Articles

MKO Advocates Embroiled in Scandals

The destiny of those having a contact with MKO is tied with scandals

It seems that the destiny of those having a contact with MKO is tied with scandals. Bob Filner, a former congressman and San Diego Mayor, is seeking to survive the sex scandal that is the talk of America’s Finest City. Three of his friends and longtime supporters went public Thursday with allegations from female staff members that his behavior has been reprehensible. Filner by releasing a video admitted that he has failed “to fully respect the women who work for me” and has at times “intimidated them”.

The story came up just after Filner returned from a trip to Paris where he attended MKO’s yearly meeting at Villepinte. The gathering was described as a meeting of Iranians in support of human rights and democracy, where he could meet with Iranian advocates of greater religious freedom and women’s rights. Filner said it was the third time he attended the annual event and his acceptance of the travel gift was permissible under the law. Filner still has not responded to requests of San Diego City Hall for information about the event and how much he was paid. The only information Filner has imparted is that his flight, meals and lodging were paid by the unnamed 501(c)(3) tied to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which organized the group rally wherein he gave a speech.

In February 2011, Carl Bernstein, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair who also writes periodically for Newsweek, delivered a speech at the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan in return for $12,000 as part of a campaign to challenge the terrorist designation of MKO. Bernstein is one of the few journalists, along with syndicated columnist Clarence Page who was rebuked by his employer for giving a similar speech in Paris last June; he had regularly appeared at MKO’s campaign events to convince the State Department to remove the group from FTO list and the consequent legal sanctions.

Bernstein is the man who discovered The Watergate political scandal in 1972 and played a central role in bringing down Richard Nixon, became the focus of a personal scandal when it was disclosed that he had affairs with Margaret Jay, the daughter of former Prime Minister James Callaghan and the wife of ex-British Ambassador Peter Jay. However, his last scandal of advocacy for the leftist MKO indicates that the passage of the time has contributed to arrive at a new “version of the truth”. In a part of his made speech at the MKO’s marshaled event he said: “I come here as an advocate of the best obtainable version of the truth, and as someone who believes in basic human rights and their inalienable status.”

Such double standards may insult those who truly care about their words and behaviors. But that is the type of freedom, human rights and women’s right that the advocates of MKO have learned to respect.

July 15, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MEK Stirs Pot in Iran Despite Improved Negotiation Outlook

MEK Stirs Pot in Iran Despite Improved Negotiation Outlook After Rohani’s Election

In a remarkably welcome surprise, moderate cleric Hassan Rohani won last month’s presidential election in Iran and did so with a large enough margin to avoid a runoff. In the immediate aftermath of the election, there was hope that the heated rhetoric on both sides of the dispute over Iran’s nuclear technology would calm a bit:

Though thousands of jubilant Iranians poured onto the streets in celebration of the victory, the outcome will not soon transform Iran’s tense relations with the West, resolve the row over its nuclear program or lessen its support of Syria’s president in the civil war there – matters of national security that remain the domain of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But the president runs the economy and wields broad influence in decision-making in other spheres. Rohani’s resounding mandate could provide latitude for a diplomatic thaw with the West and more social freedoms at home after eight years of belligerence and repression under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was legally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

“This victory is a victory of wisdom, a victory of moderation, a victory of growth and awareness and a victory of commitment over extremism and ill-temper,” Rohani told state television, promising to work for all Iranians, including the hardline so-called “Principlists” whom he defeated at the poll.

Alas, those who favor violence over negotiation don’t intend to sit idly while moderation has a chance of breaking out. Today, we have a new “revelation” brought to us in a Reuters article:

An exiled opposition group said on Thursday it had obtained information about a secret underground nuclear site under construction in Iran, without specifying what kind of atomic activity it believed would be carried out there.

/snip/

The NCRI said the site was inside a complex of tunnels beneath mountains 10 km (6 miles) east of the town of Damavand, itself about 50 km northeast of Tehran. Construction of the first phase began in 2006 and was recently completed, it said.

The group released satellite photographs of what it said was the site. But the images did not appear to constitute hard evidence to support the assertion that it was a planned nuclear facility.

The Reuters article identifies NCRI as the National Council of Resistance of Iran and in addition to identifying them as “exiled dissedents” also mentions affiliation with the “People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI)” without noting that the more commonly used acronym for the latter group is MEK. That would be the same MEK that was only de-listed by the US Department of State as a terrorist organization last year. Promptly after de-listing, the group moved to register as lobbyists:

An Iranian group that was listed as a terrorist organization until last year has formally registered to lobby the Obama administration.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran told the Justice Department that it plans to “educate” the public and the U.S. government about the need to pursue an Iran policy “based on respect for human rights, non-proliferation, and promotion of democracy.” The council is an umbrella group of five Iranian opposition groups, the largest of which is the delisted terror group Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or MEK.

/snip/

The State Department closed the council’s Washington office in 2002, calling it a front group for the MEK. Since then, the group has earned the good graces of U.S. conservatives by drawing international attention to Iran’s clandestine uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.

That bit about NCRI exposing the Natanz facility? Even though it also is cited in today’s Reuters article, there is good reason to believe that MEK came into the information through a leak to them rather than their own intelligence-gathering:

As I understand the sequence of events, the United States—knowing full well that Iran had a clandestine centrifuge program—watched Iran dig two MASSIVE HOLES near Natanz (see the big picture), then ratted the Iranians out to the IAEA. About the same time, someone leaked that information to an Iranian dissident group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which then released the second-hand dope in a press conference where they got the details wrong.

