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Tragedy of 7 Tir

On 28th June 1981 (7 Tir, 1360), MKO blew up the head office of the Islamic Republic Party with bombs which resulted in the death of Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, Chief of Justice, four Tragedy of 7 Tir cabinet ministers (Health, Transport, Telecommunications and Energy ministers), twenty-seven members of the Majlis (Iranian Parliament), and several other government officials.

Failed to gain acceptance and popularity among Iranian nation after the Islamic Revolution, Mujahedin-e Khalq terrorist group resorted to terror strategy and announced officially an armed conflict with the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the nation on 20 June, 1981. On this day, Masoud Rajavi orchestrated a cruel and savage military show and ordered the armed contingents and members of his cult to rush onto the streets and begin the terrorist phase of their struggle against the government of Iran. Via this movement, they erroneously expected to spark a general uprising.

MKO terrorists blew up the headquarters of the Iran’s Islamic Republic Party (IRP) in Tehran, while a meeting of party leaders was in progress on June 28, 1981 (7 Tir, 1360). Seventy-three leading officials of the Islamic Republic lost their lives, including Chief Justice and party secretary Ayatollah Dr. Mohammad Beheshti, four cabinet ministers (Health, Transport, Telecommunications and Energy ministers), twenty-seven members of the Majlis (Iranian Parliament), and several other government officials.

The bomber, who was as a young student and a Mujahedin operative named Mohammad Reza Kolahi, had long ago penetrated into the party. After planting the bomb inside the party building, kolahi fled the scene before the explosion.

During a meeting with Tahir Jalil Habbush, head of Iraqi intelligence under Saddam Hussein, MKO ringleader assumed responsibility for this terrorist operation.

June 27, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Dealing with Terrorism Conundrum in Iraq

The only rights to have been violated seem to be those of the terrorist MKO

The blight of terrorism cast on a society is enough to upset people’s life even if they are not direct targets of terrorist perpetrations. But despite the real and direct impact of terrorism on human rights and its devastating consequences on societies, the struggle of terrorist groups to enforce recognition of some rights on legal communities is far greater than that of the victims of terrorism to call for the protection of their rights in any way if they ever have any.

The flagrant violation of regulations by Mojahedin Khalq Organization MKO/MEK being overlooked, the Iraqi government and other international concerned auxiliary sides to peacefully settle the conundrum in Iraq has encountered never-ending complaints, demands and even warnings by the ringleaders. Even if the members of MKO were terrorist suspects, the Iraqi government considered their expulsion a preventive measure to protect its territory from individuals considered a security risk to the country and the nation. MKO, however, is not a suspect terrorist group but a globally blacklisted one acting as Saddam’s mercenaries in the era of his despotic rule over Iraq.

Neither exiles nor refugees, MKO is the most unwelcome leftover of Saddam’s tyranny whose expulsion the Iraqi government deems to be tantamount to a strict counter terrorism measure in a violence afflicted country. Since the fall of Saddam, The Iraqi government has been busy hunting down the remnants of his regime, with whom MKO has been undeniably reported to have established close connection. If fact, Camp Asharaf, under the protection of the coalition forces that left the internal control of the camp in the hands of the terrorists themselves, became a safe haven for a number of discontent insurgents and opponents loyal to Saddam or fed by external hands to prevent the advance of order and freedom in the country.

However, there is a widespread speculation that despite being blacklisted a terrorist group; multitudes of its members have been deceived into joining the group advertised as a freedom fighter or the starting platform devoted to provide an easy, successful life in European countries. In reality, most of them are vulnerable individuals of a society and victims of a general naivety that terrorist groups and cults take advantage of them to recruit and enslave. Needless to say that a universal consensus confirms, according to undeniable evidences revealed by the defected members of MKO, the painful and bitter truth that MKO is absolutely a terrorist cult of personality run by the wife-husband Rajavies.

The Iraqi government is actually acting to accomplish two indispensable jobs simultaneously by its decision to expel MKO; to uproot the possible threat of a foreign terrorist group and to unshackle the enslaved insiders of a terrorist cult. It is a universal responsibility to help Iraqi government in the task to fulfill. Whilst the rights of the Iraqi government have to be recognized at the regional level, they have not so far been fully protected on the international plane, to provide for the nation an opportunity of enjoying an unprejudiced, peaceful and secure life, it offers an opportunity to the trammeled insiders of MKO to regain their freedom.

