Letters

Regarding the recent developments between the Iranian and Albanian governments concerning the Mojahedin-e  Khalq Organization’s activities in Albania, The Family of Iranian Victims of Terrorism has written a letter to the Albanian people emphasizing on the role of the MeK terrorist group in disrupting the relation between the two nations and the security threats that would impose on the Albanian civilians if this group continues to operate in their country.

Albania

The letter reads as follows:

Dear people of Albania

Almost 10 years have passed since the secret deal between the United States and Albanian governments to accept members of the Mojahedin- e Khalq Organization (MeK) in your country.

At a time when the Iraqi government was under growing pressure by its people to expel the MeK members from its soil and no country, even the United States, was willing to accept the members of this infamous group in its territory due to security concerns and legal ramifications, it was the Tirana authorities who finally were forced to accept them. The regretful fact is that the Albanian officials decided to give asylum to more than 2000 members of a terrorist group in exchange for 20 million dollars while they were aware of how dangerous this decision could be and what consequences it would bring to their people.

Contrary to the commitment made by the Albanian Foreign Minister during his visit to Tehran in December 2016, the MeK, from the very beginning of its arrival in your country, began its malicious actions making Albania a center for anti-Iranian activities. An obvious example of these anti-Iranian activities, which Tirana knowingly prepared the ground for it, is planning the actions of the MeK’s terror cells inside Iran called “Rebel centers”.

Albanian authorities, from parliament members to political parties’ leaders and even the president, continuously meet with leader of this terrorist group inside the Durres camp, an action that is considered an obvious interference in Iran’s internal affairs and violation of their initial commitments. This volume of relations, besides raising speculations about financial transactions between the MeK and Albanian officials, proves that Tirana has placed itself among our country’s enemies regardless of Iran’s possible response.

Anti-Iranian measures including multiple attendance of Albanian authorities at the MeK’s rallies inside and abroad Albania, such as the presence of the former Prime Minister Pandeli Majko and the leader of the Republican Party Fatmir Mediu in the MeK’s rally in Paris in July 2018; multiple meetings between US officials and MeK leaders in Tirana, the most recent of them the presence of the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump’s vice president Mike Pence in the MeK’s camp in Durres in May and June 2022; the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador in December 2018; multiple appearance of Albanian authorities at the MeK’s camp including the presence of President Ilir Meta and his National Security Advisor in September 2019; the anti-Iranian speech by the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019, in which he made support for the MEK; the statement released by the former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha in support of the assassination of the Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 by Trump administration; the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats from Tirana in January 2020; and Edi Rama’s pro-MeK speech in January 2020 prove why the Iranian people accuse the Albanian government for conscious action on the path of enmity with Iran.

These suspicious meetings and communications were coordinated with the rise of cyber-attacks against Iran and sabotage and terrorist activities of the MeK’s terror cells called Rebel Centers inside our country. If only a small part of these conspiracies and hostile interventions were carried out by Iran against Albania, what would Tirana’s reaction be?

In the case of Albanian Government’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Iran, which we consider it a continuation of foreign governments’ pressure on Rama’s administration in support for the MeK terrorists, we believe that political authorities of your country are rapidly turning Albania into a center of security crisis for the Balkans and the whole of Europe. They seem to have forgotten that they are supporting a terrorist group that has assassinated more than 12,000 Iranian citizens.

Dear Albanian friends

Our effort is that our painful experience of the presence of a terrorist group and its bloody actions against the security and citizens of our country will not be repeated for you. The astonishing claims made by your authorities of hosting “a number of Iranian dissidents” is in fact a deception of public opinion to justify accepting a militant terrorist group. We suggest you to refer to historical documents and international reports about the MeK as well as memories and statements of the group’s detached members to see how a group, which has assassinated thousands of Iranian and Iraqi citizens during the 80s and 90s and had been part of the military and security arm of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, was imposed on your country.

We, the family of terror victims in Iran, as a part of the community of victims of terrorism in the world, expect you to be aware of the threats and consequences caused by the presence of terrorists in your country. No country in the world should become a dumping ground for terrorists. Terrorists must be limited so that they can be prosecuted to create peace and security in the world.

Yours Sincerely,
Habilian Association (The Family of Iranian Victims of Terrorism)