Articles

Prepare for more mystery deaths of MEK members

Since yesterday the MEK propaganda machine and its related resources have been on overdrive to claim that Prepare for more mystery deaths of MEK members the seven people who the MEK claim are missing from Camp Ashraf are in the custody of the Iraqis. Before this they had been on overdrive to claim that the 1st September attack on Camp Ashraf had been carried out by the government of Iraq. Both allegations have been repeatedly dismissed as completely unfounded by Iraq, but this has not silenced the MEK’s propaganda machine.

There is strong evidence that the aim of the attack on Camp Ashraf was to capture or kill Massoud Rajavi on the understanding he has been in hiding there. If that is the case, then the seven missing people, who have been identified as Rajavi’s close inner circle, have been part of a pre-planned manoeuvre to rescue him in the event of such an attack. The other members have been there to resist any incursion to allow Rajavi and his protectors time to run away.

Apparently inside the MEK there is currently an internal indoctrination message which compares the dead in this situation to the circumstances when Prophet Mohammad moved from Mecca to Medina and used Imam Ali who slept in his place as a decoy so that when they came to kill him they found Ali there instead. If this scenario is right then after Rajavi has saved his own skin from Ashraf, the last thing he wants is to be in the presence these seven known people. But he can’t let them go either because of the information they carry. The untenable MEK claim that these seven missing people were in Baghdad and have now been transferred by helicopter by the Prime Minister’s office to the south of Iraq indicates that there is some kind of plan behind it – governments do not work like this. The strongest possibility is that these seven people will be eliminated and the government of Iraq will be blamed. This is a typical MEK ploy to disguise the mysterious deaths of unwanted people, something they have done frequently.

In this case it is entirely possible that following this build up, these seven are discovered dead in the next few days, perhaps handcuffed and executed as the others were.

Certainly, for a man who basically can’t stop talking, the silence from Rajavi since the attack on Camp Ashraf makes it all the more likely that he is on the run and heading for a safe residence out of the country.

September 12, 2013 0 comments

Massoud Rajavi

Massoud Rajavi victimized Ashraf residents

The raid on Camp Ashraf on September 1st that resulted in the killing of 52 residents is a matter of concern and sorrow.

To probe the situation and the main causes of such an incident, it is crucial to review the mutual quadra agreement signed by the American and Iraqi governments, the United Nations and the Mujahedin Khalq Organization ( MKO).

The relocation of about 3000 members of the MKO to Camp Liberty – while 100 members remained in Ashraf – was part of the process to expel the group out of Iraqi territory. The Iraqi government was responsible to ensure the security and safety of the MKO forces for a specific period of time, until they would be transferred to Iran or third countries.

However, the strategic aim for the leader of the MEK cult, Massoud Rajavi was to return to Ashraf and to reinstall his entire forces there after sometime. For Rajavi Camp Ashraf had turned into a strategic notion or even an ideological one.

Actually the evacuation of Camp Liberty depends on third countries’ willingness to accept them. Third countries have not welcomed such a plan and so far a few numbers of residents have managed to move to Albania and Germany. Obviously, the cult leaders have never been willing to let members leave the MKO in groups or individually (in absence of the cult’s regulations and influence).

On the other hand, the MKO had to leave Iraqi territory up to December 2011, regarding numerous warnings by the Iraqi government and rulings of the Iraqi courts and also according to the MOU signed between the MKO and the UN.

The case of the MKO forces in Iraq got very complicated because the group leaders want to maintain Camp Ashraf. They make a number of members stay there under the pretext of taking care of and selling the group properties in an unlimited period.

Due to the disorders taking over the entire Iraqi soil, the Iraqi government has not obtained complete control over insecurities. Considering previous attacks on the group’s camps, the MKO leaders were well aware that sooner or later their camps would be attacked again. If the MKO leaders cared about the safety and security of their members, they wouldn’t ask them to defend to the death Camp Ashraf so members could leave the camp and disperse. In fact, Massoud Rajavi is responsible for the killing on his forces. Iraqi government has the right to abstain from keeping them in their territory although it has to provide safety and security for the residents of Ashraf and Liberty.

In photos released on Camp Ashraf incidents, dead bodies are shown, shot in the head and handcuffed behind their backs. Regarding the fact that dead bodies and photographs both belong to the MKO, itself, the reality cannot be simply verified. Nejat Society is not pleased with victimization of the imprisoned members of the MKO who are abused by Massoud Rajavi’s evil manipulative system and his ill-minded ambitions. The victims of the MKO are not able to realize the conditions they are stuck in so they can not liberate themselves from the bars of this horrible, criminal cult.

The residents of Camp Liberty should be able to choose their future path with their own free will. They should admit that the “Cult of Rajavi” has no right to stay in Iraq.

Iraqi government is also responsible to investigate the case and find the perpetrators of the attack to be brought to justice.

Nejat Society

September 10, 2013 0 comments

Maryam Rajavi

Does she still want to return to Ashraf ?

The attack Sunday September 1st on Camp Ashraf ended with the killing of 52 high ranking members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO). Those members had been remained at the Camp to allegedly watch Back to Ashraf; Back to disaster the group’s properties. The attack was reportedly the most bloody of the several mortar attacks on MKO camps in Iraq. However, the MKO leaders and supporters view “return to Ashraf” as the best solution to guarantee the security and safety of MKO members!

The news on the recent attack on Camp Ashraf is controversial. No credible report has been published on details of the incidence except those released by the group propaganda but one thing is sure: Camp Ashraf is not a safe place for former partners of Saddam Hussein who aided him in operations to suppress Kurdish and Shiite uprisings during the 1990’s. Iraqi people have sought to expel the MKO from their territory since the collapse of Baath regime but the MKO leaders’ unyielding position was to stay in Iraq. The group leaders have urged to return the members to Camp Ashraf since February 2013 when the majority of members were transferred to Camp Liberty, a former US military base near Baghdad airport.