But, alas, the policy of appeasement has emboldened MKO to refuse accomplishment of a justified sine qua non. The only rights to have been violated seem to be those of the terrorist MKO; it freely holds rallies and gatherings in the heart of European countries, as held on June 23 in Villepinte, Paris, confidently accusing the US of shirking to remove its terrorist tag and calling for the protection of its bastion in Iraq. But hardly anything serious has been done yet to protect the violated rights of a nation calling to have their home free of violence and disorder. And hardly any ear has heard the desperate cries of help from within the cult that simply fad out in the propaganda ado of MKO.

By N. Morgan

June 26, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

The Menacing Plots of the MKO against Iran

US Sponsored Terrorists: The Menacing Plots of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) against Iran

The ill-omened, inauspicious plots of the terrorist gang Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization against US Sponsored Terrorists: The Menacing Plots of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) against Iran Iran seem to have no end. The recent letter signed by 44 U.S. Senators addressed to President Obama in which it was implied that time for diplomacy with Iran is over and other options to deal with Iran’s nuclear program should be considered is said to be a magnum opus of MKO.

The website of Habilian, a non-governmental organization which represents the families of 17,000 terror victims of Iran, has recently published a news story, suggesting that the affiliates of MKO are behind the letter which near to half of the U.S. Senators signed and requested President Obama to end diplomatic efforts and dialogue with Iran and consider other options in dealing with the country’s nuclear standoff.

The pro-Zionist Senator Roy Blunt who has made fanatic statements in support of Israeli regime and enjoys strong ties to the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, an MKO affiliated organization, was the mastermind of the letter to President Obama.

Blunt’s website introduces the Senator as a staunch supporter of Israeli regime, saying that he "believes America’s strongest ally in the Middle East is the democracy in the state of Israel, an alliance that dates back to Harry S Truman."

In the introductory page of his website, it’s further mentioned that "Iran’s ongoing rush to become a nuclear power poses a terrible danger to the region and certainly to Israel… the United States must not allow Iran or any other dictatorship to develop nuclear weapons that can be used against us or our allies."

Now, having in mind Blunt’s unwavering sponsorship of Israel and his clandestine relations with MKO, one may seriously suspect that the hostile letter which the U.S. Senators blindly put their signatures on was spearheaded by MKO.

The website of UK Committee in Support of Ashraf which is a London-based organization that advocates regime change in Iran and has voiced its support for the members of MKO organization has published articles and interviews by Roy Blunt and proposed the idea of removing MKO from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

According to a report published on May 24 on the group’s website, Roy Blunt told a Senate briefing that the decision for delisting MKO should be made as soon as possible and that there’s no evidence confirming the "allegation" that residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq possess weapons.

In his opening remarks, Roy Blunt said, "We’re talking about MEK and Camp Ashraf… we’re talking about people in Iran who have a tremendous desire for freedom and democracy." In a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in March 2012, the Missouri Republican had formally requested "a detailed briefing regarding the State Department’s review of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq" (MEK) designation under section 219." He had noted that "if no satisfactory public or classified information exists to sustain our designation of the MEK as a foreign terrorist organization, it is my belief that the time has come to remove it from the list."

These MKO-associated groups are actively lobbying to convince the Iraqi government, through pressures by Obama administration, to relocate the members of MKO who are now residing in Camp Ashraf, a refugee camp in Iraq’s Diyala province, to another country and provide them with security and shelter. They are afraid that Iraq may hand in the members of the terrorist organization to Iran which unquestionably will be followed by their legal prosecution.

The UKCSA (the UK-based group which supports MKO) calls Iranian government extremist and talks of the members of MKO as freedom and peace warriors who want to bring democracy to their fellow citizens in Iran. The irony is the name of these very "peace warriors" was until recently on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations. EU removed MKO’s name from that list in 2009 in an attempt to pressure Iran over its nuclear program and demoralize, undermine the Iranian government.

MKO is responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent Iranian civilians and government officials including former judiciary chief, Ayatollah Beheshti.

