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Iran Says U.S. Plot Suspect Is a member of MKO

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that Tehran has sent a letter to the United Nations complaining about U.S. accusations Iran was behind a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon charges the plot is part of a multi-pronged U.S. strategy to smear Tehran.

Iran’s official Press TV reported that the letter says the man whom U.S. prosecutors have identified as an Iranian military official in the alleged plot is actually a member of the exiled Iranian rebel group Mujahideen Khalq Organisation.

The original report on Press TV

November 6, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Iran UN mission rejects US terror claim

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s mission to the United Nations has refuted the recent US allegation about Tehran’s involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington.

Early in October, the US Justice Department accused Iran of orchestrating a plot to assassinate Abdel al-Jubeir with the help of a suspected member of a Mexican drug cartel.

As a victim of international and state terrorism, Iran condemns all acts of terror and is committed to the provisions of the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including diplomats, Tehran’s letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon read.

Upon being informed of the possibility of the presence of one of the suspects in the alleged plot in Iran, Tehran took action through Interpol and commissioned the Islamic Republic’s police to investigate the issue, the letter added.

The investigations indicated that the individual claimed by the US [to have been involved in the alleged plot] is a member of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), the letter pointed out.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against both Iranians and Iraqis.

Tehran’s letter to the UN chief added that the US has acted hastily in accusing Iran of involvement in the terror plot, and that the suspect has not even stood trial in a competent and impartial court of law.

Iran’s UN mission cautioned the UN against the consequences of such negative propaganda based on groundless accusations and fabricated information, saying that Iran considers the US government’s measures a threat to international peace and security.

November 6, 2011 0 comments

Iran

Iran Says U.S. Plot Suspect Belongs to MKO Exiles

Iran has affirmed to the U.N. chief that one of the suspects in an assassination plot on U.S. soil belongs to an Iranian exile group that is seeking to overthrow its Islamic regime, media reports said Saturday.

A police probe into one of the suspects, following an Interpol request, suggested the individual "is a member of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq Organization," the Tehran mission in the United Nations said in a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The letter did not explicitly identify or give the whereabouts of the suspect, but was apparently referring to Gholam Shakuri.

However, it said the new revelation proves that "U.S. claims about the involvement of the Iranian government (in the alleged plot) do not border reality."

The United States alleges Shakuri is an Iranian official in the elite Quds unit, a shadowy special operations outfit in the Islamic republic’s Revolutionary Guards, and that he co-conspired with an Iranian-American car salesman, Manssor Arbabsiar, to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

While Arbabsiar is in U.S. custody, American officials say they believe Shakuri is in Iran, and they have called on Tehran to turn him over to face charges.

Tehran has vehemently denied any involvement in the alleged plot, and accused Washington of seeking to divert attention from domestic economic woes and foreign policy failures in the Middle East and attempting to fuel tensions between Iran and its neighbors.

The Mujahedeen-e Khalq Organization, also known as the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, is the main armed Iranian exile group that aims to overthrow Iran’s Islamic regime.

The United States and Iran consider the group to be a terrorist organization but it was removed from a list of 50 banned militant groups compiled by the European Union in January 2009.
On October 27, Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi confirmed an Interpol request concerning Gholam Shakuri, hinting the suspect was a member of the Mujahedeen group.

"There are 150 Gholam Shakuris (in Iran). Interpol sent us a question about this name, and our investigation showed a certain Gholam Shakuri who lives in the United States and is a member of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq Organization," Salehi was quoted in Iranian media as saying in Saudi Arabia.

November 6, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

MKO camp evacuated by 2011 end

The Iraqi government has announced that the end of 2011 will witness the evacuation of the MKO camp and expel of its members from Iraq.

In a press conference held at the Iraq Cabinet building with the presence of the representative of the UN’s Secretary General Mr. Martin Coupler and a number of International Human Rights organizations and ambassadors, the Iraqi Prime Minister’s advisor stated that the Iraqi government will not allow the MKO members to remain in Iraq after 2011.

During the press conference, the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Advisor stressed that the Iraqi constitution is not permitting such terrorist organization to remain in Iraq.

