Articles

++ Internal critic Esmail Vafa Yaghmaei wrote to expose the MEK’s deception of an English activist and friend Belinda McKenzie. The MEK took money from her through unethical influence after persuading her to re-mortgage her house and hand over around £300,000 which they promised would be repaid “after the overthrow of the Iranian regime”. Yaghmaei tells the MEK he will sue if they don’t return her money now. The MEK responded through the NCRI to say ‘these are the actions of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry’, and accused Yaghmaei and McKenzie of being part of a conspiracy to start a new court case against the MEK.

(There is an ongoing, unrelated court case in Paris which accuses the MEK of wrongfully using the name and identity of Zia Abdolrazaghi for money laundry and fraud. The MEK claims this is also being pursued by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.)

The MEK also published tens of receipts and cheques made out to Yaghmaei and two other former NCRI members, Karim Ghassim and Mohammad Reza Rowhani, saying they have received thousands of pounds from the NCRI, but with no further explanation. The MEK admits it took McKenzie’s money but said it agreed to pay this back after the MEK “topples the Iranian regime”. The MEK also offered a veiled threat by accusing McKenzie of having worked with Iran Aid charity – which was closed by the Charity Commission – with the implication that she had been involved in its wrongdoing [money laundry].

Yaghmaei responded to the MEK/NCRI saying “the receipts and cheques were for the rent of an apartment which I shared with one of your MEK members. At the same time we gave our social security payments to you.” He adds sarcastically, “those payments were for a few thousand French Franks in those times. Now suddenly you say you have paid me hundreds of thousands of Euros, yet offer no evidence and no explanation; what would I possibly do for you for this amount of money?” He finishes with a dig; “Anyway, what is the source of your money, and have you paid tax on it in France?”

In Farsi sites the main reaction to this exchange was that “here is an admission of guilt by the MEK that Iran Aid was a fraudulent charity”. Some comments point out that “you clearly fooled this English woman into giving money and now won’t pay her back”. On the other hand it is clear the MEK/NCRI have to pay people for their support. But “how can lobbyists and other people trust you if you give them money then publish the receipts on your website”.

++ Jahangir Shadanlou, a prominent opposition figure residing in Paris, was interviewed by Simaye Rahai TV channel. The first half of the programme was devoted to broadcasting in full an MEK video posted on Youtube about what it calls ‘The Pentagon Report’. Following this, Shadanlou dissected the film revealing that the outrageous allegations made by the MEK were withdrawn after only a few days so that such a report does not exist beyond a PDF created by the MEK itself. Yet, the MEK continue to reference it in attacks on critics as an official Pentagon document. Shadanlou likens this action to the book produced for Yves Bonnet which a court ordered to be withdrawn following a libel case. The book is no longer published but the MEK continue to reference it. The MEK method, he says, is to “repeat a lie until it sounds like the truth. In fact, insisting on repeatedly telling lies means they have no truth to tell.” Shadanlou says the video “is an insult to the intelligence of the public. They think everyone is as dumb as their own members. They can neither tell the truth, nor can they make programmes.”

++ This week Maryam Rajavi worked along three clear lines: pursuit of the anti-Iran attacks designed to disrupt the nuclear negotiations and encourage war against Iran; going into overdrive to praise the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as a moderate and saviour of the region [After Israelis, Saudis have been among the major sponsors of the MEK over the years]; demanding to be re-armed by the Americans while vigorously glorifying an armed robber as a political dissident. This latter propaganda stunt concerns the execution of a criminal in Iran who, along with two others had attempted to rob a jewellery shop. Two robbers were killed at the scene in a shootout with police in which several police and the shop owner were also killed. The third robber was tried and convicted and sentenced to death for his part in the crime. MEK propaganda however glorifies him as ’a political activist who had led an armed uprising against the Iranian regime’.

++ Maryam Rajavi’s reaction to the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has been widely ridiculed. One article states ‘we have condolences and we have condolences’. The article points out that the whole world has criticised Western heads of state for paying their obsequious condolences, but look at Maryam Rajavi, she is ten times worse than them. Some critics used the context of women’s rights to comment. They reveal that Rajavi’s people are busy gathering MPs and MEPs to be paid to attend a rally in Berlin on 7th March to commemorate International Women’s Day on 8th March. The MEK’s method is to use pseudonyms to send people to parliament to canvass and recruit, particularly among Eastern European country MPs who may not have historical savvy about the MEK. Anyone who responds positively is next contacted with the offer of money to attend the rally but on no account do they mention that Maryam Rajavi will be there as she is too toxic. Some former MEK members based in Germany wrote to warn their government about the Berlin rally. They say that Rajavi is using the rally as a pretext to leave France and take up residence in Germany. Other comments particularly from women say ‘How dare you presume to talk about women’s rights in Berlin while praising King Abduallah, one of the most misogynist of men who had so many wives and headed the only country in the world in which women are not allowed to drive.’