It’s also said that MKO has played a role in the killing of Iran’s nuclear scientist, Dr. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan. Referring to the January 11 assassination of Dr. Ahmadi Roshan, Richard Silverstein, a senior Jewish American journalist wrote in his blog , "my own confidential Israeli source confirms today’s murder was the work of the Mossad and MKO, as have been a number of previous operations I’ve reported here."

On February 10, the U.S. paper New York Post wrote that MKO leaders deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the assassination of Iran’s nuclear scientists: "were the MEK (MKO) to play the critical role in derailing an Iranian bomb, it would be far more deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize than a certain president of the United States we could mention."

The animosity and hostility of the MKO with the people of Iran needs no evidence or proof. They spare no effort to damage the security of Iran and realize their devilish planss. It’s time for the international community to mindfully confront MKO and stop them from furthering their dangerous plots in the future.

By Kourosh Ziabari

Kourosh Ziabari is a frequent contributor to Global Research

June 25, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Backing the MEK confirms Romney’s hostility to Iranian nation

Ivan Sascha Sheehan takes to the pages of Haaretz to offer the worst campaign advice anyone could give Mitt Romney:

The Romney camp’s recent expressions of support for the organized resistance challenging Syrian President Bashar Assad should now be followed with a similar approach to the Iranian opposition’s Mujahideen-e-Khalq or MEK, the largest movement in the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Backing the MEK confirms Romney’s hostility to Iranian nation
The rest of the op-ed is the usual pro-MEK song and dance, and it is misleadingly titled “Romney should embrace the Iranian opposition.” Of course, the actual Iranian opposition in Iran loathes the MEK, and it rejects the idea that the MEK speaks for opponents of the current Iranian leadership. The MEK is still listed as a foreign terrorist organization, but that hasn’t stopped its American cheerleaders from spending the last several years to get that designation removed. Romney would be out of his mind to take Sheehan’s advice, but the possibility isn’t as far-fetched as it seems.

It’s true that one of Romney’s advisers reportedly lost influence inside the campaign because of his shilling for the MEK, but that reflected Romney’s displeasure with the adviser’s lack of discipline and not an objection to the substance of what Reiss was doing. One of Romney’s more prominent supporters and possible future appointees, John Bolton, has repeatedly spoken in support of the MEK and has attended MEK rallies. It’s not out of the question that Romney might just be foolish enough to lend some support to the group.

Thanks to the American lobbying effort on behalf of the MEK, Romney would not be on his own. He could point to all of the former government officials and retired military officers that have been advocating for the terrorist group, and he could correctly claim that the lobbying effort for the MEK has been a bipartisan one. Backing the MEK would be disgraceful and unwise, and it would confirm for almost all Iranians that Romney is hostile to Iran as a nation and not just to its current government. Considering Romney’s other foreign policy positions, it sounds like just the sort of thing he would do.

By Daniel Larison

June 24, 2012 0 comments

The MEK to launch Armed Struggle

Glorification of An Undemocratic Start

On the anniversary of starting armed warfare MKO celebrates the event under a democratic disguise

It is now three decades when the mass demonstrations of Mojahedin Khalq Organization Glorification of An Undemocratic Start MKO/MEK shook Tehran and many other Iranian provincial towns on 20 June 1981. The outcome was Mojahedin’s declaring a ruthless armed warfare against the newly born regime of Islamic Republic the day after. The day marks a turning point in group’s terrorist pedigree although many believe that it drafted the blueprint of waging an all-out war against the regime soon after the Islamic revolution and the initiation of Iran- Iraq war; it was only looking for a dear opportunity.

The frenzy firestorm on June 20 set MKO on the no return path of initiating an armed move that expanded a wave of terror by launching armed operations, carrying out daily attacks against civilians, assassinating officials and blasting bombs. The horrible nightmare of MKO’s blind operations haunted Iranian people day and night’s life and marks a post-revolution black spot in Iranian contemporary history. However, MKO hardly denounces actions deemed as terrorism in its own narrow vision and refers to them as “revolutionary resistance”.

It is for more than a decade that, for certain political causes and a change in tactics, MKO’s revolutionary resistance has undergone a dramatic shift in action and its propaganda machine and media mainly focuses on a pro-democratic coloring and reflecting democratic tendencies. In fact, any show of democracy orchestrated by MKO is tantamount to a demonstration of its innate potentiality of the revolutionary resistance.

