic nature of the MKO was clearly seen during the 1979 revolution in Iran. They supported Ayatollah Khomeini, then they got more enthusiastic than the newly established Islamic Republic. They supported the takeover of the US embassy and eventually they opposed the release of the American Hostages by the Iranian government after 444 days.

By the way, professor Abrahamian’s assertion on the MKO is approved by Saeed Kamali Dehghan of the Guardian. He describes the MKO as “extremely unpopular in Iran” because “they fought alongside Saddam Hussain against Iran in the eight-year war in the 1980s.”

“The threat to Iran is not just from Trump but rather the combination of a reckless, ignorant leader, surrounded by hawks blind to nuances on the ground and bent on regime change,” Kamali writes about the MKO’s paid sponsors in the new administration.

Besides the extreme unpopularity of the Cult of Rajavi among Iranian public opinion, it definitely has to deal with much bigger troubles in its way to buy attention of the US government. The insincerity of the group and its dark history is undeniable. Gambrell explains about the assassination of the US military personals and civilians by the MKO during the 1970s. However, he asserts that the group blames “a Marxist splinter faction of the group for killing the Americans.”

On the other hand, the associated Press correspondent quotes a once-secret 1981 CIA assessment on the group said “The Mujahedeen are xenophobic, Anti-Americanism and anti-imperialism provide cornerstones for the policies.”

Duplicity of the MKO is also indicated in its claim of having renounced violence. ”The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001,” writes Gambrell. “But the U.S. Army’s official history of the Iraq invasion in 2003 says MEK forces “fought against coalition forces” for the first weeks of the war, something the MEK denies.”

The article bases certain facts about the MKO on the RAND Corp. report prepared for the office of the U.S. defense secretary. According to the report, fourteen U.S. soldiers were killed and at least another 60 wounded escorting MEK members on supply missions. While the group propaganda denies all these true facts and blames the Iranian government for spreading “misinformation” against it, Gambrell replicates the famous sentence of the RAND report to describe the MKO propaganda: “SKILLED MANIPULATORS OF PUBLIC OPINION”.

By Mazda Parsi

Sources:

* Gambrell, Jon, Trump Cabinet pick paid by controversial Iranian exile group, The Associated Press, Feb 5, 2017

*Kamali Dehghan, Saeed, Trump’s belligerence towards Iran plays into the hands of Tehran’s hardliners,

The Guardian, Feb. 3 .2017

February 9, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Trump’s MEK version of events won’t secure victory against Iran, lets ISIS off the hook

They say actions speak louder than words. Looking behind the Twitter storm which creates a smoke and mirrors effect to disguise the Trump administration’s true intents, one fact is blindingly clear; for this government, Iranians are first in the firing line.

This, of itself, is not unexpected. On the campaign trail Trump threatened to tear up the nuclear deal with Iran. So it was already clear he’s no fan of Iranians.

His first act as president has been to issue a direct and belligerent challenge to Iran – he included Iran in the Muslim ban and then declared that Iran is “on notice” after Iran test-fired a ballistic missile which it says is defensive. Iran is clearly in the crosshairs for Trump and his team.

And the evidence stacks up. As a barometer for any individual or even government’s aggressive approach to Iran, support for the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK aka Rajavi cult) is as accurate an indicator as any. The group has advocated violent regime change against Iran for three decades. Its supporters are in doubt that this is a rallying cry for a US-led war.

Even before taking office, revelations about potential Trump administration advisers and officials giving support to the terrorist MEK cult caused concern among foreign policy experts. After all, anti-Iran pundits can choose from literally thousands of civil groups and personalities to act as advisors and partners in challenging Iran. The MEK’s dirty past includes the anti-Imperialist inspired murder of six Americans in pre-revolution Iran which it later celebrated in songs and publications. (The family of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Turner – “We were the first victims of terror before there was ever a war on terror” – is currently seeking redress for his death.) The new president has apparently brushed aside such concerns and has chosen to surround himself with people who have advocated for the MEK.

Col. Jack Turner and Col. Paul Shaffer victims of Mojahedin Khalq terror campaign

By not denouncing the MEK Trump has done several things. One is to signal that he is at war not with Iran but with Iranians. The MEK is hated more profoundly than any of Iran’s current political leaders by Iranians inside and outside the country.