Lewis goes on to cite convincing evidence in that article at Arms Control Wonk. That sequence of events, though, in which US intelligence made the discovery, briefed IAEA and then someone leaked the intelligence to the MEK is a sequence for which we have seen multiple variants over the years since.

I have posted many times on the network of “diplomats” in Vienna who leak either to George Jahn of AP or Fredrik Dahl of Reuters (Dahl wrote today’s Reuters article). Most of those leaks over the past few years have been couched in a way to put Iran in the worst possible light. Late in May, Jahn appears to have had an epiphany and finally pointed out that he likely was being fed slanted information.

Time will soon tell us whether there is indeed a new secret Iranian nuclear facility or if, as happens when NCRI produces its own “intelligence”, this is just another load of bunk. If NCRI’s satellite photos only appear on David Albright’s site (he has not yet posted them), then this is likely just another disinformation campaign by MEK. Real intelligence of a new site would very likely leak to a much wider array than just the credulous transcription crowd, especially given the tendency of John Brennan and Barack Obama to leak anything that puts them in a more flattering light or stronger bargaining position. My gut leans more toward this being more chaff thrown up by MEK because Iran has known that they have been under the most intense scrutiny ever under the Obama administration and that construction of a secret facility would inevitably be detected by US intelligence, just as Natanz was.

Postscript: Yes, I have used NCRI and MEK interchangeably in the text, as I find them to be functionally indistinguishable.

By Jim White, Emptywheel.net

July 14, 2013 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 11

++ Reuters published a sceptical report on the MEK’s claim to have information that Iran is building secret nuclear tunnels linked to its nuclear programme. The article refers to the MEK’s track record with these kind of revelations pointing out that they have often been wrong and that the MEK has a clear political agenda – this coming a month after the election of Rohani. Satellite pictures from the MEK don’t appear to link to any nuclear activity. An MEK spokesman who claimed to know all the names of those involved [a phone listing maybe?] admitted that he couldn’t say what nuclear activity there was at the site.

++ Radio Voice of America also covered the MEK claim but said the American government has previously warned about the MEK telling lies and making unsubstantiated claims.

++ Some Farsi writers have reminded us that these periodic claims by the MEK usually coincide with a crisis. In this case, now that Rohani has been elected in Iran, both the MEK and Israel are afraid of a negotiated settlement of the differences between Iran and America.

++ Nasrin Ebrahimi’s article is titled ‘The relation between the elected president of Iran, Maryam Rajavi’s shiver and the sudden discovery of yet another nuclear site’. She reminds us that the same thing happened when Khatami was elected; the MEK went into a panic and started finding secret nuclear activity. Ebrahimi says the reaction of the international community to this sort of revelation is so negligible that you can see “even the roast chickens on the table are laughing”. Rajavi used to call this kind of revelation ‘raising the elephant’ to create a distraction. Apparently, she says, this time the elephant was punctured and didn’t even lift off the ground.

++ Ghorban Ali Hossein Nejat comments in his weblog on the MEK’s show in Villepinte He refers to Rajavi’s pretended subservience to the paid speakers but how at the same time the MEK hung ‘wanted’ posters of their ex-members on the wall of the salon along with a mobile phone number with the instruction ‘these are agents of the regime, if anyone sees them let us know’. He goes on to say, when you see these pictures and what they get away with in Paris, you can’t help remembering what they would do to disaffected members in Saddam’s Iraq. No wonder Iranians don’t go, even when they could get paid to attend. They don’t trust you (Rajavi) because these ex members have been with you for years and no one can say if any of your current members are also ‘agents of the regime’.

++ Nim Negah site published a letter from Ehsan Ghoreshi to his father Karim Ghoreshi under the title ‘To the father I have not seen for 26 years’. The article was accompanied with family pictures and explains the difficulties he has faced in trying to see his father and how his mother and the wider family have suffered because of missing his love and affection.

++ Mehrdad Sagharchi from Farnoos Association published an article which examines another fifty page document from the NCRI against Rowhani and Ghassem who resigned. The document lists the names every active ex-member or other critic of the cult and claims they are all paid by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.

++ Irandidban website has begun a series of articles about Massoud Rajavi’s personality as seen through his actions. The first article, ‘Rajavi the retarded, sexual deviant’, describes why he is sexually deviant while at the same time his actions show he is somehow retarded. The second article is called ‘The Rude, Jealous Envier’, and goes through his life showing how base he is, but also how if anyone gets an advantage he doesn’t have he gets jealous and angry.

++ There have been several articles again about ‘sister’ Farzaneh Meidan Shahi (who was sent to Albania to monitor the new arrivals) written by various ex-members and others who know her. They recount how she was involved in the torture and mistreatment of members during the time they were in Ashraf or Liberty.

++ A lot of articles have been written about Maryam Rajavi suddenly changing sides over Egypt. Some weeks ago she invited people close to President Morsi and made some large financial payments to see if they could be useful to her. Now suddenly she has changed her tune and stood in favour of groups against Morsi. Ironically, she claims this is a big blow for Iran, while Iran and Syria have both welcomed the event.