It is now for a few years that just on the anniversary of June 20, MKO celebrates and glorifies the event under a democratic disguise and slogans; this year it is at VillePinte, Paris on 23 June. The advertising slogan is “Protection for Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty”. MKO chants the slogan while it is the main cause of escalating tension in both camps. Those entrapped in the camps need no universally claimed protection, since the UN is decisive in refugee determination process and to convince other countries to accept members, but cooperation of the group to end their predicament. The process of relocation of members from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty has been ceased as MKO leaders are inventing unsound excuses.

MKO’s anti-social nature never changes however it replaces the masks and as English maxim says, the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature. June 20 is breath of life into MKO’s armed and revolutionary resistance. It has to be commemorated and glorified but with Western favored tint of democracy. The host speaker of the event, Maryam Rajavi, has merely changed, if not wearing under, her military outfit for colorful, stylish ones. And the only ones she never cares for when she calls for their protections are the residents of the two camps living in limbo.

June 24, 2012 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

A Negative Response to Terrorists’ Incessant Preconditions

The State Department is warning MKO not to bargain over the humanitarian issue of relocation

No doubt, terrorism is a common problem and all measures have to be undertaken to lower the level of its threat with a focus on preventive measures. But to see a terrorist group setting precondition for the continuation of its cooperation in a process to fulfill another unconventionally reached agreement with it is a new phenomenon. It appears that even all parties engaged in the process of relocating MKO’s members from its military camp, Camp Ashraf, to the Temporary Transit Location TTL near Baghdad have grabbed the truth that the group is contriving a serious battle against them. That is because so far all efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff are being rebuffed by MKO’s strict set of conditions to resume a negotiation to comply with the already agreed transfer process.

All the parties involved are unanimous that the issue of relocation of the residents in Camp Ashraf is a purely humanitarian issue that should be made as easy and peaceful as possible to accomplish, notwithstanding MKO is blacklisted a FTO. In December 2011, Ambassador Daniel Fried, Special Advisor for Camp Ashraf for the State Department, made the cause clear and promised to monitor the process of the transfer: “Embassy Baghdad will visit former Camp Liberty on a frequent basis to provide robust observation. The US seeks a safe, secure, humane resolution. Our interest is humanitarian”. But MKO is grabbing at the issue as an opportunity to force the State Department to remove it from its terrorist blacklist.

The process has reached a stalemate since MKO stopped convoys of Camp Ashraf residents to TTL after the relocation of the fifth group in early May. Since then, it has minimized its contact with the Iraqi government and other involved parties and has focused on widespread propaganda warfare to impose its set six preconditions to resume the transfer. Amongst these publicly-declared conditions is a call for the State Department to inspect Camp Ashraf, “U.S. will inspect Camp Ashraf as soon as possible”, a task the US has announced to carry out following the complete evacuation of Camp Ashraf in a two month-long span. The result will be instrumental in convincing the State Department to review MKO’s re-designation.

Apparently fed up with MKO’s procrastination and enraged by its sets of preconditions, particularly the one calling for the inspection of Camp Ashraf, Victoria Nuland, the Department Spokesperson, in a statement released on June 18 urged MKO “to resume full cooperation immediately with the Iraqi Government and United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)”. The statement adds, “Constructive offers must be met with a constructive spirit, and not with refusals or preconditions to engage in dialogue. Recent publicly-declared conditions for cooperation, including calls for the Department to inspect Camp Ashraf as a precondition for further relocations to Camp Hurriya, are an unnecessary distraction.”

MKO considers the court ruling giving the State Department four months to announce its final decision over the group’s terrorist tag as a gained victory to have the upper hand in any dealing. The illusion fostered mostly when some European high-profile personalities congratulated the halfway, unpromising court ruling, as a decisively issued ruling. However, an American official believes that “the group’s leaders may have overinterpreted the U.S. court ruling as a guarantee that it would escape the terrorist list”. In fact, the State Department is delivering a message to MKO forewarning that it is gravely mistaken to strike any bargain with the Iraqi government and the US over the humanitarian issue of the residents; it is warned that it has no other option but to follow through on plans to resume the process of relocation as planned.