He also signals that his war is not with ISIS but with the country Iran. Donald Trump rose to victory in part on the promise to take on ISIS and defeat the group. Yet ISIS cannot be defeated except by a coalition of forces that includes Iran. The facts on the ground in Syria and Iraq demonstrate unequivocally that ISIS forces in Aleppo and Mosul have been defeated largely due to the involvement of Iran. Trump clearly has no intention of defeating terrorism.

But most importantly, this tolerance, even warmth, shown toward the MEK in American foreign policy circles is a message that can be read from afar and by everyone else in the world: the American war box is virtually empty. Aside from a handful of puny sanctions, bringing the MEK into the equation means that not only does the America not have a stick to wave at Iran, it appears foolish enough, befuddled by ideological zeal perhaps, to tie its fate to the most unlucky and doom-laden group there ever was.

Laughably, parasitically, the MEK has consistently tied its fate to whichever it assumed was the winning side. However, the choice of MEK sponsors no longer looks so astute. Ayatollah Khomeini quickly saw through the MEK’s smarmy overtures to share power and promptly exiled them from Iran. The next step was to ally with Saddam Hussein against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war – a feat of spectacular treachery for which no Iranian will ever forgive them. After Saddam’s fall the MEK believed that the chaos in Iraq which gave rise to the insurrection of Al Qaida in Iraq would somehow carry them forward. The MEK even flirted with support for ISIS and the Syrian Free Army hoping they would find a home in the new Caliphate. Instead, the MEK were evicted from their base and sent into deeper exile in Albania, a country with no axe to grind against Iran. Long term sponsors have included Israel – which tasked MEK operatives with the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists – and the anti-Shia Saudi Arabia. Both countries are bogged down with interminable troubles of their own. And now the MEK are hoping to cosy up with the Trump administration.

The Obama administration kept the MEK at arms’ length and never entertained direct support for the group. When the government of Iraq held the US, along with the UN, responsible for removing the MEK from Iraq to a third country, the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to agree to remove the MEK from the US terrorism list before any third country would legally be able to accept them on their territory.

Since 2001 Trump’s predecessors have built up strong homeland defences and led counter-terrorism efforts particularly against the threat of ISIS to the US and Europe. It is now likely that this legacy will be squandered by an administration with an overriding hatred of Iran. Instead of understanding the benefit of developing strategic partnerships with countries like Iran and Iraq in the global fight against terrorism, the Trump administration would rather rain down terror on the Iranian people.

But the biggest delusion would be to believe that the MEK could be a reliable or effective partner in any sense. If Donald Trump has any insight into his own modus operandi – the erratic demands and refusal to take criticism – he will have a direct view of how the MEK operates. Aligning America’s foreign policy with the whims of a mind control cult will not secure victory over Iran. Instead, it will diminish America’s standing in the world, and it will certainly not make the world a better or safer place.

Massoud Khodabandeh , Director at Middle East Strategy Consultants.

February 7, 2017 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Donald Trump Cabinet pick Elaine Chao was paid by ‘cult-like’ Iranian exile group that killed Americans

An official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Cabinet and at least one of his advisers gave paid speeches for an Iranian exile group that killed Americans before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ran donation scams and saw its members set themselves on fire over the arrest of their leader.

Elaine Chao, confirmed this week as Trump’s transportation secretary, received $50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, previously called a "cult-like" terrorist group by the State Department. Former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani also was paid an unknown sum to talk to the group, known as the MEK.

More than two dozen former U.S. officials, both Republican and Democratic, have spoken before the MEK, including former House Speaker and Trump adviser Newt Gingrich. Some have publicly acknowledged being paid, but others have not.

While nothing would have prohibited the paid speeches, they raise questions about what influence the exiles may have in the new administration.

Already, a group of former U.S. officials, including Giuliani, wrote a letter to Trump last month encouraging him to "establish a dialogue" with the MEK’s political arm. With Trump’s ban on Iranians entering the U.S., his administration’s call this week to put Iran "on notice" and the imposition of new sanctions on Friday, the exile group may find his administration more welcoming than any before.

A potential alliance with the MEK would link the U.S. to a group with a controversial history that has gone against American interests in the past by supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. After fleeing Iran, the MEK joined forces with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It later exposed details of the clandestine nuclear program run by Iran, which views the MEK as its sworn enemy.

"The Mujahedeen have backed the winning horse. They are going to have some at least entree into the administration," said Ervand Abrahamian, a professor at the City University of New York who wrote a book on the MEK. "I think it weakens the U.S. because the more they have access to the administration, the more people in Iran are going to be scared of anything the U.S. does."