In February 2013, following a much slighter attack on Camp Liberty –only five people were killed – Maryam Rajavi claimed that there was no guarantee of protection and safety for the residents at Camp Liberty and “the only way to prevent further killing is to compel the Iraqi government to return 3000 defenseless residents of Camp Liberty to Ashraf, their home for 26 years”.

Since then, running the agenda of “Return to Ashraf” became a nonstop approach to prolong the group’s stay in Iraq. Advocates of the MKO among European MPs including their long-time sponsor Struan Stevenson also emphasized on “return to Ashraf” as “ the first step “ to rescue Liberty residents before their relocation to third countries. Stevenson and his peers state that Ashraf is “much more secure” against attacks.

Besides European sponsors of Maryam Rajavi, a delegation of her advocates in the US congress including Ted Poe who visited her at that time tried to appease her by saying that “the full protection of the residents of Camp Liberty can only be ensured by moving them out of the harm’s way and returning them to their home for 26 years at Camp Ashraf.”

The so called “home for 26 years” is actually a part of Iraqi territory granted by former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein to foreign insurgents – the MKO members. Iraqi nation do not want the MKO as the remnants of the former dictator in their soil anymore.

Why do not the MKO leaders and their Western supporters “emphasize” on the residents’ urgent relocation to third countries?

Regarding the fact that previous attacks on Ashraf (April 2011 and July 2009) and Liberty (February 2013 ) were warnings for the group leaders to act more seriously to transfer residents out of Iraq and to cooperate more willingly with the UN. Nonetheless, Maryam Rajavi and her disappeared husband, Massoud Rajavi are so reluctant for the relocation process that one can conclude that they benefit more from staying in Iraq than leaving it ! Their agenda of “Return to Ashraf” is now considered absolutely questionable. The process of martyr-making out of attacks on the MKO camps using them to draw the World attention to the group or at least to gain their sympathy provides more fuel to the group’s propaganda machine. Bad for the group leaders, this time the world’ attention is focused on Syria.

By Mazda Parsi

September 9, 2013 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 20

++ Nearly all the news, posts and comments in both English and Farsi this week relate to the 1 September events at Camp Ashraf. Reports from Nejat Bloggers, AFP, Anti-War, Press TV, and the Tehran Times gave sometimes conflicting information, but it has been established that 52 had been killed and of the 42 remaining residents over twenty were injured while seven people (Massoud Rajavi’s personal security detail) are still missing. The Mojahedin press office issued press releases and photographs of the scene including the dead, and claimed that Camp Ashraf was attacked by an Iraqi SWAT team. The government of Iraq and military and security officials denied any involvement in the events inside the camp, but said MEK activists attacked soldiers outside the gate killing two.

++ The United Nations, European Union, European governments and the US all issued strong condemnation of the violence and offered condolences to the victims’ families. None assigned blame for the deaths and all asked that the Iraqi government launch an investigation into the event. Amnesty International noted that the events were “disputed”, and called for an impartial inquiry. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set up an inquiry into the deaths, and on Monday 2nd a UN team visited the camp to try to establish what happened.

++ Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced itself delighted at what it called ‘divine vengeance’ and congratulated the children of the Iraqi nation, pointing to the MEK’s role in suppressing a Kurdish uprising in 1991 on behalf of Saddam Hussein, as well as many assassinations carried out by the MEK in Iran.

++ In Farsi, writers expressed condemnation of the killings and expressed their condolences for the families of the victims. At the start of the week many were repeating the MEK’s claim that Iraqi forces attacked the camp, but by mid week there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Iraq did not do this. However, almost all of the writers blamed Massoud Rajavi for creating the conditions which led to these deaths. The gist of most posts and articles was, ‘You [Rajavi] have said for the past ten years that Nouri Al Maliki is an agent of the Iranian regime, so why are you keeping the members there? Let them go. Why are you there anyway, and what did you expect would happen?’

++ Interestingly the MEK use this event as the basis to continue its belligerent verbal attacks on defected members as though it was their fault that it happened.

++ The titles of some articles are interesting. In an article titled ‘Gentlemen come dine, the blood is ready’ Mohammad Razaghi explains how he believes the members were kept in Camp Ashraf to be killed. Ghorbanali Hosseinejat’s article is titled, ‘Yet another Ashura for the Mojahedin without Imam Hussein’. Arash Rezai’s article in Nimnegah details why the ideological leadership of a cult like the MEK needs blood.

++ Hossein Bagherzadeh, a respected human rights activist, wrote in Iran Emrooz. He examines various scenarios and describes how the event unfolded. He points out that if anyone criticises the MEK they become their enemy. But, he says, my writing is not about that, it is a serious reminder to the Mojahedin Khalq leaders that in a case when people are killed in cold blood, other Iranian opposition activists cannot refrain from expressing their views about the MEK and while condemning the killings, will also emphasize how much the MEK are hated by Iranians. Bagherzadeh says that up until now, anyone expressing that view would be labelled an agent of the Iranian regime. But he says ‘today I want them to look at themselves, what they have done and see that this is the result.’ He warns, ‘ I want them to look at themselves and change because tomorrow is not going to get any better than today’.

++ Behrouz Setudeh, a famous activist, writes for Iran Global. He asks how many times this kind of thing has to happen before the leaders of the MEK wake up. He reminds Rajavi of when he was in university with him 45 years ago and says, ‘you should remember international law, and you will see how silly and sad it is that in a country which has been at war, and whose government has changed, a group of foreigners sit tight and refuse to accept the order of the new government to leave their country. Even more ridiculous is that you are demanding that whatever you got from the old regime, the new government has to leave it for you… While you were working for Saddam Hussein your self-declared mission of ‘fighting the Iranian regime’ doesn’t change international laws and norms; you were still working for the Saddam regime.’ Setudeh concludes by suggesting that beyond all this, Rajavi should do one honourable thing and let the remaining MEK members go.

++ 139 people signed a letter condemning the attack and asking those in charge to follow up to make sure it cannot happen again.