June 21, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

No Hope for MKO in Internal Political Conflicts

MKO is mistaken that a change of government in Iraq could rebound to its advantage

The Iraqi government is absolutely conclusive to close the military bastion of the ousted Saddam’s mercenaries, Mojahedin Khalq Organization MKO, and expel its members altogether from its soil by July 20, the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The preliminary phase to carry the job through is to relocate them, under United Nations and Iraqi government auspices, to a transit camp near Baghdad airport to undergo refugee process processed and be eventually re-settled to countries in Europe and other countries that will receive them. Some 2,000 MEK members have been transferred from Camp Ashraf since the process began, but none have moved since May 5. Although the chief impediment to have halted relocation is reported to be implausible excuses invented by MKO, frequent change of demands and asking too much, but there are other possibilities as well.

Following the reports of the possibility of a no-confidence vote against Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, MKO might have concluded that a change of government in Iraq could rebound to its advantage. As a result, the group halted its cooperation in the relocation process waiting to witness a possible collapse of Maliki’s government. However, so far all those who thought Maliki would be subject to a no-confidence vote have been disappointed.

Whatever will be the outcome of the political conflict in Iraq is an internal issue. But one thing is for certain that MKO is gravely mistaken to think that any Iraqi government, be it Maliki’s or another’s, will allow it to remain on Iraqi soil. Decisiveness to expel the group is a national demand and a constitutional decision rather than personal. The Iraq’s constitution prohibits presence of any terrorist organization on its soil (Article 7 of the constitution). The Iraqi government recognizes MKO as a terrorist organization, as it is on the US terror list and some other countries.

June 21, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

What is the MKO dreaming of?

After the relocation of about 2000 people of camp Ashraf to the new Temporary Transit Location (Camp Liberty /Hurriya) the relocation process has been seemingly ceased by the MKO. The What the MKO is dreaming of? leaders of the group do not cooperate with Iraqi government , the UN and the US State Department any more.

The group leaders –apparently mad with the attorney for the US State Department who said that the US army has never been able to inspect Camp Ashraf to make sure it was disarmed — issued a statement and “invited” the State Department to inspect the camp.[1]

Besides, the MKO took a strong stance against the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Iraq, Martin Kobler. As usual, the group accused him of serving Islamic Republic of Iran and the government of Nouri al-Maliki.[2]

In its turn the US State Department issued a statement on June18, urging “immediate cooperation of Mujahidin Khalq with the Iraqi Government and UN”. The statement reads that the DOS remains concerned about the situation at camp Ashraf. Victoria Nuland, the spokesperson of the DOS, about the MKO’s recent “invitation for inspection”, said:”Constructive offers must be met with constructive spirit, and not with refusals or preconditions to engage in Dialogue.”She calls the group’s new pretext to stay in Ashraf as “an unnecessary distraction”.[3]

Why such reluctance again by the side of the MKO?

While the State Department believes that the Camp residents and their leadership – both in Iraq and in Paris – should recognize this path as a safe and humane resolution to this situation, the MKO leaders seem to oppose the complete closure of Ashraf and eventually their expulsion from Iraq. And, while the US Secretary of State has said that the camp closure is “a key factor in determining whether the organization remains invested in its violent past” [3] the MKO shows no sign of cooperation in order to comply with Iraqi government’s legal right — that is to sweep foreign forces off its territory.

Since the last convoy of Ashraf residents on May 5th there has been no convoy, according to senior US administration officials who attended a Special Briefing on June18, 2012. “Since that time, the MEK has curtailed its contacts both with the Iraqi Government but even with the UN, refusing to meet with Ambassador Martin Kobler, the head of the UN mission in Iraq.”[4]

The official believes that two probable reasons may have led the MKO to slow down its cooperation with the UN and the Iraq Government. “…there are two issues that have occurred to us. One, the MEK may have over-interpreted Iraqi politics and the possibility of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Maliki. That vote appears to be receding,.” he said.” A second reason is it may be an MEK over-interpretation and misunderstanding of the recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling with respect to delisting.”[5]

However, the other official clarifies that the court has not told Secretary Clinton to delist the group and its leaders are “quite plainly, wrong”. the official concludes,” So it is time for the MEK to recognize that Ashraf is not going to remain an MEK base in Iraq.”[6]

What does the MKO propaganda do to fulfill the dream?