The United Nations stated that the Iraqi government is acting according to the International standards and the Iraqi constitution.

The representative of the UN’s Secretary General said that the United Nation is directly involved in the issue and called for finding a peaceful solution for the MKO issue in Iraq.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, and is responsible for numerous terrorist acts against both Iranians and Iraqis.

The group is especially notorious in Iran for siding with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Wisam al-Bayati

to view the video report click here

November 5, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Mossad killed my husband

Wife of the late Iranian nuclear scientist Massoud Mohammadi says Israeli agents were behind the assassination of her husband.

“An Israeli openly told me in an international congress on victims of terrorism in France…that ‘we have assassinated your husband and we have been at war with you for 30 years,’” Mansoureh Karami said on Monday.

She stated that although Israel is an occupying regime, it considers itself a victim of terrorism, Fars News Agency quoted Karami as saying.

“I am sorry that an Iranian young man sold himself for money…. The assassin admitted that Israelis had told him that Ali-Mohammadi was trying to build a [nuclear] bomb, but this was not true. Israel and terrorist organizations like the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) have [tried to] hurt our sacred establishment using assassination,” she said.

Karami added that if UN human rights rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, aims to protect justice and human rights, he should talk to the families of Iranian victims of terror.

“There are more than 17,000 victims of terrorism in Iran. Although this phenomenon has been denounced throughout the world, the US uses it as tool,” she noted.

Professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was killed by a booby-trapped motorbike near his home in northern Tehran on January 12, 2010.

Ali Jamali-Fashi, the man who killed Ali-Mohammadi, admitted in court that he had made numerous visits to Turkey to meet Mossad agents prior to the assassination attempt.

Fashi confessed to having repeatedly met with enemy elements in parks in Tehran and receiving between USD 5,000 to 10,000 for each meeting.

November 5, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis united: Get Out of Here, Curse You

According to Iraqi al-Qanun independent news agency, 750 people participated in a seminar titled ‘Get Out of Here, Curse You’ on Tuesday. Academics, intellectuals, activists, elders and elders of the province of Diyala gave their support to the government’s decision to expel the Mojahedin-e Khalq from Iraq and that the MEK must obey Iraqi law. The participants agreed that the land occupied by the MEK should be restored in order to revive the economic and agricultural prosperity of the region.

Director of the greater Khalis region, Abdul-Jabbar Ahmed al-Obeidi, said many victims of MEK terrorism have filed complaints with Iraq’s Judiciary.

Secretary General of the Association of Justice to defend the victims of Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq, Dr. Nafie Isa, described how the MEK used occupied land to attack Iraq’s citizens. He said the media should expose the MEK’s crimes and interference in the internal affairs of Iraq and support the efforts of the government to expel the MEK by the end of 2011.

many victims of MEK terrorism have filed complaints with Iraq’s Judiciary.

The Mayor of Khalis, Uday Alkhaddran, described how the MEK launch false accusations and create anonymous groups on the Internet which have no reality on the ground in the province of Diyala.

The police chief of Diyala province, Brigadier General Jamil Kamel Shammari, stressed that the UN Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to the MEK. He also stressed that under Iraqi law MEK terrorists cannot be granted political asylum in Iraq.

Brigadier General Jamil Kamel Shammari, stressed that the UN Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to the MEK.

The seminar exposed the names of fake groups created by the MEK and foreign intelligence services in order to condemn the government of Iraq. Participants reiterated their support to remove the MEK, as a terrorist organization which participated in killing Iraqi civilians, from Iraq in its entirety by the end of 2011.

Iraqi al Qanun news, Khalis, Iraq,Translated by Iran Interlink

November 3, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis Rally to Protest at MKO Presence in Diyala

A large number of the people staged a rally in Northern Iraq on Tuesday to protest at the presence of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in their country, and called for the expulsion of the terrorist group from Iraq’s soil.

"Expulsion of the MKO from Iraq is a demand of all people that should be respected and obeyed," Mayor of al-Adhim town in Diyala province, Abdul Jabbar Ahmed al-Obeidi, said during the rally.