++ A. Minoo Sepehr writes in response to this letter to remind the signatories how events unfolded and warns them not to fall into the trap of accepting MEK propaganda. He gives the example of the films of the alleged attackers saying they have no helmets or proper masks and no proper equipment. He also reminds them to look at what the MEK have shown as handcuffs which on the bodies are metal, but the unused ones also shown are plastic handcuffs. He highlights many similar discrepancies. Sepehr concludes by saying ‘yes, everyone is against this violence, but don’t think the version of events you heard from the MEK is the whole thing’.

++ Karim Gholami’s article titled ‘Did they have a second chance?’ explains that among those killed are some who tortured him while he was an MEK dissident. He says he wasn’t happy about their deaths because nobody deserves that kind of death. He says, ‘I had a second chance, I ran away and am now happy, but they didn’t. They took part in the torture but then they stayed and were killed as well’.

++ Among the dead is Amir, the son of Hadi Shams Haeri who died before being able to see his son in spite of years of campaigning for this right. Many people were deeply affected by this. Some consoled themselves by saying that according to their belief, whatever happened in this world, father and son will be reunited after death.

September 6, 2013

September 7, 2013 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Were the Camp Ashraf victims bait for a more sinister goal?

It appears there are two ways to respond to the September 1st attack at Camp Ashraf. One is the normal approach taken by the United Nations and Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the governments of America and Europe, the European Union, and Amnesty International ; condemnation of the killings, condolences for the

victims’ families and demands that the government of Iraq conduct an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set up an inquiry into the deaths, and on Monday 2nd a UN team visited the camp to try to establish what happened.

Then there is the approach of the Mojahedin Khalq (aka MKO, MEK, NCRI), sympathetic media and lobbyists; immediately blame your enemies (in this case the host country) and build a strong verbal and pictorial narrative to support that assertion. Less than a few hours after the event strident press releases and graphic photographs of handcuffed, executed bodies were being sent to media and political circles claiming that the government of Iraq had massacred the camp residents. Iraq’s security forces denied having entered the camp.

But, after a day or two of drip-feeding such images it began to resemble a Hollywood film; initial shocking pictures of the dead, then a back-flash to the moment the ill-equipped but masked attackers covertly crept up on the camp. (Carefully filmed by the victims themselves; if you saw this would you not run away or at least grab a gun rather than a camera!) This also begs the obvious question, ‘why would the Iraqi forces brutally murder half the residents then leave the remainder free to film the victims, send the films to the MEK HQ and allow these pictures to be distributed to the world?’ What possible motivation would they have?

No, the mystery surrounding these killings can begin to be unlocked by looking at some facts behind the MEK’s propaganda campaign, and by examining Massoud Rajavi’s disgusting, inhuman and sickening behaviour. Firstly Rajavi reneged on his agreement with the UN and insisted on retaining 100 people in Camp Ashraf while the remainder were transferred to temporary transit camp Liberty. This meant hundreds of Iraqi security forces were unnecessarily tied up in ‘protecting’ people illegally squatting the land and who are regarded in Iraq as terrorists, while Iraq’s civilian population are under constant threat of bombing and shooting in the rest of the country. While there they refused to allow anyone to enter the camp, declaring it an extra-judicial enclave to which not even the UN was granted access. And they endlessly whinged about the poor conditions while demanding that they stay put. They also refused to deal with the so-called possessions which they had supposedly remained there to sell. Certainly if the MEK were in any way immersed in normal society, even if the families of residents had been allowed to remain outside the camp to make contact with their loved ones, this kind of covert attack would not have been possible.

So, why were they really there and who was behind this attack? Although Iranian rightwingers and Revolutionary Guards hailed it as a victory for the Iraqi people, whoever was behind this tragedy was certainly an enemy of the government of Iraq.

There has been speculation that the MEK left behind in Camp Ashraf were there to protect Rajavi who was hiding in the camp, although it is also highly doubtful that he would risk remaining in the camp after he saw what happened to his benefactor Saddam Hussein. Since the MEK released the names of the recent victims it has emerged that nearly all of the 100 people who remained at Camp Ashraf had been indicted for various terrorist crimes. Most of those killed were old and disaffected members but were unable to leave the MEK as they were marked for arrest by law enforcement agencies. They were, in effect, Rajavi’s hostages to do with what he wanted. Interestingly, the people who are missing are all members of Rajavi’s personal security team, including the head of his security team Mahboubeh Jamshidi. How did it happen that they were not among those killed and where are they now? More to the point, where is Massoud Rajavi?

In August this year Rajavi surprised everyone when he announced that he had washed his hands of the MEK members who for thirty years have devoted their lives to him. He told them, “I am only in charge of your Day of Judgment and no one knows the date of the collapse of the regime”.

But if Rajavi wants to reduce or discontinue the MEK’s activities, give up his political ambition for regime change, then retire and attend to his personal life, he will have two essential needs. One is that he must somehow convince the United States to provide a safe retirement residence somewhere in Europe or the Middle East, and the second need is to get rid of the 3000+ people in Iraq. In this respect Rajavi could cut a deal to offer these 3000 people as mercenary forces to push the western agenda in Iraq and Syria; for example chemicals, bombing, poison or similar activities. His best case scenario would be that they die in situ through mortar attack or similar so that he could blame the Iraqi government for killing them. The Iraqi government would probably then be forced to offer some kind of compensation to the Americans and in return the Americans could be persuaded to give him, Rajavi, a place in Europe where he can be kept pickled for a day when he may be useful again.

Although it may seem far fetched to imagine the MEK itself or some collaborative group arranged to kill these individuals and leave some alive to film the events, Rajavi’s own track record for exploiting the blood of his followers, whether in war, assassinations, self-immolations, suicide missions, etc, sadly speaks for itself. Did Rajavi offer up the unwanted residents of Camp Ashraf as irresistible bait?