A delegation of Iraqi senior officials traveled to Europe to mobilize support for Camp Ashraf evacuation and secure transfer of the residents to Camp Liberty [TTL]. The delegation attended the meeting of the Relationship with Iraq Committee at the European Parliament. [7]
Iraqi Foreign Minister Undersecretary, Labid Abbawi proposed a statement about the meeting.”The meeting focused on the efforts made by the Iraqi Government in order to secure the transfer of Camp Ashraf residents to Camp Liberty in a peaceful manner and in accordance with international standards and in respect to human rights and international humanitarian law,” the statement said.[8]

Meanwhile the MKO’s propaganda arm, National Council of Resistance broadcasts the same event in a completely opposite way, claiming that the delegation is charged “to justify inhumane and suppressive behavior towards residents of Ashraf and Liberty.”[9]

The US administration official denounces the group’s propaganda by saying “We support the government considering people for refugee or otherwise bringing them in. Now, the United States is prepared to do its part. We take this obligation seriously. [10]

The MKO propaganda is all the time complaining of the “terrible “conditions of life at TTL. American officials, on the other hand, say that they follow condition at camp liberty in detail: ” We follow conditions at Camp Liberty in detail. We receive daily reports from the United Nations. We have an exact notion of the daily water supply. We know that it is – that each resident now receives about 200 liters per person per day of water. We follow the issues – we follow issues of electricity generation, problems with air conditioners, problems with sewage, that sort of thing. Medical treatment is available. The residents who need it are escorted to Baghdad hospitals. They’re allowed back. They’re given treatment. We follow this in great detail. “[11]

About complexities of MKO leaders’ approach towards the relocation issue, a US senior Official said,” We do not understand why, for example, they consider it in their interest to refuse contact with Martin Kobler, the head of the UN mission in Iraq, who, more than any other person, has – is responsible for the relative success of these relocations so far.” Of-course the official seems to find the answer- which is originated in the cult-like substance of the MKO. “They seem to be concerned with their organizational integrity”, he says.[12]

In order to maintain their integrity, the MKO resort to any probable pretext. The current political situation of Iraq appears to be a very little hope for the group to stay in its Iraqi headquarters Camp Ashraf where the forces are totally isolated from the world, obedient to their leaders. In response to a question posed by National Journal correspondent about the MKO’s possible strategy for the time being, the official said,” there is some evidence, and we – I would say that as an informed speculation, we believe the MEK may indeed calculate that a change of government in Iraq could rebound to their advantage, and they may be able – and they might be able to stay.

They do have some support among the Sunni politicians, but we believe that they are gravely mistaken to think that any Iraq – conceivable Iraqi government would, in fact, allow them to remain as a paramilitary organization in Iraq. We think that their time in Iraq is over.” [13]

By Mazda Parsi

References:
[1]The MKO Website. Nejat bloggers are either former MKO members or have a family member who is currently held in Camp Ashraf. They have suffered deeply because of Massoud Rajavi’s crimes. While the Nejat Bloggers recognize that citing sources of information is essential ,we, as a society feel so strongly against the MKO that we have agreed to not include the group’s websites or links in our articles because we consider it as kind of publicity for the cult.
[2]ibid
[3] US State Department, State Department urges immediate full cooperation of MEK, June18,2012
[4] US State Department, Press Release, Senior Administration officials on Camp Ashraf,June19,2012
[5]ibid
[6]ibid
[7] allIraqnews.com, FM Undersecretary participates in European Parliament session, June 2o, 2012
[8]ibid
[9] The MKO Website. Nejat bloggers are either former MKO members or have a family member who is currently held in Camp Ashraf. They have suffered deeply because of Massoud Rajavi’s crimes. While the Nejat Bloggers recognize that citing sources of information is essential ,we, as a society feel so strongly against the MKO that we have agreed to not include the group’s websites or links in our articles because we consider it as kind of publicity for the cult.
[10] US State Department, Press Release, Senior Administration officials on Camp Ashraf, June19, 2012
[11]ibid
[12]ibid
[13]ibid

June 21, 2012 0 comments

The MEK to launch Armed Struggle

Spectacle glorifying the 31st anniversary of armed struggle

Mojahedin-e Khalq has become an anti-Iraq force

After ten years Western anti-Iran pundits are finally waking up to the fact that the Iranian

Where does the Mojahedin-e Khalq stand now?

Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) terrorist group cannot be used against Iran as long as it remains in Iraq. The MEK leader Massoud Rajavi, in a fight for his own survival, has now dug himself into such a deep hole there that the MEK no longer has any role in anti-Iran activities. Instead a ridiculous situation has arisen in which his wife Maryam Rajavi is using her Paris base to attack Nouri Al Maliki and the Government of Iraq. While the West is trying to put more and more pressure on Iran and isolate the country, the self-styled Iranian opposition has now become an Iraqi opposition with no links to Iran at all except the group of Farsi speaking former members scattered through western countries who are now suing the leaders for compensation for mistreatment in Iraq, Europe and North America.

While the MEK’s paid lobbyists remain highly vocal in their attacks on the Government of Iraq (GOI) and United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the people who still don’t have a voice are the residents inside both Camp Ashraf (aka Camp New Iraq) and Temporary Transit Camp Liberty (aka Camp Hurriya). Since the relocation process began in February numerous residents have run away and taken refuge with the Iraqi authorities. They report an increasingly tense and turbulent internal situation with violent attacks and sexual assaults becoming more frequent. Families of the residents have maintained a permanent vigil outside Camp Ashraf and now Camp Liberty[TTL] for two years in an attempt to gain access to their loved ones. The GOI has still not been given the go ahead to allow families access to the people transferred to Camp Liberty[TTL].

The UNHCR has begun refugee status determination interviews with individuals who have relocated to Camp Liberty. Of these, 238 residents have been formally declared refugees. To qualify they needed to renounce membership of the MEK. 1,400 more interviews are scheduled. The GOI remains adamant none of them will be able to remain in Iraq and the process is therefore ongoing. There is no reason for Europe or the US to refuse to accept those who have UN refugee status.
Two-thirds of the residents, just fewer than 2,000 people, have relocated. Interestingly, among them are hundreds of people with special needs, suffering from disabilities and serious medical conditions as well as many elderly people; people whom Rajavi regards as dispensable. At least five people who were rushed to hospital with life threatening conditions after they arrived at Camp Liberty[TTL] said they did not want to leave the MEK but were thrown out and told not to come back because of their illnesses. The Iraqi authorities have ensured that they have received the best treatment available.

UNAMI officials reported that the relocation of MEK from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty had stalled since the arrival of the fifth group of residents on 5 May as the MEK refused further movement. The reasoning behind the stop is Massoud Rajavi’s hope to drag the removal process out for another four months until the MEK is removed from the US FTO list and things will then change for him. He is certainly not prepared to cooperate with Secretary of State Clinton’s suggestion – repeated on 18 June – that they should show full cooperation before she reviews their FTO status –the implication being that if they voluntarily remove to the new camp this would be enough proof they have renounced violence.
Instead the MEK is setting its own agenda based on the legal ruling which gave rise to Clinton’s review. Rajavi does not regard the Secretary of State as being powerful enough to need to listen to and is looking instead to his Israeli friends to protect him.

However, the Government of Iraq and the UN have said every resident of Camp Ashraf must leave Iraq and it is clear they cannot be taken off the terrorism list in this situation.

To further his agenda Rajavi is using his wife’s Paris base for an advertising campaign focusing on a rally in VillePinte, Paris on 23 June. The demand is to have the MEK taken off the US list without moving the combatants from Iraq. In addition to this ‘wait it out’ tactic, Rajavi is also hopeful that Al Maliki’s government will fall – or even that he is assassinated – and that a new government in Iraq take a more favourable position toward his group. After the MEK’s office inside the European Parliament was closed, the MEK covertly financed two new lobbying offices outside the parliament for the use of Struan Stevenson, MEP and Alejo Vidal Quadras, MEP. Both MEPs switched from the European Parliament’s Iran Delegation where they lobbied for the MEK, to the Iraq Delegation to lobby for Saddamists during the Iraqi election.

But these activities are balanced by a severe crackdown on the MEK’s activities. The GOI, UNAMI, European and US representatives, the ICRC and a large body of former members are showing a united front to challenge the MEK’s stalling and diversionary tactics.