++ Mohammad Karami writes in his weblog expanding on a few more mysterious deaths he witnessed in the camps.

++ Ghader Rahmani has said more about Javad Khorrasan, the torturer who has been sent to Albania with the last group. He describes the bullying way he used to treat people in Iraq and says it is clear why Rajavi has sent someone like that, because everyone is afraid of him.

++ Batoul Soltani and Zahra Mirbagheri – both former members of the MEK’s Leadership Council – were guests on this week’s Mardom TV.

++ Michael Rubin writing for COMMENTARY, America’s premier monthly magazine of opinion and a pivotal voice in American intellectual life, points out that “No longer being considered a terrorist group does not make the MKO democratic… as anyone who has ever studied their internal workers can attest”. The article titled, ‘Yes, Mujahedin al-Khalq Is a Dishonest Cult’ concludes, “The MKO is not only a creepy cult, and willing to say anything to buy support regardless of the group’s record, but an empty shell as well. Let us hope that one day their remaining congressional supporters will recognize that if they truly want to bring change to Iran’s odious regime, they would best reach out to the Iranian people and not associate with groups which repel them.”

++ Iraqi newspapers report that some of the authorities in Diyala Province have asked for a thorough investigation and documentation of all the MEK’s activities during the time of Saddam Hussein.

++ This week Iraqi MP Karim Alivi, talking with radio Navva, said there is documented evidence that general Casey was paid to tell the lies about Iraq which Maliki rejected. He says this is a very dangerous act which the American government should investigate if they want to keep their credibility with other countries.

++ Mohammad Razaghi writes in his weblog about Ali Khalkhaal. He is known as a torturer in the MEK who spent a lot of time alongside others like Hassan Ezzati, Bahram Jannat Sarra, Majid Alemian, Nader Raffi’inejad and Hassan Mo’asel. He therefore has a lot of information about them, but has been sent to Norway because he is not in a good mental state. Razaghi asks the authorities in Norway to find this man and enquire about the missing people and hidden bodies and human rights abuses in the camps.

++ Homayoun Kohzadi from Yaraan Association in Paris writes an article about Maryam Rajavi with the title, ‘Why is it this cult throws the bones to the donkey and grass to the dog?’ He points out that Rajavi pays out lots of money but does it wrongly and therefore pays a high price.

++ Iraj Shokri has published the first article of a series about the fifty page NCRI document ranting against everyone. He has begun to analyse the document and its contents in detail.

++ In his weblog Mohammad B. congratulates the seven arrivals in Germany but explains how Rajavi although he is incapable of preventing people from leaving Iraq, his next effort is to stop them coming together so they only come in dribs and drabs.

++Nim Negah published a lengthy interview with Mrs Soraya Abdullahi, mother of Amir Aslan. She explains how she has struggled to find her son after he travelled to Turkey for work and was trapped by the MEK and taken to Iraq.

++ An article in Jeune Afrique on the Villepinte show is titled, ‘What are the MEK up to in Paris?’. The article talks to many experts who report that the MEK will say something but they clearly don’t believe in it. For example, they have killed Americans, they sided with Saddam and are now hiring ex officials from the American establishment. It is interesting, the article says, that the monarchists and many other oppositionists prefer the current regime to the MEK. As nationalistic people they see the MEK as traitors.

++ A few articles have been written in response to the MEK saying that all their problems were because of Martin Kobler. They describe it as a kind of déjà vu that Kobler is moving on but the MEK’s problems are still there, and now they will have to find another person to bark at.

July 12, 2013

July 13, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MKO Stages Public Show to Display a Cult’s Muscle

MKO’s yearly public show is a cultic approach to garner public attention

If you tell a lie over and over again, people will start to believe it. Then, the easiest way a cult may exploit to instill its reprogramming on others is repetition, in the same way advertising and propaganda work. That is one of the approaches adopted by MKO to garner a social attention by setting a public show every year around a certain date in June. Michael Rubin, an ex- adviser for Iran and Iraq at the Pentagon, seems to be just one amongst many Americans whom MKO has failed to fool. That is maybe because of his full understanding of Iranian people among whom he has lived for years. In his latest piece about MKO, once more he reiterates dishonesty of the group as a terrorist cult despite having bipartisan supporters in the Congress.

Iranians are politically engaged—even if not within the system—and did not hesitate to talk. Many spoke of their desire for alternatives. Some asked about the son of the late shah, living in exile in the United States. Others would speak more theoretically about a desire for a republic, a parliamentary democracy, or other alternative. The only thing on which Iranians agreed was their dislike of the Mujahedin al-Khalq Organization (MKO). Several years ago, I wrote a piece outlining their history and ideological evolution. Long story short, the group’s involvement in terrorism that killed not only regime officials but ordinary Iranian citizens, as well as their willingness to accept aid and shelter from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the years after Iraq’s invasion of Iran, delegitimized the group in the face of the public they claim to represent.

The Clinton administration designated the MKO to be a terrorist group, but after years of lobbying—and buying support by paying huge honoraria to a bipartisan array of senior officials—the MKO was delisted in 2012. No longer being considered a terrorist group does not make the MKO democratic, however, as anyone who has ever studied their internal workers can attest. It is against this backdrop that this diary, written by a Kyrgyz student recruited to attend an MKO rally in Paris, is so interesting. It seems that the MKO leaders must now not only pay speakers to sing their praises at their rallies, but also the audience members. The MKO is not only a creepy cult, and willing to say anything to buy support regardless of the group’s record, but an empty shell as well. Let us hope that one day their remaining congressional supporters will recognize that if they truly want to bring change to Iran’s odious regime, they would best reach out to the Iranian people and not associate with groups which repel them.