September 7, 2013 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

From Facts To Propaganda: Events Behind The Tragedy At Camp Ashraf

From early morning on Sunday 1st September, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the western Events Behind The Tragedy At Camp Ashraf shop front of the Rajavi cult in Paris, started issuing statements one after another claiming that armed Iraqi forces had carried out an attack, killing some of the remaining people in Camp Ashraf while they have been handcuffed. international media started broadcasting this news and a flood of condemnation and sympathy resulted. It is unfortunate that the original source of this news has been the Mojahedin Khalq (aka MKO, MEK, NCRI), the dangerous, destructive Rajavi cult. The Mojahedin Khalq also distributed pictures which have also been broadcast worldwide, eliciting even more sympathy from various quarters. The speed at which this self-reporting was carried out and the wide circles to which it was distributed clearly shows some amount of readiness in this respect.

The Iraqi government denied any military involvement in Camp Ashraf, and various Iraqi officials condemned this attack no matter how and by whom it was carried out. They have all asked for the intervention of the United Nations and a thorough investigation into this issue. But apparently the Rajavi cult’s side of the story was a more desirable and acceptable one for the western media. Among these western media, the Associated Press coverage is most interesting as it reports on the contradictions among the statements by different Iraqi authorities. When you read the report, it is obvious that all the officials interviewed who have been named by AP have condemned the attack and have asked for international organisations to intervene. But an “unnamed” local police officer has apparently claimed that the Iraqi forces were involved! Later on we find that the so-called “unnamed local police officer” is of course the Rajavi cult itself which has pushed this claim through their connections and friends inside the Associated Press.

We have recently written about Massoud Rajavi answering the question “when will the regime be toppled?” by saying “I am only in charge of your Day of Judgment and no one knows the date of the collapse of the regime”. We put this reply to an expert on Iraq and the Mojahedin Khalq and asked for his opinion. His analytical reply on September 24, 2013 (by emails which can be made available) was that:

“If true, and if he (Rajavi) wants to reduce the [MEK’s] activities, discontinue the [group’s] current situation and give up political activities to retire and attend to his personal life, then he will have two essential needs. One is that he has to somehow convince the United States to sort him out and keep him safe somewhere in Europe and the second need is to get rid of these 3000+ people (in Iraq). As far as I know Rajavi, he is probably planning to expend the lives of these 3000 people for the American secret services to somehow push forward the American agenda in Iraq with their lives; for example chemicals, bombing, poison or similar activities. At the end of the day he would need to get rid of them for good and blame the Iraqi government so that the Iraqi government would be forced to offer some kind of compensation to the Americans and in return the Americans would accept to give him, Rajavi, a place in Europe where he can be kept pickled for a day when he may be useful again”.

Since responsibility for Camp Ashraf was transferred from the American forces to the Iraqis, the Mojahedin Khalq’s line of action has consistently been to engage in violence with whatever means possible face to face with the Iraqi forces in charge of the security of the camp. The Iraqi government has for years tried to pursue the peaceful transfer of this destructive cult from the country with the utmost care and patience. The transfer of Rajavi’s forces from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty, a transit camp, only started after the intervention of the United Nations and Hilary Clinton, then US Secretary of State, who at that time promised the MEK that if they accepted to be transferred peacefully, the United States would remove them from its list of terrorist groups. This was the first step toward transferring them to 3rd countries according to the agreements drawn up between the UN, the Iraqi Government and the MEK. But Rajavi, acting against all that he had accepted, kept some of the forces in Camp Ashraf with the excuse that they should remain to sell any MEK belongings which remained in the camp. At the same time Rajavi every day rejected all and every proposition from potential buyers and then started demanding that his forces be brought back from the transit camp to Camp Ashraf. It is noteworthy that this camp was originally call “Khalis Garrison” and belonged to the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein, who had illegally given it to Rajavi who later on forcefully confiscated the agricultural lands adjacent to the camp and added them to the garrison.

The Iraqi government has tried to resolve the problem of Camp Ashraf peacefully and according to the agreements made and according to court judgements which specify that the land of the garrison should repossessed, but the leaders of cult have prevented Iraqi officials from entering the camp and declared it to be their property in spite of the court rulings. It is worth mentioning that Camp Ashraf is the only place in Iraq that after 10 years still belongs to Saddam Hussein and has not been entered and investigated and is not under the control of the Iraqi government. It is also worth mentioning that Rajavi has forbidden his forces from using the words “transit” and/or “3rd countries” even though these were part of his own agreement with the UN and its representative Martin Kobler. Rajavi later accused Mr Kobler of being an agent of the Iranian regime.

As the negotiations between the Iraqi government and the leaders of the Mojahedin Khalq were continuing, we at Sahar Family Foundation warned repeatedly that many people have been affected by the crimes committed by this cult, that many people have lost their land and many have lost families and children and are after revenge. We have repeatedly emphasised that Iraq is not a safe place for the members of this cult and they should be cooperating with the United Nations to be taken out of Iraq. Rajavi knows all this but deliberately wanted to keep them in Iraq and especially in Camp Ashraf, which is of course much more unsafe than Camp Liberty. He needed their blood.

The Mojahedin Khalq leaders have repeatedly emphasized that in order to keep Camp Ashraf they need blood. In the April 8, 2011 incident, when Iraqi forces entered the north part of the camp, the leaders had told the members that they should not worry or be afraid and they should go forward and attack the soldiers with whatever they could because the army had not brought any live bullets with them and the bullets they do use are blanks. They deliberately wanted the number of casualties to increase. Survivors of the cult can testify that the leaders of Mojahedin Khalq constantly emphasize that they need blood and constantly encouraged members to create conflict.

What should we expect from a cult and its leader who deliberately sends his follower to their deaths, looks upon them as disposable soldiers, gives them orders to burn themselves and sends them to war without training and arms? In July 17th 2003 when they gave the order for self-immolations , they had promised the victims that they would intervene and extinguish the fire once it was started. But they didn’t, they stood aside and took films. According to many who have managed to escape the cult, they killed many of their own disaffected members by shooting them from the back and then registered them as martyrs from during the bombardment of the coalition forces.

Pictures of this latest incident distributed by the Rajavi cult show how the residents have been handcuffed from behind and then murdered. If it was the Iraqi government, would it not make sense that they would finish it all and not leave someone to take pictures to send to the H.Q. of the cult so that they would broadcast it within such a short time all over the world? Is it not the case that the picture taking and other facilities were prepared in advance?