In English:

++ Anne Khodabandeh in Iran-Interlink wrote to alert Albanian authorities of the need to protect the new arrivals from Camp Liberty: “Albania’s efforts to improve its human rights and bring them into line with European and international standards could be seriously undermined if it does not take action to curtail the activities of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq cult organisation in that country. There is strong evidence that the MEK has bought land and property just outside Tirana in order to create a closed cult enclave similar to ones in Iraq, and that it is using coercion to keep refugees captive there where they are subject to systematic human rights abuses outside the supervision of the Albanian authorities.”

++ Press TV reported on Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s rejection of allegations that prosecutor Nisman committed suicide. “I’m convinced that it was not suicide,” said the president in a statement posted on her Facebook page. Nisman’s death happened hours before he was to testify in a congressional hearing about AMIA. The “real move against the government was the prosecutor’s death… They used him while he was alive and then they needed him dead. It is that sad and terrible,” Iran-Interlink expanded on this with an article by Gareth Porter which revealed that “Nisman’s rambling and repetitious report cites statements by four members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is the political arm of the MEK, as the sources for the charge that Iran decided on the AMIA bombing in August 1993.” Apparently this was his only source for accusing Iran of involvement in the incident.

++ Former MEK member and outspoken critic Mohammad Karami, who is resident in France, wrote an Open Letter to President Hollande asking for guarantees of safety for himself and other MEK critics. This follows renewed calls by MEK leader Massoud Rajavi for his followers to kill all his critics in Europe whenever and wherever they can.

++ Iran-Interlink issued a bit of a rant to waken up complacent Europeans who it says are yet to see the damage to their national interests by allowing Maryam Rajavi to appear in the Council of Europe buildings ‘cheerleading’ for Israel. “Parading this deeply unpopular and defunct terrorist group to convey a defunct message demonstrates that Israel is scraping around the bottom of an empty tool box. Instead of a screwdriver Netanyahu found a hairbrush, and is wielding that in the hopes somebody somewhere will take the MEK and their flaky representatives seriously. When none of the protagonists have any principles or morals, there will inevitably be negative repercussions. Europe and America have yet to see how damaging these kinds of shows are for their national interests.”

January 30, 2015

++ Farsi comments have focused on the MEK’s contradictory messages this week on their English and Farsi sites. In English the MEK have attacked President Obama over the nuclear negotiations saying he is selling his country to the Iranians; the MEK are strongly in favour of Senate and Congress proposals for increased sanctions. However in Farsi the MEK have announced that while they remain anti-Imperialist, the Iranian regime is now pro-Imperialist because they are talking with America. An article in Nejat by Said, says that reading between the lines of these two contradictory messages the interpretation of this double-speak is that successful negotiations will provide a win-win situation for both America and Iran and as such the terrorists will no longer be needed. This, according to Said, is what the MEK fears most. He ridicules the MEK for biting off more than they can chew by entering this arena. The MEK is a nothing organisation and nobody will take any notice of them or take them seriously, he says. The MEK is simply not capable of making any difference to this situation either in English or in Farsi.

++ Following the terrorist incident in France, the MEK have gone into overdrive in efforts to attack Iran. This includes supporting common criminals and murderers convicted and imprisoned in Iran as opposition heroes. Alongside this, the MEK support any and every violent activity in Syria and Iraq. Although the MEK deny supporting Daesh, when it comes to any action by insurgents in Iraq or Syria – no matter who does it – the MEK give it their full support and add to their reporting of these activities with lies and exaggeration in favour of the terrorists.

++ Anjoman Nejat asks us to “just look at this week’s offering from the MEK’s websites and say ‘how could they be more terrorist than this? The remorse of the wolf spells its own death’ – in other words it cannot change its nature.

++ Concerning Camp Liberty in Iraq the MEK are inventing various ‘imminent threat’ scenarios in order to back their demand to get their arms back. Even though Iraq says this is impossible, many people from different places are concerned. Farsi commentators remind us that that making up such non-specified dangers and threats is exactly what the MEK did just before the attack on Ashraf. With this history, it is becoming clear that the MEK leaders are planning some kind of violence to get the people in Camp Liberty killed.

++ A new site has been established in Iran by Anjoman Farogh NGO. The NGO comprises estranged families of MEK members. These families have been writing to everywhere asking for intervention at Camp Liberty because it is now clear the MEK want to kill the members. Last week many families posted their names, addresses and telephone numbers in the hope somebody would be able to pass these details to their loved ones, or be able, at least, to inform the families of their whereabouts and welfare.

++ Several letters have been addressed to President Hollande advising ‘for your own people’s sake get rid of the MEK and don’t allow them to continue to operate from your country’.

In English

++ A member of the State of Law coalition and Head of the Iraqi Centre for Media Development, Adnan al-Sarraj, said that the United States is still giving political, intelligence and financial support to the Mojahedin Khalq organization, and plays a role in coordinating them to carry out criminal acts against Iran.” Sarraj told the reporter for Ashraf News, that “Washington also hopes that the MEK terrorist organization can be used as a bargaining chip in any future negotiations with Iran.” With respect to the MKO terrorist group’s demand last Wednesday that the United States re-arm them in Camp Liberty, Adnan al-Sarraj said, “I do not find it surprising. This ridiculous request to get arms from the Americans is a tactic used by the US with the clear political agenda to add pressure in favour of America in the next upcoming negotiations, otherwise it is clear that in the current circumstances it is impossible for them to do this.”

++ A former member of the Iraqi National Alliance, Jawad al-Bazouni, told Habilian correspondent in Baghdad that the MKO request to be re-armed is “completely unacceptable.” Al-Bazouni said that the MKO was a part of the former suppressive regime of Saddam, adding “we cannot let such a group remain on Iraqi soil anymore.” He called on the MKO’s supporters to move the terrorist group outside Iraq. He pointed out that any move by the US to arm the MKO will provoke anger in Iraq and throw into question US neutrality which is not desirable at this time.

++ Australia’s best-selling newspaper The Australian has published a report saying the Sydney cafe attacker Man Haron Monis was “linked” to the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, a.k.a MKO). The report adds that the revelation is contained in documents from an Iranian associate’s refugee claim in 2003, which collapsed after Monis refused to divulge significant details about his own past and then suddenly vanished.

++ A documentary film by Sean Nevins of Mint Press News suggests ‘How To Stop Being Terrorists: A Guide For ISIS, Courtesy Of The MEK’. Nevins proposes that “An Iranian group shows that as long as you stop being violent, it’s possible to gain supporters in the U.S. government and get removed from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list — especially if your end-game is to overthrow the current Iran regime and take over.” The film deals with efforts by paid MEK lobbyists to whitewash the MEK’s violent history. Through interviews with political and cult experts, including former MEK member Masoud Banisadr, Nevins shows why “despite an intense campaign to expunge the MEK’s troubled history toward the safety and well-being of American citizens and the way it treats its own members, the State Department, the FBI, Human Rights Watch, and the Rand Corporation have not changed their stance on any of these issues.”

January 23, 2015

++ After the terrorist attack in Paris last week, many Farsi commentators have criticised France for not acting properly against terrorists. Writers joke about France sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf to help “fight terrorism” while the MEK has maintained its political headquarters just outside Paris for thirty years. Maryam Rajavi has abused the impunity offered by France to repeatedly voice her support for ISIS and other terrorist groups. After the murders at Charlie Hebdo, the MEK tried to jump on the bandwagon claiming its London representative Nourouzi was interviewed by Al Jazeera English – though nothing was broadcast by that station. The MEK website also shows pictures of MEK agents leafleting the unity protestors. Former MEK member Ghorban Ali Hossein Nejad writes that he saw the MEK were the only people who had their own banners and leaflets and as such were given a hostile reception by French citizens. Two other ex-members in France have warned French security services that they want it to be put on record that the MEK will certainly soon attempt a violent attack against former members. Other writers have published articles comparing Rajavi’s cult and Daesh with documents showing MEK support for Daesh. One article criticises Maryam Rajavi for supposedly condemning the attack, pointing out that “this has been done by your friends who you call the ‘revolutionary tribes’. Why are you condemning your friends?” Another article, welcomed by many, was by Fanous Association in Germany titled ‘France, Victim or Culpable?’ This describes French cooperation with various terrorist entities, and highlights the MEK as an example.

++ Two more people died – one man in Tirana died of old age (he was around 90 years old), and one woman in her late fifties died in Iraq from a heart attack. The MEK as usual tried to make a propaganda issue of it, but everyone else claims these deaths could have been prevented. The Iraqi authorities say that an ambulance is on permanent stand-by just outside Camp Liberty, but the MEK don’t allow residents out unless they are dead or on the point of death. The authorities say that everything the MEK need is available to them such as medical care, hotel rooms – more so than for ordinary Iraqis – and this provision is supervised and vouched for by the UN. People who knew Mirza Agha, the old man who died in Tirana, say that for the last ten years at least he was kept by force in the MEK camps where the MEK were pushing for him to die through overwork and poor diet and other stressors. Several commentators have said it is extremely rare that the MEK do not claim a dead person as a martyr – no matter how or why they died – and it is significant that in his case they did not. The MEK claimed that Mirza Agha had been forcefully working for Iran’s Intelligence service because of his daughter being in the MEK before he defected and joined the MEK in Iraq. He is described as having been a” refugee” with the MEK for twenty years. Experts in MEK behaviour point out that this is a deliberate and rare omission and shows there is some other information which means the MEK are afraid of calling him a martyr.