However, still there is a question to put that how and when it happened that MKO transformed from a Marxist-oriented political group with a fundamental ideology of advocating armed warfare to what is today known as a cult of personality. Speculations fueled by a considerable bulk of studies as well as assertions by detached and former MKO members center on the fact that it was not an overnight transformation but a plot that hatched gradually through some lengthy process of guilefully outlined stages.

There are more than enough evidences to prove that the Rajavis, MKO’s self-appointed husband-wife leaders, had personal ambitions of establishing a cult of personality after a complete failure in armed warfare and facing an overall political stalemate that led their group into total isolation from the masses. Even before the initiation of the military phase and declaring armed struggle against the Iranian regime in 1980, some eminent political figures well acquainted with MKO anticipated its transformation into a cult sooner or later.

It may seem hard to believe that the first seeds of metamorphosis into a cult of personality were sown in France, believing to have the strongest democracy, after a shameful flight from Iran to initiate a heretic inter-organizational revolution within MKO. In fact, before MKO relocation to Iraq to execute cultic relations in Camp Ashraf as its main cult bastion, the cult thought had passed beyond its embryo stage at Auvers-Sur-Oise in Paris. The four-year settlement of MKO in France and a great accumulation of members made them engaged in a routine bureaucracy that caused a staff crisis. Many other factors such as daily-life problems, lack of a clear strategy in 1981 to 1985, critical detachment and separation of members and lack of motivation as a result of long residence in France, attractions of life and beauties of European countries all and all caused the organization suffer acute crises. Besides, Rajavi was receiving formal messages and invitations from Saddam Hussein for a complete transfer of the organization to Iraq. The group had been caught in a difficult dilemma since Iraq was at war with Iran and Saddam was the most hated man in the eyes of Iranian. As a matter of fact, move to Iraq was equal to involving in an unforgivable conspiracy against a nation for whom the group had promised freedom and democracy.

Although no more a designated terrorist group, MKO carries the stigma of being notoriously recognized as a dangerous cult of personality that freely roams the streets of the Western countries. The terrorists’ potentiality in utilization of violence for whatever political and social demands is a horrible nightmare enough to disturb societies. The possible disaster would be even worse if the terrorists are the breeds of a destructive cult. And what necessary precautions have those in Western countries taken to fight back the threats of a dangerous terrorist cult they themselves unshackled? There is no need to answer since people in Paris are used to seeing unknown crowds of different nationality gathered in regular rallies of the cult as a display of its muscle just in the heart of the capital.

July 13, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

The MKO, No Democratic, No popular

The Majority of Iranian People dynamically care about politics. The recent Iranian Presidential election was the proof to such idea; over 70 percent of the nation participated. Meanwhile, the Russian chess legend Garry The MKO, No Democratic, No popular Kasparov was leading a virtual voting platform on his website to allegedly give the Iranian people the opportunity to participate what he calls a “free, fair and secure” elections. Although Kasparov’s symbolic virtual voting system missed to involve the aspirations of all Iranians but the results of his “We Choose” campaign demonstrated significant facts about the Iranian’s desire for the future of their country – at least about the aspirations of those 5000 people who had access to voting in that system and also were able to find their favorite candidate there.[1]

According to the results of Kasparov’s survey, Maryam Rajavi won less than 1 percent of the votes, despite the MKO’s active propaganda in the web. The result was not surprising as it was previously widely reported that the MKO does not enjoy the support of the Iranians but it once more proves the MKO’s lack of credibility among Iranians.

Former Pentagon official and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin who is the author of the famous article on the history of the MKO ,”Monsters of the Left”, has lately posted a piece on the Commentary Magazine recognizing the MKO as a “Dishonest Cult”. In his new piece, Rubin asserts MKO’s lack of popularity and credibility in its own country. Even though, Rubin’s account of the Iranians’ will is not exactly accurate, it states some sort of truth. Notice how he clarifies MKO isolation among the Iranian community:

“Iranians are politically engaged—even if not within the system—and did not hesitate to talk. Many spoke of their desire for alternatives. Some asked about the son of the late shah, living in exile in the United States. Others would speak more theoretically about a desire for a republic or other alternative. The only thing on which Iranians agreed was their dislike of the Mujahedin al-Khalq Organization (MKO).” [2]

On the other side the group propaganda makes efforts to foist the MKO as the voice of the Iranians. The group’s spokesman Ali Safavi claims that “The world now has attested to the fact that the MEK is a legitimate resistance movement representing the Iranian’s aspirations for democratic change”. they could manage to buy among US officials. ”No longer being considered a terrorist group does not make the MKO democratic,” Rubin believes, “however, as anyone who has ever studied their internal workers can attest." [3]

Referring to the Kyrgyz student Alina Alymkulova’s “interesting diary“ [4] on the MKO’s rent-a-crowd on June 22, Paris, Rubin concludes,” it seems that the MKO leaders must now not only pay speakers to sing their praises, but also the audience members.”[5]

The MKO has so far survived by resorting to such means of misinformation using complicated methods of recruitment and then manipulative mind control system to keep the recruited ones but what about the 76 million Iranians?