The reasons behind this can be deduced from recent events in Iraq’s political situation and the Iraqi government’s stand in front of the Americans’ aggressive policies in Syria. That the Mojahedin Khalq leaders kill the members is not a new phenomenon. Killing disaffected members and adding them to the list of martyrs is not new.

The Iraqi government had notified the Rajavi cult that they are running out of patience and will have to take back the camp but Rajavi has acted in advance and this massacre is with no doubt his work and the work of those on his payroll. To place the Iraqi government under international pressure was a favour to the Americans and he also now has fresh new blood to feed his propaganda machine.

If Rajavi dies and comes back to this world a thousand times, it is not enough to pay back what he has done. The first victims of any cult are its own members; individuals who have wasted the last 3 decades of their lives for Massoud Rajavi now have become the victims of a joint cultish and imperialistic game.

We again ask all international organisations to intervene to save the lives of the hostages taken by Rajavi and prevent more bloodshed in future.

Translated by Iran Interlink

September 4, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO’s Adopted Means to Promote Democracy

MKO adopted violence as a necessary means for bringing about democracy

The likelihood of finding principles of democracy practiced within the terrorist cult of Mojahedin Khalq, as the group claims it is adhering to after its de-proscription, is much lower than expecting a Palestine–Israel peace treaty. History is about remembering and no tide of history can wash away the countless records of terrorist deeds perpetrated by the most hated terrorist MKO. Now on the anniversary of one of its most heinous terrorist operations inside Iran, blasting the Iranian Prime Minister’s Office, MKO has to be reminded of the bloody deed it deemed necessary for bringing about democracy! Can recorded evidence of this most ruthless terrorist operation be washed away when strongly and repeatedly asserted in the documents of a government aiming to take it under its protection? As asserted in the report by the US Department of State in 2007:

“In 1981, MKO leadership attempted to overthrow the newly installed Islamic regime; The MKO instigated a bombing campaign, including an attack against the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Prime Minister’s office, which killed some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar.”

On 30 August 1981, MKO set off a bomb in Iranian Prime Minister’s Office at 3 pm where the National Security Council was holding a meeting. The blast killed the new Iranian President, Muhammad-Ali Rajai, and his recently named Prime Minister, Mohammed Javad Bahonar. Now nearly three decades after the terrorist perpetration, it can be studied from different aspects. The details of the bombing exposed in the media abroad well suggested the role of MKO although the group refrained to directly accept the responsibility for the operation.

The terrorist act, one of the most outrageous and blamable form of terrorism in the world history, was somehow endorsed by the West when they deliberately preferred to remain silent on the act that would trigger a global tension if it happened in a Western country. At the same time, none of the Western countries approved use of terrorism as a means of implacable determination to achieve undemocratic and ambitious ends. Oddly enough, it was committed at a time when MKO was plotting its terrorist plans in its Paris safe-haven under French protection.

Bombings perpetrated by MKO not only arouse outrage and anger among the Iranian people, but also were condemned by a global consensus on the issue. That is true that some countries for certain political motives and interests hardly respect the principles of combating the truculent phenomena of terrorism, the global consensus to combat terrorism in no way justifies use of terrorism in any form.

An analysis of any terrorist deed with the cost and impact imposed on the society among whom it has been committed illuminates dark aspects of the reason behind the deed. In fact, any terrorist act carries indirect messages from its perpetrators to the target societies. In other words, it can be said that any terrorist act is an abrupt undemocratic reaction against democratic and legal practices within a society. MKO’s terrorist deeds that plagued Iran following its defeat in post-revolution political and social fronts each carried coded messages. In fact, MKO’s terrorist acts directly targeted the vote of people rather than being enraged by the leading figures of the regime themselves.

MKO issued no immediate announcement to accept the responsibility of the operation and took no clear position. However, in a telephone interview reflected in some Western newspapers at the time, Massoud Rajavi said that the fatal bombing at the prime minister’s office was carried out “by the legitimate resistance movement”. But his further explanation made it explicit who he meant by the ‘resistance movement’: “I am not informed at this time exactly who planted the bomb, but it was the resistance movement and I do not deny that the Mujahedeen make up the majority of that movement”.

MKO claimed to have committed the crime as a legitimate resistance on behalf of the nation, but there is no record of when and where people voted to recognize the legitimacy of a self-proclaimed resistance that possessed no patience to fit social disobedience. It is common in most democratic countries that struggle for power is conducted through free, democratic elections and no loser engages in aggressive, violent activities to revenge his defeat. Being great losers in political scene, MKO’s terrorist, violent deeds imply that the group in no way respected the democratic principles exercised by people.

The message of the August blast conveys is that MKO never stands for any legitimacy; if MKO were to receive no political recognition to assume power, then, neither could the legitimacy of any election be recognized nor the votes of the very same people whose legitimate right decides for the legitimacy of any power structure. Actually playing no decisive role in Iranian revolution, MKO later came to arrogate the right of the leadership. The flight of Rajavi and Bani-Sadr to France, from where they conducted the terrorist operation of blasting the prime minister’s office in Tehran, approves a fact that they could never distinguish justification from legitimacy, that democracy can never be achieved through violence.

August 31, 2013 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest –19

++ The MEK’s systematic swearing continues against Mesdaghi, Yaghmai, Ghassim and Rowhani – the latest four to defect and publicly criticise the MEK. As usual, the MEK have created new websites and made up new names and associations to swear at them. There has been much reaction to these activities, which everyone identifies as an effort to divert attention from the actual questions which have been raised by these critics. One short article this week from Atefeh Eghbal, us titled, ‘Is it really possible?’ She examines the MEK reaction and begs the question, ‘even if we accept everything the MEK says, that we are all agents of the regime, we are torturers and murderers and rapists, still is it really possible that people have or will forget what the original questions were which were directed at Massoud Rajavi. Where did these questions go?’

++ There have still been a few articles expanding on Rajavi’s remark that he is only responsible for the souls of his followers and what happens on Judgement Day, and that he has no clue or responsibility about the overthrow of the Iranian regime or when that may occur.