"THE AYATOLLAH MUST GO"

The MEK long has cultivated a roster of former U.S. and European officials to attend its events opposing Iran’s clerically-run government. It pays for the appearance of many.

Standing before a cheering crowd of MEK supporters in Paris in 2015, Giuliani didn’t disappoint.

"The ayatollah must go! Gone! Out! No more!" Giuliani shouted in a speech as American flags waved behind him on giant screens.

"I will not support anyone for president of the United States who isn’t clear on that slogan behind me. What does it say? It says regime change!"

Giuliani has acknowledged being paid for his appearances at MEK events. However, he hasn’t filed a government disclosure form since his failed 2008 Republican presidential bid, so it’s unclear how much the MEK has paid him in total. Giuliani did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment sent through his aides.

As Guiliani spoke in Paris, behind him were a host of other former officials on stage, including Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. A former director of the Peace Corps and a labor secretary under President George W. Bush, Chao gave a much more subdued speech focusing on women’s rights.

"While discrimination against women (has) been outlawed in other countries, Iran has been legalising it," Chao said. "While other countries are empowering women, Iran has been penalising them."

Chao had a seat of honor at the Paris event next to Maryam Rajavi, the "president-elect" of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the political arm of the MEK. She received a $50,000 honorarium from the MEK-associated Alliance for Public Awareness, according to a report she filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

Chao received another $17,500 honorarium for a March 2016 speech she gave to the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, which MEK opponents also link to the exile group. Chao did not respond to requests for comment.

Gingrich has also spoken to the MEK before, including at a gala in 2016, although it is not clear whether or how much he was paid. Gingrich could not be reached for comment. The White House also had no comment.

The MEK welcomes the incoming Trump government, as "some people within this administration" plan to change American policies toward Iran, said Mohammad Mohaddessin, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of its political arm.

"The core of the policy that we are advocating is to be tough with the Iranian regime, to not ignore its crimes against the Iranian people," Mohaddessin told the AP.

The U.S. Treasury briefly investigated the MEK’s practice of paying American politicians in 2012. A Treasury spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment about the status of that probe.

"THE KILLING OF TWO AMERICANS, THIS WAS WORK OF MOVEMENT MUJAHEDEEN"

The MEK was formed by radicalised university students in 1965. It embraced both Marxism and the idea of an Islamic government after the violent overthrow of the American-backed shah. Their name, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, means "the People’s Holy Warriors."

The group at one point successfully infiltrated the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, according to a State Department report. And a series of bombings attributed to the MEK accompanied visits by presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter to Iran, including one to target an American cultural center.

In 1973, MEK assailants wearing motorcycle helmets shot dead U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lewis L. Hawkins, the deputy chief of the U.S. military mission to Tehran, as he walked home from work.

In 1975, gunmen attacked a car carrying two American airmen, killing them. Hours later, American consular officials received a call claiming the attack for the MEK in revenge for Iran executing prisoners.

"This was work of Movement Mujahedeen of Iran," the caller said, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable.

In the three years that followed, the MEK killed three American employees of defense contractor Rockwell International and a Texaco executive.

"The Mujahedeen are xenophobic," a once-secret 1981 CIA assessment on the group said. "Anti-Americanism and anti-imperialism provide cornerstones for the policies."

The MEK, which now describes itself as being "committed to a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic" in Iran, blames a Marxist splinter faction of the group for killing the Americans.

After joining in the Islamic Revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the MEK quickly fell out of favour with Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The MEK declared war on Iran in June 1981. Within days, a bomb exploded at the headquarters of the Khomeini-directed Islamic Republican Party in Tehran, killing at least 72 people. Both Iran and the CIA attributed the attack to the MEK, which never claimed responsibility for it.

A series of assassinations and attacks followed as MEK leaders and associates fled to Paris. Later expelled from France, the MEK found haven in Iraq amid its grinding, bloody war with Iran. Heavily armed by dictator Saddam Hussein, MEK forces launched cross-border raids into Iran.

After Iran accepted terms of a United Nations cease-fire in 1988, the MEK sent 7,000 fighters over the border. The attack further alienated the group from average Iranians.

The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001. But the U.S. Army’s official history of the Iraq invasion in 2003 says MEK forces "fought against coalition forces" for the first weeks of the war, something the MEK denies.

Fourteen U.S. soldiers were killed and at least another 60 wounded escorting MEK members on supply missions, according to a RAND Corp. report prepared for the office of the U.S. defense secretary. The MEK itself became a target of violence, and in September 2013 at least 52 members were shot dead.

Thousands of MEK members were ultimately resettled in Albania.

"CULT-LIKE CHARACTERISTICS"

After siding with Saddam, the MEK’s popularity in Iran plummeted. To boost its ranks, the group increasingly began targeting Iranians applying for visas abroad in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, promising them work, aid in moving to Western countries and even marriage, according to RAND.

"Most of these ‘recruits’ were brought into Iraq illegally and then required to hand over their identity documents for ‘safekeeping,"’ RAND said. "Thus, they were effectively trapped."

The MEK also forced its members to divorce their spouses and separated parents from their children, which the State Department described as "cult-like characteristics." The MEK dictates how much its members sleep, giving them busy-work tasks and controlling what outside news they consume, according to RAND and Abrahamian, the university professor.

For years, MEK leader Massoud Rajavi, the husband of Maryam Rajavi, hasn’t been seen publicly and is presumed to have died, Abrahamian said. MEK members call him the "Hidden Imam" who will return to Earth as a messiah, Abrahamian said.

When French police arrested Maryam Rajavi in 2003 as part of a terrorism investigation, MEK members responded by lighting themselves on fire in Paris and other European cities. The MEK denies it is a cult.

Over the years, the MEK has been targeted in a series of investigations around the world for running charity scams.

An FBI probe found MEK members hustled travelers arriving to Los Angeles International Airport, asking them to donate after showing them binders of photographs of disaster or torture victims. The money instead went to banks in Belgium, France, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to "support MEK operations and activities, including terrorist activities," a 2007 indictment against seven members said.

In Britain, authorities dissolved a charity in 2001 allegedly associated with the MEK that had made an estimated 5 million pounds a year. Its investigation found some donors "were misled into believing they were personally sponsoring individual children when this was not in fact the case."

In the 2003 raids in France, police found $1.3 million, mostly in $100 bills, at MEK-affiliated properties.

Mohaddessin, the MEK foreign policy chairman, blames the investigations on a concerted misinformation campaign carried out by Iran. The Islamic Republic has imprisoned and executed the group’s members for years.

"These allegations are absolutely false," Mohaddessin said. "There are many cases that were fabricated by the Iranian regime and their agents."

Iran also has alleged the MEK receives foreign support. After the assassination of four nuclear scientists, Iran accused Israel of training and equipping MEK fighters who committed the killings. The MEK called the accusation "absolutely false" at the time, while Israel declined to comment.

In recent months, Saudi Arabia increasingly has shown support for the MEK as it faces off with Iran in wars in Syria and Yemen. The kingdom’s state-run television channels have featured MEK events and comments. Prince Turki al-Faisal, the nation’s former intelligence chief, even appeared in July at an MEK rally in Paris.

"I want to topple the regime too," the prince said to cheers.

"SKILLED MANIPULATORS OF PUBLIC OPINION"

From protests at the United Nations to their Paris rallies, the MEK has proven over the years to be effective at getting attention.

RAND in 2009 called the group "skilled manipulators of public opinion." A U.S. diplomatic cable from February of that year released by WikiLeaks described their "extravagantly hospitable, exaggeratedly friendly, culturally-attuned manner." The cable also mentioned that the MEK had "a history of using intimidation and terrorism for its ends," which Mohaddessin called an allegation from the Iranian regime.

The MEK’s success in getting former U.S. officials behind them could be seen in a letter dated Jan. 9 sent to Trump just days before his inauguration.

"We repeat the call for the U.S. government to establish a dialogue with Iran’s exile resistance," read the letter, signed by Giuliani and others.

However, exile groups haven’t always been proven to be reliable American allies in the Middle East. Exiled Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, for instance, heavily lobbied the administration of President George W. Bush to invade by pushing false allegations of weapons of mass destruction and links to al-Qaida.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

But while the MEK continues to pay former U.S. officials for their time, the family of the American lieutenant colonel killed in 1975 has filed a $35 million federal lawsuit in Colorado against the group and Iran.

The reason for the lawsuit, Lt. Col. Jack Turner’s family says, is simple: "Unlike the U.S. hostages, our father never had the chance to come home."

By Jon Gambrell,

February 6, 2017 0 comments

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