By Mazda Parsi

References:

[1] Iranian.com, Results of Kasparov’s "We Choose" Campaign/Iran Free Elections, June 15, 2013

[2] Rubin, Michael, Yes, Mujahedin al-Khalq Is a Dishonest Cult, Commentary Magazine, July 7, 2013

[3]ibid

[4] Alymkulova, Alina, Diary Of an MKO Rent-A-Crowd Demonstrator, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, last updated June 30, 1203

[5] Rubin, Michael, Yes, Mujahedin al-Khalq Is a Dishonest Cult, Commentary Magazine, July 7, 2013

July 11, 2013 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Michael Rubin: Yes, Mujahedin al-Khalq is a dishonest cult

Michael Rubin writer of the famous article “Monsters of the Left “wrote an article on commentary magazine titled ” Yes, Mujahedin al-Khalq Is a Dishonest Cult “in which he declared the deep opposition of Iranian people against the Mujahedin-e Khalq and the group’s lack of credibility among their own nation whatever their political views may be.

Bellow is an excerpt of the Article:

“… Iranians are politically engaged—even if not within the system—and did not hesitate to talk. Many spoke of their desire for alternatives. Some asked about the son of the late shah, living in exile in the United States. Others would speak more theoretically about a desire for a republic or other alternative. The only thing on which Iranians agreed was their dislike of the Mujahedin al-Khalq Organization (MKO). Several years ago, I wrote a piece outlining their history and ideological evolution. Long story short, the group’s involvement in terrorism that killed not only regime officials but ordinary Iranian citizens, as well as their willingness to accept aid and shelter from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the years after Iraq’s invasion of Iran, delegitimized the group in the face of the public they claim to represent.

By Michael Rubin , Commentary Magazine

July 8, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Why Is There Bipartisan Support for the MEK?

Why Is There Bipartisan Support for the MEK? Because Politicians Like Getting Paid

Benny Avni hails the bi-partisan support for the Iranian cult group MEK and their cries for regime change in Iran:

Want to see US bipartisanship on Iran? Go to Paris and attend a rally led by Maryam Rajavi, the charismatic head of the best-organized anti-regime group of Iranian exiles.

Where else can you hear former lefty congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee calling Rajavi “my sister” and soon after listen to righty Rudy Giuliani saying she’s the best alternative to “that killer,” Iran’s President-elect Hassan Rouhani? Where else can a one-time Democratic presidential candidate, Bill Richardson, be on the same foreign-policy page as a Republican wannabe, Newt Gingrich? Or a former Obama adviser, dovish retired Gen. George Jones, support the same cause as Bushie hawks like former UN Ambassador John Bolton and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey?

Gee, what would unite Washington’s political class around a cause? Maybe, I don’t know, money? Let’s see:

Scores of former senior officials have been paid up to $40,000 to make speeches in support of the MEK’s delisting. Those who have received money include the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Hugh Shelton; ex-FBI director Louis Freeh; and Michael Mukasey, who as attorney general oversaw the prosecution of terrorism cases.

The former Pennsylvania governor, Ed Rendell, has accepted more than $150,000 in speaking fees at events in support of the MEK’s unbanning. Clarence Page, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, was paid $20,000 to speak at the rally. Part of the money has been paid through speakers bureaus on the US east coast.

Others accepted only travel costs, although in some cases that involved expensive trips to Europe.

In June, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the US House of Representatives and Republican presidential candidate, flew to Paris to address a pro-MEK rally and meet its co-leader, Maryam Rajavi. He was criticised for bowing to her.

That was last June, but Gingrich evidently re-upped for 2013. And good for him, the economy’s tough and everyone needs to make a living. But reading Avni’s piece, you’d never know of these lavish funding efforts. (You can read more about them here.)

Avni ends his piece with this eye-opener:

Even if detractors are right that the group’s support in Iran is much less significant than in DC, Rajavi may have a key role to play. Mostly, she can help convince Americans that the best future for relations with Iranians — and for the Mideast — is regime-change in Tehran. If she succeeds, her habit of collecting fans among former US pols would end up being a worthy cause indeed.

Right. One of the reasons relations between the U.S. and Iran have been contentious is because the U.S. took it upon itself to change the Iranian regime once before. There are certainly many people in Iran who would like to see the current system fall or be systemically reformed — but the people rejoicing in the streets after the election of Rouhani are unlikely to cheer efforts to install an MEK cultist as a temporary president of Iran.

For a more serious appraisal of the MEK you can read this RAND study on the group.

By Greg Scoblete ,RealClearWorld.com

July 7, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

The Bitter And Unpleasant Realities of Anti Iran Terrorism

The worst terrorist operation happened in Iran 33 years ago. A week after the removal of the first president of Iran; AbolHassan Banisadr, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei was subject to an attempted assassination. As the representative of Iran’s former leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, in the National Security Council and as Tehran’s representative in Parliame The Bitter And Unpleasant Realities of Anti Iran Terrorism nt, Ayatollah Khamenei strongly supported Banisadr’s removal, bringing a suitcase to the parliament filled with documents against Banisadr on June 21, 1981.