++ This week a delegation from Aryia Association in Paris had meetings at the Albanian embassy. The delegation thanked the government of Albania for its humanitarian act of accepting 210 MEK as refugees from Camp Liberty. They further explained, with documents and evidence, how the MEK is attempting to create a new camp like they had in Iraq how they exert pressure on the new arrivals to conform to the cult will.

++ One of the series of people from the NCRI brought to swear at Ghassim and Rowhani is Moslem Filabi. Many articles have been written criticising him on various levels. One is that he is still living on his reputation as a wrestler forty years ago which the MEK uses for advertising purposes. Also many criticise him for having never been political and not attending any NCRI meetings or getting involved. They say he is paid for writing whatever the MEK dictate for him although he has no clue about what is happening in the world. The articles point out he is not an unknown creature for anyone and that he really ought to shut up.

++ Behzad Alishahi was this week’s guest on Mardom TV. He had an open line and answered various views and questions put to him by viewers. The questions varied from asking about the families at Camp Liberty to the accusation that he is biased and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to speak. Alishahi answered by acknowledging “I am is not neutral. I wish I could be, but with all the things I have seen and experienced with the MEK, it is impossible. That, however, is not important. What matters is that the people are neutral. Since the MEK is not neutral either, let us sit together and discuss this from both sides and let the people decide.” When asked whether he is an ‘agent of the Iranian regime’ Alishahi thanked the questioner for this and said, “normally the MEK line is never to make these accusations directly because this is the start of a dialogue. Instead you are only supposed to swear at me in a place where I can’t answer. So, as a supporter if the MEK, either knowingly or not you have crossed the red line. We can start the conversation and you will see that I have points we can discuss and share.” He then goes on to explain how the MEK have been used by Iran and how the MEK try to wipe out the questions by shouting and threatening. He reminded the questioner that he has never written any letter to any official in Iran but Massoud Rajavi has and is frequently doing so and that this is just the surface of his relations. Some other questions involved his years with the MEK and what he feels is his responsibility for what happened when Iraq was at war with Iran and during other episodes in the MEK’s history.

++ Ghader Rahmani has written an article for Nim-Negah directed at Rowhani and Ghassim. While welcoming their resignations and their distancing from the MEK, he reminds them that they have to criticise their own past themselves. He reminds them specifically of the time in Baghdad that Rajavi suddenly expanded the NCRI from tens to 500 members by appointing hundreds of MEK. At that time, says Rahmani, those MEK who were forced to join had questions in their minds and didn’t want to be members of the NCRI. However because that was the era of Saddam and they had to obey orders. However, although you two didn’t have to obey you accepted this and didn’t raise your voices to object. On top of that, for two decades you accepted someone like Maryam Rajavi as your so-called president elect.

++ As usual MEK TV broadcast swearing sessions against its critics, this time bringing Mehdi Abrishamchi – Maryam Rajavi’s first husband and famous inside the MEK as a lumpen. As part of the programme, MEK callers began issuing threats against Yaghmai, Mesdaghi and others saying they would not only kill them but chop them into pieces. In response there have been many articles, some of which remind Abrishamchi that the era of Saddam has passed and the MEK should grow up and live with the reality of Western countries. Yaghmai has answered in his blog, explaining the words and phrases the MEK use and comparing them with the likes of Hassan Sabah and the Assassin cult and how they were sent to chop people up. He asks, “is this what you mean?” He has also published a poem, titled ‘I am vomiting’. He describes his disappointment that over the years he has been fooled and had helped the cult and lost everything. In the end he comes out on top and says that ‘if I only have one more day to live, I will not sit and do nothing’.

++ Several articles directed at Massoud Rajavi say ‘isn’t it better that you ‘get lost’, rather than your followers?’

++ Adam Scherck for Associated Press in Baghadad reports that Georges Bakoos, who oversees the MEK issue for the Iraqi government, dismissed as “propaganda” the dissident group’s allegations of persecution. He acknowledged there are occasional power cuts at the camp but said they are no different as those in other parts of Iraq. “I can assure you no order was given” to cut off supplies, he said. Iraqi officials are, however, moving ahead with court proceedings to evict the Camp Ashraf holdouts, possibly as soon as in the next few weeks, Bakoos said.

++ Mehdi Khoshal has written an article titled, ‘Getting and Giving’. He explains how Rajavi has lost one thing after another because he never had dared to give anything. Rajavi always wants to get but can never pay the price to gain anything worthwhile.

++ In an interview with Ashraf News translated into English, a former independent member of Iraq’s House of Representatives, Hussein al-Falluji, has revealed that from the time of their arrival, the occupying American forces granted the Mojahedin Khalq organisation immunity and freedom of movement within the country to coordinate with some other groups and political parties in Iraq. He concluded that the situation posed by the MEK and the increasing number of extremist armed groups which are waiting for the opportunity to work together to target the security of Iraq poses a challenge.

++ Hanif Heydar Nejat has published his series of articles on Forough Javidan as a book in Farsi. He has also written, as have others, about the MEK TV programme and the death threats etc. He puts it that it is obvious that when the head of the MEK does not directly reject these comments which have been broadcast from his television, then we can consider that any future occurrence has been directly ordered by him.

++ Atefeh Eghbal wrote an article about the people in Camp Ashraf and says that it is ridiculous to claim, as the MEK do, that these 100 people are there to look after their belongings. This doesn’t match with anything and everyone is clear they are not there for that. She compares the bad conditions of Camp Liberty and Camp Ashraf which the MEK themselves claim to the conditions at Auvers-sur-Oise and asks, ‘after 30 years, what is really the mission of these 100 people who are suffering deprivation and what really is the mission of those in France eating well and enjoying themselves in comfort.

++ Milad Aryiai has a short article in Pen Association in Germany saying that after 90 days since a couple of people have left the NCRI, and nothing more, Rajavi has still dropped everything else and is doing nothing but creating allegations against them and swearing at them. In a world in which it is usual that you join an organisation willingly and leave when you want, Rajavi’s reaction shows how corrupt his thinking is that he believes they shouldn’t be allowed to behave like this.