According to a report by the Middle-East Association for Defending the Victims of Terrorism, over 750 academic, political and tribal figures of the Diyala province took part in the rally.

Al-Obeidi said that the Iraqi population of the province want the fertile lands under the MKO occupation to be freed and given back to the people and farmers for the agricultural and economic development of the province.

The Baghdad government has assured Iranian officials and people that it is determined to expel the MKO from Iraq by the end of 2011.
The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s.

Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – in 2009 and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.

The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

November 3, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to close Camp Ashraf before pullout

A senior Iraqi official says Baghdad aims to close down camp sheltering, which hosts members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), before US troops pull-out.

In a recent meeting with the Swiss Ambassador to Baghdad Martin Aishnbachr, Iraqi Minister of Human Rights Mohammad Shayaa al-Sudani stressed that the notorious camp, located about 120 kilometers (74 miles) west of the border with Iran, would be closed by the end of the year.
He added that a high-profile team consisting of officials from the justice, human rights and defense ministries were looking for a legal solution to this matter, IRNA reported.

The MKO has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala Province, near the Iranian border.

The organization is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by mounting pressure on the Iraqi government.

November 1, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Zebari Reiterates”Definite”Expulsion of MKO

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that Baghdad will definitely expel the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraq’s soil by the next one or two months.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his visiting Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi in Baghdad today, Zebari said, "MKO’s expulsion from Iraq by the end of 2011 is definite."

"Based on agreements, MKO members will be expelled from Iraq’s soil at the end of 2011 and should be transferred to a third country," the Iraqi premier reiterated.

Yet, he pointed out that it is not yet clear which country will host the terrorist group once they are expelled from Iraq.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.

Since the beginning of this year, the Baghdad government has repeatedly assured Iranian officials and people that it is determined to expel the MKO from Iraq by the end of 2011.
"Expulsion of the MKO from Iraq’s soil and termination of its presence which has lasted for several years is a definite decision," Iraqi Government Spokesman Ali Al-Dabbaq told FNA in April, adding, "The MKO will be expelled from Iraq by the end of the current year."

"The only option for the members of the MKO is leaving Iraq and they have no other choice," he reiterated.

Reminding the black record of the terrorist group and its crimes against the Iraqi people, Dabbaq said, "Collaboration with the former Iraqi dictator and massacre of thousands of our people is just part of their crimes".

Dabbaq announced in early April that the cabinet is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf located North of the capital, Baghdad, and disband the terrorist group.
"The council of ministers is committed to implement the earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group by the end of this year at the latest, and is well informed of the necessity of getting it out of Iraq," the official noted.

But, the US is trying to convince Iraqi officials to relocate MKO members within Iraq.

Under the US plan, the approximately 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf would be temporarily relocated within Iraq, farther from the border with Iran, a US State Department official announced.

The relocation would be temporary, the official said, with final settlement of the inhabitants in other countries.

That would not include the United States, the official said, "Since US law bars anyone associated with a terrorist organization from settling there".

November 1, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to close HQ of Mojahedin Khalq by 2011

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says Baghdad is determined to close down camp Ashraf, which hosts members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), by the end of the year.

Speaking at a news conference in the Iraqi capital alongside his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi, Zebari said on Monday that Baghdad has informed the United Nations refugee agency and the European Union about its plan to expel MKO members.

"We have already made it clear about closing … Camp Ashraf before. The decision will be implemented by the end of this year," Zebari said.

"The government insists on completing this mission … There is no government that would agree to an organization staying against its (authorities’) will, laws and sovereignty," he added.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister’s remarks came one day after country’s Minister of Human Rights Mohammad Shayaa al-Sudani stressed that the notorious camp, located about 120 kilometers (74 miles) west of the border with Iran, would be closed before US troops pull-out and by the end of the year.

Al-Sudani said that a high-profile team consisting of officials from the justice, human rights and defense ministries were looking for a legal solution to the issue.

The MKO has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala Province, near the Iranian border.

The organization is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprising in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by mounting pressure on the Iraqi government.

November 1, 2011 0 comments

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