The GOI has tasked its diplomatic delegations in Europe to apprise the European political community of the lies and deception used by the MEK to cover its many contraventions of the law. Only days ago Maryam Rajavi was summoned to the Palais de Justice in Paris to answer charges to charges of terrorism related activities, fraud and slavery.

Documents have recently been made available to the US Treasury linking an array of front organisation finances to companies and investments controlled by the Mojahedin-e Khalq’s leader.

Speakers’ agencies have been warned to exercise extreme caution regarding the MEK’s methods for recruiting support for the rally in France. Those attending the rally must know they are engaged by organisations with direct links to the MEK.

In addition, with the MEK’s financial sources exposed it has become possible for victims to pursue a class action to claim compensation directly from the Rajavis. Victims of the MEK, including former members who say their basic human rights were denied them for years, have launched a legal case for compensation from the companies which Massoud and Maryam Rajavi use to fund their elaborate and expensive propaganda campaigns. Their message is clear: Individuals who accept financial recompense from the MEK through its front organisations for speeches or lobbying should know that they can no longer claim ignorance and they will be pursued through the courts to recover money which should rightfully go to compensate the victims.
Whether the MEK is on the US terrorism list or not there is very little tolerance for the group. It is widely regarded as finished.

For those who are not involved too deeply with the MEK, it would be advisable to get out now.

By Massoud Khodabandeh, MESConsultants

June 20, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO Working Through Senate to Sabotage Iran Diplomacy

Washington, DC – Affiliates of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, are claiming to be behind a major letter from the Senate aimed at curtailing U.S. MKO Working Through Senate to Sabotage Iran Diplomacy diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute.

The letter, sent last week by forty-four Senators, calls for President Obama to abandon any further diplomatic efforts with Iran unless stringent preconditions are immediately met. While many assumed that the prominent American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby was behind the letter, MEK-affiliates are now taking some of the public credit.

The lead author of the letter, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), enjoys ties to the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, an MEK-affiliate that released a statement supporting the letter.

The group claimed, “More than 30 Iranian-American communities, associations, organizations and professional entities representing and encompassing tens of thousands of naturalized Iranian-American citizens from across the United States lent their support to the bipartisan letter.”

As a U.S.-designated terrorist group, the MEK cannot technically operate inside of the country. However, a network of affiliate groups that “support” the MEK have operated with relative impunity to lobby Congress and to organize a public pressure campaign to remove the group from the terror list. A number of former U.S. officials who have received payment to advocate for the MEK have been subpoenaed as part of a federal investigation into the MEK’s U.S. operations.

Senator Blunt recently sponsored and participated in a pro-MEK event on Capitol Hill in May, organized by the Missouri group. The briefing featured many of the same former government officials now under federal investigation.

While the MEK’s public efforts have focused largely on pressuring the Obama Administration to remove the group from the terror list, the MEK is also apparently taking a more public role in working to influence U.S. policy regarding the Iranian nuclear dispute.

U.S. officials have also stated that the MEK, working with the Israeli Mossad, is responsible for the recent bombings inside Iran aimed at nuclear scientists.

While the MEK’s terror designation and federal investigations has not curtailed the group’s influence on Capitol Hill, there are indications that the organization has become emboldened by a recent U.S. court decision initiated by its supporters. The court ruled that Secretary of State has until October 1 to decide whether to keep the MEK on the terror list. If Secretary Clinton does not render a decision, the court says it will remove the group itself.

That has prompted the MEK to renege on a deal with U.S. and international negotiators to peacefully relocate out of its disputed Camp Ashraf compound in Iraq, where the group is based. The State Department had suggested the MEK’s cooperation in relocating would weigh heavily on any decision regarding the group’s terror listing. The MEK had finally appeared to accept the terms for relocation, but following the recent court ruling has reportedly stonewalled the process.

U.S. officials say they are concerned that, if MEK does not leave the compound, the Iraqi military will attempt to remove the group by force. U.S. officials have said they are concerned the MEK believes it can now play out the clock and get removed from the terror list without cooperating at Camp Ashraf. The MEK is believed to want to retain the compound to stage attacks inside of Iran and to protect its leadership from prosecution, and has threatened mass suicides by its rank and file members if forced to leave the compound.

June 20, 2012 0 comments

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