Six days after the removal of the president, Ayatollah Khamenei who is currently Iran’s supreme leader went to a Mosque in Tehran for a planned speech. A bomb put inside a voice recorder on the lectern exploded while he was speaking which left him terribly wounded and in critical conditions. According to officials, Khamenei’s chest and his right hand were severely injured and he lost a lot of blood but miraculously he survived after receiving almost 60 blood bags.

While Iranians were still shocked about Ayatollah Khamenei another terrorist operation shocked them again.

Ayatollah Beheshti talking between Iranian soldiers during Iran-Iraq war.

At the time Mohammad Ali Rajaei was the President of Iran. This time a bomb exploded in the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party, killing 73 top Iranian officials including Ayatollah Beheshti, the head of the party. Four ministers and 27 members of the Parliament also were killed in the bombing.

The terrorist operation was carried out by Mojahedin E Khalgh (MEK or MKO). MEK had a close relationship with Banisadr and thus when he was removed, they saw themselves out of power and began to continue their opposition by using arms.

Mohammad Reza Kolahi was responsible for the operation. He had penetrated into the party a long time before the operation and as planned invited a group of top officials of the country to the meeting on July 28, 1981 using official cards.

The terrorist operation took place only two years after the establishment of the Islamic Republic and while the country was under attack by Iraq’s Saddam Hossein who was supported and motivated by all world powers.

Before that terrorist operation Iran had already encountered an attempted Coup (Nojeh) and also had lost of several of its major scholars including Morteza Motahhari, the theorist of the revolution in a number of assassinations.

But that was not all. The MEK intensified their terrorist operations in August 1981. In their biggest terrorist operation they destroyed by explosion the office of the National Security Council killing Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar and President Mohammad Ali Rajaei who had been elected only three months before.

President Mohammad Ali Rajaei(left) and Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar (right) assassinated in a terrorist attack in 1981.

The MEK who were based in England claimed the responsibility of the bombing. They also officially claimed the responsibility of assassinating religious leaders in different cities including Tabriz, Kerman, Shiraz, and Yazd. They also sided with Saddam and officially entered into the war against Iran, carrying over 100 military operations inside the country through its military wing called “The Liberation Front”.

They are also charged with helping Saddam in suppressing Iraqi Kurds and Shias. Later the terrorist organization continued its operations, assassinating many other top Iranian officials like Ali Sayyad Shirazi.

According to Iran’s security organizations, the MEK have in recent years have helped the intelligence agencies of Isarel and the US in assassinating the country’s nuclear scientists. Some American news outlets like CNN and the NY Times disclosed their cooperation with Israel in the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.

So far the information about assassination of 12 thousand Iranian officials have been disclosed. Iran claims the victims to be over 16 thousand.

For decades, the MEK occupied the Camp Ashraf (aka US Forward Operating Base Grizzly) that is situated in 40 Kilometers north of capital Baghdad.

In 2011 The Iraqi government made it clear that it wants Camp Ashraf shut down and the MeK to leave Iraq.

In 2012 the MEK moved from Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya in Baghdad (a onetime U.S. base formerly known as Camp Liberty). US and some European countries like the UK and France are trying to find them another suitable place to have them settled.

The Council of Ministers of the European Union removed the MEK from the Union’s list of terrorist organizations on January 26, 2009 and on September 28, 2012 The U.S. State Department formally removed the MEK from its official list of terrorist organizations as a result of the MEK spending millions of dollars in lobbying and influencing significant politicians.

These bitter and unpleasant realities show that since its establishment, the Islamic Republic has been targeted by terrorist groups and organizations that have carried out many terrorist operations inside the country.

Iran’sView Jul 1st, 2013

July 7, 2013 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 10

++ Le Monde carried an article about the MEK’s “American show” in Villepinte, pointing out that every year they bus in refugees from any country they can and students from Russia and Poland, etc. This year was interesting because Maryam Rajavi has denounced the election of Hassan Rohani and described it as a plot and claimed also that he is a murderer. She dismissed the large voter turnout and claimed the Iranian regime is on the verge of collapse.

++ In his weblog, Mohammad B. talks about the MEK’s hatred toward Nelson Mandela and says that although they can’t directly go against him, the MEK published an article titled, ‘I will not pray for your life, nor will I pray when you die’. The hatred stems from Mandela’s visit to Iran during the Presidency of Khatami when Mandela wished both the Iranian government and Khatami himself well.

++ Some articles about Villepinte talk about how it turned against the MEK even though they spent a lot of money on the event. The event was exposed as a sham but what made things worse was that they couldn’t hide the fact that people can escape from Camp Liberty in Iraq and can leave the National Council of Resistance (NCRI).

++ Yet another site was hacked, this time Kanoon-e Avaa in Germany. It is now back online again with a new address. The site owners point out that ‘the site is a tool and an address and that hacking it is not going to save your butt Rajavi’.

++ Many people refer to the MEK’s anger because Iran’s volleyball team won in Italy. MEK activists tried to get into the stadium to disrupt the game and demoralise the team players, but Iranians with the team and in the audience prevented them.

++ Many people have written articles ridiculing ‘Rajavi and his gang’ for calling everybody ‘agents of the Iranian regime’: from defected members, to the ones who recently left the NCRI, to the UN representative and the prime minister of Iraq, and even a student from Kyrgyzstan who dared to write about them. The general conclusion is that Rajavi has become a clown for Iranians outside the country.

++ On his return from Villepinte, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner faced questions from journalists about his all expenses paid trip and why he had taken time from his official duties to attend the Villepinte show. He claimed the trip was not a “junket,” but a “business trip which is to get jobs to San Diego.” Filner has previously accepted travel from the NCRI. He went to Paris in June 2011, as a member of Congress. He also took a similar trip in June of 2007, federal records show. His 2011 trip cost $6,589 and was paid for by Colorado’s Iranian American Community, a group tied to the MEK.

++ Several articles expose ‘sister’ Farzaneh Meidan Shahi who was dispatched to Albania from Camp Liberty to keep control of the transferred residents. Many ex members remember how savagely she acted toward them, meting out vicious physical and verbal abuse, and say that Rajavi liked her for that and tasked her specifically to annoy and suppress people in the camps.

++ Adel Azami’s article remembers some of the people who have arrived in Albania – some are his friends. He describes how the families are still waiting in front of the camp to see their loved ones. He remembers how Rajavi tried to stop his friends from leaving, saying ‘stay as a Mojahed, or stay as a guest’. Azami says Rajavi likes guests in Paris for singing and dancing, but in Baghdad being ‘Rajavi’s guest’ means prison.

++ Some articles pointed out Massoud and Maryam Rajavi’s sudden changes of view over the Iranian election. Previously Massoud Rajavi wrote an open letter to Rafsanjani and asked him to get involved in the election, but now suddenly he denounces the election of Rohani even though he is endorsed by Rafsanjani.

++ An electronic book published by Arash Sametipour pulls together various examples of social networks and commentary surrounding the issue of the MEK in Farsi language.

++ This week’s guests on Mardom TV were ex Abu Ghraib prisoner Ali Ghashghavi from Germany, and Massoud Jaabaani from Holland. Jaabaani drew attention to the anniversary of Hadi Shams Haeri’s death and how he was never able to see his children before he died as they remained trapped in the Rajavi cult in Iraq. Both guests explained further about the current situation of the MEK.

++ Javad Firouzmand in France has written an article responding to the MEK’s long, long statement against Ghassim and Rowhani and the ridiculous accusations made against them. He goes into the detail s of this long ‘book’ the MEK produced and says that every part of it shows that their real problem is not the ones who left but the ones inside who want to leave. They repeat the cult phobia to reinforce the fear of those trapped inside. Firouzmand attached the document which has not spared anyone from the accusation of being an agent, from the UN, ex members , anyone they could think of has been mentioned one by one. The MEK draw the conclusion that because all these people are agents then it stands to reason that Ghassim and Rowhani must also be agents. Writing on the same theme, others described this document as a Self Inflicted Wound. Why would the MEK write pages and pages swearing at everybody, they ask.

++ Many people wrote about Maryam Rajavi’s claims in Paris. They remind us of her background under Saddam and the cultish practices she imposes even in Europe. Some say it is as though she is playing a character or role in a play because what she really is and says is nothing like this.

++ Rajavi is on overdrive, along with Struan Stevenson MEP and other lobbyists, to discredit Martin Kobler. Now that Kobler’s term as UNAMI chief has come to an end and he has taken up his new role in the DCR, they are pretending that he has been dismissed from Iraq and changed because of pressure brought to bear by the MEK. This is laughable as Kobler has been praised highly from every direction – the UN, EU, US – for his good job. Apparently the MEK are desperate to show a face and claim they have some power, but no one believes this.

Sahar Family Foundation has published an announcement complaining about Maryam Rajavi talking as though she wants to save the lives of the residents of Camp Liberty and claiming that Iran wants to kill them. Everyone knows that the only people stopping the move are Rajavi and the MEK leaders. The European parliament, the Iraqi government, UNAMI and the DoS, all say that it is the MEK leaders who are preventing a good ending. Rajavi wants them to get killed says Sahar.

++ According to Al Sumeria TV, Prime Minister Maliki’s office rejected claims by retired US general Casey. Maliki asks the Americans to be more careful of their representatives, whether working or retired. Before this, Mokhtada Sadr also reacted to the general’s comments, saying as far as he is concerned Casey is no more than a cheap actor, but embarrassingly America regards Iran as a coat hanger and all the shameful acts that they committed themselves they try to hang on Iran.

++ Nejat Association hosted a gathering in Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan, for university lecturers and students. The event included talks from four ex MEK members who had come back to Iran and a book table. The meeting at Sanandaj University was very popular and was packed with both students and staff.

++ Islam Times, reporting from Arabic media, says that several leading members of terror organizations have met in Jordan to discuss their operation in Syria. A report presented to the Jordanian intelligence chief Genera clearly points to the arrival in Jordan of large numbers of PMOI – People’s Mojahedin of Iran, a terror organization – where they met with Syrian opposition leaders.

July 5, 2013

July 7, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

What’s remained of the MKO?

The June22 gathering of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Paris was first of all a multi-national rally despite what the group’s propaganda labels it: “the Greatest Iranian Gathering”.

The alleged dozen thousands of attendees who participated the gathering actually included 500 parliamentarian What’s remained of the MKO? and politicians from over 50 countries,” but also Russian and polish immigrants not very aware of their struggle and taking advantage of free bus trip from Germany, hailed the “mother” of the movement, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran [Maryam Rajavi],” reported Christophe Ayad of Le Monde. [1]

The Le Monde journalist notifies American leading role at the event: "Saturday at Villepinte, the Mojahedin could rely on the support of French personalities: Michele Alliot-Marie. Ingril Betancourt, Christine Ockrent. But the show was primarily American. on the attendance sheet, you could list four generals, including a former national security advisor to Barack Obama, James Jones ,a former head of FBI, Louis Freeh, a former director of the CIA, Porter Goss, and four members of Congress, including the conservative Newt Gingrich, former candidate for the Republican nomination. Not to mention the former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. A very neo-conservative Areopagus in fact. Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero was also present.”[2]

Bob Filner former US congressman and the new mayor of San Diego, was among the dozen MKO’s American sponsors who has been advocating for the group in response to the group’s generous offers of speaking fees, first-class trips and luxurious hotels . Trent Seibert of UT San Diego puts, "Mayor Bob Filner just returned from Paris but declined on Thursday to answer questions about the travel or who paid for it." The author reports that the new mayor seemed reluctant to clarify the reasons of his trip," Filner briefly told reporters at a news conference that the trip was not a “junket,” but a “business trip which is to get jobs to San Diego.”[3]

Dean Calbreath of the Daily Transcript also notes that Filner has not responded to requests for information about the event, but in two previous trips –taken while he was a congressman – he has described it as a “grand meeting of Iranians in support of human rights and democracy“, where he could meet Iranian advocates of greater religious freedom and women’s rights. [4]

But why is a US prominent figure so scared of revealing the motivations for his participation in an Iranian opposition’s rally? It seems that following the June 14 presidential election in Iran where near 72 percent voted and chose their president elect; Mr. Filner himself finds it odd to attend an anti-Iran event. Besides, if he explains about his motivations, He will have to reveal the fee he was paid by the group for the expenses of his trip to the French Capital.

The Daily Transcript criticizes the Mayor Bob Filner for “spending a couple of days with groups hoping to topple the current government of Iran” instead of being present at San Diego City Hall. The author of the article warns about the threat of the group that is embraced by Mr. Mayor referring to Maryam Rajavi’s address in the event. “And in her speech on Saturday, Rajavi also made clear that she was not afraid of bloodshed in the struggle to achieve those goals”, he suggests.[5]

Speaking of the MKO agent in Clorado, T.Mehdi Qaemi a real estate broker, Calbreath gives accounts of large amounts of money US figures are paid for the group’s advocacy. He states: “The push to get the MEK off the list, which occurred in July 2012, included a well-funded lobbying campaign that brought US politicians to the group’s headquarters in France. Ghaemi a broker with the Alborz Real Estate Co. in Greenwood Village, Col., paid $7,487 for Filner’s first class airfare and hotel accommodations in a 2007 trip and $7988 in 2011, although he never contributed to political campaigns.”[6]

Besides numerous government officials who were generously received at the MKO rally, the group launched a massive campaign to make the Villepinte hall look bursting by Iranian –actually non-Iranians – waving flags, chanting slogans. On June 27, Radio Free Europe published the diary of a Kyrgyz student studying in Prague, Alina Alymkoulova who was recruited by the group propaganda arm to attend Villepinte gathering. Alina reveals facts about the MKO’s rent-a-crowd assembly. “Most of the “protesters” were young and obviously students like me” she recounts. “I met many Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs, and students from Asian countries who were all recruited via the Internet.”[7]

About the atmosphere of the deceitful MKO-run rally in the suburb of Paris she says, "As we exited the bus, I resigned myself to the idea that running away was not an option — people were guarding the area.”[8]

Alina and his companions on the bus were not the only non-Iranians who were brought to the MKO Show. “The endless sight of buses from many different countries was somewhat alarming”, she notices. There were a lot more travelers from all over Europe who did not even agree about whether they were going to a rally "in support of human rights" in Iran or Iraq! [9]

Although the MKO spokesman, Shahin Qobadi severely denies Alina’s report on his group’s fraudulent methods to rent a crowd calling it as "suspicious". Alina’s story is not the only one to reveal details about lack of MKO’s popularity among Iranians. There are also numerous photos and videos on the presence of non-Iranian especially Africans on MKO rallies in previous years – that were widely reported following the MKO’s earlier rallies.

The past experiences of Villepinte rally have taught the MKO to be more careful about the non-Iranian participants. As Alina States this year “cameras were not allowed” and non-Iranians were seated on the black rows of that hall.

Definitely the MKO show in Paris was not an Iranian demonstration at all. The major authorities speaking at the hall were mostly American; the attendees were deceived to take a trip in Paris almost for free. Not a single Iranian except the she-guru of the cult, Maryam Rajavi addressed the crowd because none of the Iranian intellectuals –even those who oppose Islamic Republic – care about the MKO if they do not hate it.

By Mazda Parsi

References:

[1]Ayad, Christophe and Imbert, Louis, Show à l’américaine pour les Moudjahidine du people, Le Monde, June 26, 2013

[2]ibid

[3]Seibert,Trent, LITTLE FROM MAYOR ABOUT TRIP TO PARIS, UT San Diego, June 28, 2013

[4]CalBreath, Dean,Filner visits Iranian resistance in Paris, The Daily Transcipt, June 27,2013

[5]ibid

[6]ibid

[7]Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, Diary of an MKO Rent-A-Crowd Demonstrator, June27, 2013

[8]ibid

[9]ibid

July 2, 2013 0 comments

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