++ Many write about the possible break-up of the MEK as day by day it is collapsing in on itself. They question whether there a possibility that a new faction break off and rescue the forces with a new name or something.

++ Press TV in English covered a press conference in Tehran in which two former members of the terrorist MEK elaborated on the terrorist nature of the group which has a long history of hostility and terrorist attacks against the Iranian nation. Ebrahim Khodabandeh and Maryam Sanjabi both worked for the MEK for over 20 years before escaping from the group’s camp in Iraq. “The MEK is not seeking a social position inside the Iranian society, but rather it is only trying to ensure the interests of the US and Israel,” Khodabandeh said. “The group was initially established on the platform of fighting imperialism three decades ago, but today the group’s leaders do not follow this policy anymore and instead they have become the partners of the US and Israel in carrying out their destructive policies against Iran,” he added. Sanjabi said the MEK does not observe human rights at all even in recruiting its forces. “The group doesn’t care how old you are. We had a number of children from seven to ten years of age who’d been forced to join the group and indeed they were raised according to the group’s plans.” She said that the leaders of the group believe that families are “the nest of corruption” so they try hard to disrupt family bonds and force members to forget their family.

++ Minoo Sepehr has written an article about the active presence of the MEK in the violence in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, detailing both the news and the aims that have been set for Rajavi to perform in these places. She reminds us of many reports, including that of Seymour Hersh, that the MEK are being trained by Americans. It is not surprising, she concludes, that if they can’t use them in Iran they will use them elsewhere because they don’t want to pay for nothing.

++ Mohammad Razaghi has commented on the MEK TV programme and reminds us that the last few violent attacks in Paris and other places against vocal critics have all been directed from Auvers-sur-Oise, pointing out that this cannot happen in the MEK without a direct order from the top. Knowing the MEK they will follow orders from Auvers, but warns that this time because the MEK is collapsing they may not only knife people, they may go to kill them.

++ Sahar Family Foundation has translated into Farsi some articles from Iraqi papers. The news agency Al Iraq al Markazieh says there are reports of Massoud Rajavi now living in Israel under the protection of the Americans. The same report also goes into the sexual mistreatment of women in the MEK during the time of Saddam and the fact they were all divorced and married to Rajavi. The report says that many claims are being brought to the Iraqis that they have been raped by Rajavi and that Maryam Rajavi was aiding and abetting the sexual abuse.

++ Al Elam Al Iraqi has published an interview with an official of the Iraqi ministry for human rights, Kamel Amin, who is following the case of the MEK. He says there is no way the MEK can be considered for refugee status in Iraq as they are not eligible, but the number of people remaining in Camp Ashraf is exactly 80. The MEK have deliberately published various numbers on their websites from 80 to 230 just to confuse the situation, but it is exactly 80, not more. He also stressed that they will be expelled soon.

++ Bahar Irani has an article in Mojahedin.ws comparing the content of the MEK TV programme with what Maryam Rajavi has been claiming in her Paris show at Villepint. She says what they want for Iran – freedom of speech and religion etc – but in their programme the MEK threaten to kill people for talking. Irani reminds us that what this woman is doing and saying is when the MEK do not have power.

August 30, 2013

August 31, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US: from 1953 coup to MKO training in Nevada

Sixty years after the 1953 coup, the US bugs Iran using the MKO

The US Central Sixty years after the 1953 coup, the US bugs Iran using the MKO Intelligence Agency (CIA) officially admits it was behind the coup against Iranian democratically elected Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq in August 1953. However, the release of such a document doesn’t mean that the United States has stopped taking actions to destabilize Iranian government. The Mujahedin Khalq Organization with its dark history of treason and bloodshed against the Iranian nation is now being backed by the US.

The 1953 coup had a severe impact on the aspirations of the Iranian people for democracy and freedom. It severely suppressed the Iranian pro-democracy movement that eventually turned into the Islamic revolution in 1979. Foreign Policy website that first published the news of the CIA’s document on TPAjax operation (the coup was codenamed as Ajax) suggest,” the event’s reverberations have haunted its orchestrators over the years, contributing to the anti Americanism that accompanied the Shah’s ouster in early 1979,and even influencing the Iranians who seized the US Embassy in Tehran later that year.”[1]

Regarding the Iranian people, the newly published document has nothing new because as the Iranian American historian Ervand Ebrahamian tells the Guardian,” The basic facts are widely known to every school child in Iran”. He adds, “Suppressing the details only distorts the history and feeds into myth-making on all sides.”[2]

Actually the United State has never ceased its covert attacks against Iran. Meteor Blades of the Daily KOS lists US hostile acts after the 1953 coup for “curtailing” Iran, “while controversial war, the bomb-bomb-bomb Iran approach has been so far avoided because that still remains a last resort of the bipartisan consensus ,other attacks on Iran have continued ,including by means of Stuxnet, the cyber-weapon built by the National Security Agency together with CIA and Israeli Intelligence and used to temporary cripple the Uranium enrichment operations in Natanz, Iran.” At the end, he notices the role of the MKO in the US-Israeli backed operations against Iranians,” There are, in addition, assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists by the Iranian terrorist organization Mojahedin-e-Khalq assisted with funding and training assistance of America’s ally Israel.”[3]

In April 2012, the investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh published his famous article,” our Men in Iran” in which he revealed that American Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) conducted training cources for members of the MKO in Nevada. The MKO agents received training in “commo, crypto, small unit tactics, and weaponry”, a retired US general told Hersh. [4]

Seymour Hersh also cites of a former senior intelligence official that the operations to destabilize IR including the killing of five Iranian nuclear scientists are “primarily being done by the MEK through liaison with the Israelis, but the United States is now providing the Intelligence”. Hersh asserts that the links between the US and the MKO activities against Iran has been long-standing. [5]

In August 1953, the US and British governments toppled one of the most efficient Iranian Prime Ministers because “he tried to nationalize Iranian oil wealth from Britain.” [6] The Guardian puts,” in recent years Iranian politicians have sought to compare the dispute over the country’s nuclear activities to that of the oil nationalization under Mosaddeq.”[7]

While the US spying and terrorist activities by the aid of the MKO continues to irritate Iranians, the American soldier Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison because of leaking intelligence to Wikileaks website. Professors and legal experts and civil rights groups called the sentence “outrageous” and “unprecedented” reported Tom McCarthy of the Guardian. It’s “seriously wrong” for a soldier who shared information with the public to be punished “far more harshly that others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians”, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) told McCarthy. [8] In addition to the case of Manning, we’ve got Julian Assange, the editor- in-chief and founder of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden former CIA agent who is behind his significant revelations on US surveillance program that "destroyed privacy and basic liberties". Both men were forced to live in exile for fear of being imprisoned in their homeland. They are considered as traitors by the US government.