++ This week Hamed Sarafpour published a note against the articles by some of the internal critics of the MEK. He specifically mentions Esmail Vafa Yaghmai, who has been writing repetitively over the last few months to “prove” he is not “an agent of the regime”. Sarafpour’s comments were welcomed by many who had become sick of Yaghmai. Sarafpour and others say that Yaghmai is a clear example of somebody who doesn’t understand that you cannot be outside a cult and still support it. Yaghmai claims he has left but writes over and over that he is loyal to the MEK cause. He just doesn’t get it and is destroying himself and his own reputation.

++ Ghorban Ali Hossein Nejad, resident of France, has written to the Sheikh of Al Azhar University in Cairo – a Sunni source of high religious scholarship – and exposes the falsity of a letter sent there by the MEK’s Jalal Ganjei. Hossein Nejad says Ganjei poses as a mullah and religious scholar when he wants, but at other times is secular. Using documents and other evidence, Hossein Nejad exposes that “all the things they wrote for you were written by me as the head of the MEK’s Arabic translation department. Ganjei doesn’t know Arabic properly nor does he know Islam properly.”

In English:

++ Gareth Porter in Middle East Eye writes ‘Four ways the West got the Iran nuclear issue wrong’. These are: Denial of Iranian rights, followed by denial of the truth; The intelligence goes wrong; Ignoring the Fatwa against chemical weapons and Refusing to acknowledge the weaponisation evidence is tainted. Under this latter heading he says: “Contrary to the cover story that the documents were passed on to Western intelligence by a participant in a covert Iranian programme or by a German spy, a former senior German foreign office official has now revealed that the German intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, obtained them from a sometime source who was a member of the Iranian exile terrorist organisation Mujahedeen E-Khalq (MEK). The MEK was then serving Israel’s Mossad as a means of laundering alleged intelligence, so it is safe to assume that the documents came from Israel.”

++ Mazda Parsi writing for Nejat Bloggers dissects the MEK’s online presence saying its News websites are based on “sheer propaganda and stupidity”. The MEK’s journalism consists of propaganda or politically-based mind control and its anti-Iran stance uses archived photographs and fake pictures. Parsi points out that “On only one day, you may find a dozen of cases of protests and gatherings that have taken place in various cities of Iran, reported on the MKO websites and TV channel. Seemingly, the MKO’s propaganda runners do not care about realities and truth. They believe that their goal should justify any means. Demonizing the Islamic Republic is their main objective and preference regardless of validity and authenticity of the news.” This false news, he says, only fools the uninformed members and ill-informed supporters. If such protests existed as the MEK claim over thirty years, there would surely be a revolution in Iran. The problem then must be with the MEK’s news.

++ An article in Nejat Bloggers says ‘Maryam Rajavi’s claim for promotion of equality in her cult is absurd and ludicrous’. Quoting women ex-members of the MEK, the article talks about forced dress codes, in particular hijab. One says, “In the cult, women are not allowed to use any kind of hijab except green, khaki and red scarves. However, red and khaki scarves are allowed only for special occasions. You would be punished if you wore your red or khaki scarf in occasions other than the group’s propaganda ceremonies and marches.” In addition, “forced divorce, forced celibacy, forced hysterectomy surgeries to make female members barren and particularly sexual abuse by Massoud Rajavi” act as evidence that Maryam Rajavi’s claim to support women is absurd.

++ Anne Khodabandeh of Iran Interlink wrote a short article titled ‘Rajavi’s lobbyists demand Mojahedin Khalq terrorist cult in Iraq be re-armed rather than removed”. The article points to the irony that the MEK supporters who lobbied so hard and expensively to have them de-proscribed as a terrorist group now want them re-armed. Khodabandeh says that “small arms are wanted in order to impose greater control over these captives as they become more and more desperate to escape the tyranny of the cult”. The article concludes: “Instead of demanding the MEK be re-armed ready to utilize violence again – the raison d’etre of the terrorist cult – this gang should be demanding from Massoud and Maryam Rajavi that each resident of Camp Liberty be given the opportunity to make contact with their families in privacy and to freely leave the camp if they desire. Then we would see how quickly and efficiently these people can be resettled.”

++ Fars News reported in English that “Iranian Judiciary Chief Sadeq Amoli Larijani lashed out at the West’s double-standards in dealing with terrorism, saying the western countries’ support for the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization shows that their claims about fighting terrorism are all untruthful. “Now the MKO terrorist group with the worst criminal record is supported by the West, and the Arab financial and spiritual supporters of the ISIL are also West’s allies; then how can one believe that the West, specially the US, Britain, France and Germany, are fighting against terrorism,” Amoli Larijani said, addressing a number of high-ranking judiciary officials in Tehran.”

January 16, 2015