Therefore, the American advocates of the Mujahedin Khalq might be able to understand how the Iranian people and authorities feel about the MKO. The group was sheltered, funded and trained by Saddam Hussein and fought on his side against his own country-men. It was then funded, trained and used by the US and Israel to commit acts of violence and spying on Iranian nuclear activities.

Regarding the recent confessions on 1953 coup and facts on its advocacy for the MKO, the United States should not expect the Iranian public to have a positive view on his alleged green lights for negotiation.

By Mazda Parsi

Sources:

[1] Byrne, Malcolm, CIA admits it was behind Iran’s coup, Foreign Policy, August 19, 2013

[2] Kamali Dehghan.Saeed,Norton Taylor,Richard,CIA admits role in 1953 Iranian coup, The Guardian, August 19,2013

[3] Blades, Meteor, An unhappy 60 birthday” The CIA coup of 1953 still resonates in Iran. Operation Ajax remembered, Daily KOS, August 18,2013

[4] Hersh,Seymour,Our Men in Iran ,the New Yorker Magazine, April6,2012

[5]ibid

[6] AlJazeera,CIA admits organizing 1953 Iran coup, August 20,2013

[7] Kamali Dehghan.Saeed,Norton Taylor,Richard,CIA admits role in 1953 Iranian coup, The Guardian, August 19,2013

[8] McCarthy,Tom, Bradley Manning tells lawyer after sentencing: I’m going to be ok- as it happened, The Guardian, August 21,2013

August 27, 2013 0 comments

Albania

MKO Building a Cult Bastion in Albania

MKO intensifies to itsugh cultic practices in Albanian refugee camp

Some cult experts believe that it is hard to totally annihilate a cult as they can grow offshoots in the manner of the mythical hydra, for each time one head was cut off, another moved in to replace it. The terrible truth about many of them is that they can easily and immediately adapt, recover and rebuild their organizational setup, rather than withering away, if partly disintegrated or broken into smaller groups. That is mainly because order structure and the authoritatively established system of hierarchy within the organization of cults can guarantee the replacement of a leader and guru in his or her absence and demise. MKO as a terrorist cult is no exception as it is rebuilding its cultic structure in any country its members are being transferred.

When Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, made the humanitarian offer to take about 210 members of MKO, the offer was at first rejected by the group’s leaders and the group’s propaganda machine kept lashing Mr. Kobler and condemning him for pressing relocation of residents to a country like Albania. Of course, Tirana made the offer under a pressure from the United States that was seeking a sanctuary for the members of the outcast terrorists whom no other country dared to accept. In fact, Albania eagerly accepted the imposed offer since the country pursues imitation of the United States in whatever it represents. Joining NATO a decade after the other former East European communist countries, Albania was granted the right to have a small share in the US’s military enterprise and to send some of its tiny military to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At first expressing reluctance to accept the offer made by Albania, as the group never agrees to any suggestion at initio, MKO leaders’ offered two options: “The first option is the immediate, even temporary transfer of all the residents to the US or to a European country, and permanent resettlement from there, or the return of all of the residents to Camp Ashraf and the continuation of the resettlement process from Ashraf, including transfer to Albania from Ashraf.”

But soon the group grabbed at the opportunity as the leaders realized there could be no better option than an immediate transfer to Albania to assess the chances of establishing a new cult bastion there. In contrast to the speculations that the relocation of the insiders would lead to diminish the imposed cultic practices, the current situation and condition of the insiders in Albanian refugee camp uncovers intensified instances of tough cultic practices even in the absence of the chief leaders.

To survive and also to recover, a cult and its leader/s need to isolate his/her followers from outsiders to ensure that the followers will only hear the cult’s propaganda. The isolation from outside influences and provocations protects the cult’s internalized belief system and keeps them away from the outside critical thinking that threatens the cult’s integrity. And MKO has turned Tiran’s refugee camp into another cult milieu just under the eyes of the world to continue the heavily controlled physical and psychological exercises. According to the news leaked out to the world outside, those members transferred to Albania are suffering the very same cult pressures they were going through in cult bastions like Ashraf and Liberty. Shirin Moini, one of the members transferred to Albania, is reported to have managed making a secret contact with her family asking for help. Her family quoted her complaining of having a tough time in the camp because of the intensified cultic control and pressures just under the eyes of the Albanian authorities who keep the asylum seekers in the training camp to educate them before being sent out to continue a free life in the society.

The organizational control and cult-like practices exercised by the MKO at Camp Liberty, and now in Albania, have grown worse than those manipulated against members in Camp Ashraf. MKO leaders know that Liberty and Tirana’s refugee camp are not like Ashraf. They are not isolated, closed locations cut off from the outside world. As a result, the leaders have enhanced the organizational control to prevent defection and the consequent collapse of the cult. What has changed in these places in comparison to Ashraf is that Camp Ashraf was under MKO’s full control and no one could interfere in the organization relations. Unlike there, Liberty and Tiran’s refugee camp are open to and dependent on the outside world and external control. What the members shut up in these camps need is to be kept under the strict supervision of camps authorities and to stop concentration of the members in groupthink residences as it is ongoing as a matter of routine. But first of all the authorities have to be enlightened about the threats and dangers of a terrorist cult now dressed in a pro-democratic camouflage.

August 26, 2013 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts