Page 72 – Nejat Society

Albania– Iran: broken relations and cyberwarfare

Following a cyberattack on its IT system, Albania accused Iran and cut all diplomatic ties. In the background, the conflict over the hosting of anti-ayatollah Iranian movement MEK

On September 7, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced in a video message his government’s decision to cut off, effective immediately, the diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, accusing Tehran of being the author of a massive cyberattack which hit the digital infrastructure of the Balkan country on July 15.

Albania– Iran: broken relations and cyberwarfare

According to the head of the government the breach was carried out by four Iran-affiliated groups and was unsuccessful. Its objectives were to paralyse Albania’s digital public services, steal data, and take possession of governmental communications. Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhaçka declared that Tirana decided to sever diplomatic relations after consultations with US and EU allies. Iranian diplomats left the country in the following hours.

To conduct the investigation on the breach, Albania hired American cybersecurity company Mandiant and Microsoft, which found out that the hackers undermined around 10% of Albania’s governmental digital network and have had access to the system since May 2021. NATO, USA, EU, and Great Britain officially supported Tirana after the strike, which was followed by another cyber-attack on the customs border patrol’s computer system on September 10, always to be blamed on Tehran according to Albania’s government. The Balkan country has entered in a climate of hybrid warfare (as happened with Estonia in 2007), paying the price for being a NATO member and a main ally of America’s foreign policy and its interests.

Officially denying any responsibility for this wave of cyber-violations, Tehran pins the breakdown of relations with Albania on a Washington-designed “plot”, mentioning the hosting by Tirana of the exiled Iranian organisation Mujahedeen El-Khalq (Mek ), counting 3,000 members and at the core of the tensions between Tirana and Tehran.

Mek

The organisation’s mission is to overthrow Teheran’s theocratic government. Founded in Iran in 1965 to oppose the policies of the Pahlavi dynasty’s last emperor and operating in an internal political context defined by Islamist-Marxist ideology, anti-capitalism, and anti-Americanism, MEK took part in the insurrection that brought to power the ayatollah Khomeini (1979). Advocating for the separation between state and church, the group clashed with the theological republic installed in Tehran, becoming the target of violence, judicial persecutions, and execution of its members. The repression forced the group’s leaders to take refuge in Paris and accept relocation to Iraq in return for militarily supporting Baghdad’s war against Iran (1980–1988). MEK took the shape of a secret organisation, which obliged its members to practice celibacy, while its unsuccessful anti-Iranian military struggle continued even after the Baghdad–Tehran armistice. In 1991, the organisation contributed to Saddam Hussein’s successful effort to crush the Kurdish rebellion that had broken out at the end of the Gulf War in Northern Iraq. Identified by the US Department of State as the author of the assassination of 6 American citizens in Iran in the 70’s, MEK was designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) by Washington. EU, Canada, Japan, and Great Britain followed suit and added the group into their list of terrorists. The US disarmed the group after the outbreak of the Iraq War in 2003 and listed its members as “protected persons” under the 1949 Geneva Convention, later having the movement removed from the FTO list. MEK’s internal “restyling” in this period included its official abandonment of the use of violence. Iran’s rising influence in Baghdad, after the formation of a Shia-led filo-Tehran government, forced the US to search a sanctuary outside the Middle East for the group that had become the target of armed attacks. After Romania’s refusal to give them shelter – as asked by the UN on humanitarian grounds, Albania stepped up – a new NATO member at the time and very close US ally since the 1990s – to heed America’s request. In 2006, Albania had already taken in the Chinese Uighurs that had been detained in Guantanamo and again last year it accepted to host Afghan civilians (many of which were US collaborators) fleeing Kabul after the Taliban’s return to power.

The USA expressed gratitude for this UN coordinated accommodation. However giving shelter to a group posing as a future government-in-exile and promoting cyber-propaganda and annual rallies calling for the overthrow of the ayatollahs automatically placed Tirana in a diplomatic conflict with Iran. The expulsion of Middle Eastern diplomats, detection of anti-MEK planned attacks, and exchanges of accusations between both countries’ highest authorities have preceded the current escalation.

Trump, Iran, and Albania

After the relaxation of relations between Iran and the West in the late stage of Obama’s presidency and the resumption of economic activities on oil trade, Tehran and the USA clashed again during Trump’s term. The tycoon unilaterally withdrew Washington from the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) designed to limit Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, resumed the sanctions policy against Tehran and ordered the execution of Qasem Soleimani, leader of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In this context, Trump’s administration saw MEK as a leverage to exert pressure on the ayatollahs’ regime to weaken it, inducing Tehran to renounce plans of regional hegemony in the Middle East and activities against US allies Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Albania, all major political forces consider it fruitful accommodating MEK, well aware that the USA is the only reliable ally on overall security. Apart from verbally condemning the cyberwarfare against Albania, Washington has recently sanctioned Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and its minister Esmail Khatib for “malign cyber activities”, while National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called Edi Rama to express America’s solidarity after the cyberattack.

Sanctions on MOIS and Khatib will remain symbolic due to the fact that the ministry and its responsible person do not possess assets in the USA liable to be seized, but their consequences on attempts between Iran and the West to resume talks on JCPOA are huge. Tehran’s cyberwarfare on a NATO country calls into question the Middle Eastern country’s willingness to reach a new worthwhile agreement on its nuclear programme for both counterparts. On the one hand, Western European countries, which are involved in the talks, need to normalise relations with Iran in order to purchase its natural gas (17% of world reserves are located there) after facing hardships with Russian supply due to the Ukrainian War; on the other hand, the Islamic Republic needs revenues in order to bring technological improvements to the domestic market of this form of energy.

Gjergji Kajana – Balcanicaucaso

October 1, 2022 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Cult Withdrawal Syndrome, 20 years after leaving the MEK

According to cult experts, former members of cults show a distinctive psychological syndrome which is attributable to psychologically deleterious practices in cults. This is called cult withdrawal syndrome. Based on testimonies of former members of the Mujahedin Khalq, most of them suffer from such a syndrome. Arash recently spoke out about his nightmares twenty years after defection from the Cult of Rajavi, the MEK.
Carol Giambalvo is an exit counselor who worked with Cult Awareness Network and chaired on the Cult Awareness Network’s national board of directors. In an article on post-cult problems, she argues that former members are vulnerable to psychological problems unless they get appropriate aids. She categorizes ex-members of cults in three group: Those who had interventions, those who left on their own, or walkaways, those who were expelled, or castaways.

Giambalvo emphasizes that walkaways and castaways need the most help in understanding their recovery process. “Former members who were cast out of a cult are especially vulnerable; often they feel inadequate, guilty, and angry,” she writes. “Most cults respond to any criticism of the cult itself by turning the criticism around on the individual member. Whenever something is wrong, it’s not the leadership or the organization, it’s the individual. Thus, when someone is told to leave a cult, that person carries a double load of guilt and shame. Sometimes walkaways also carry a sense of inadequacy.”

Jaber Taee Semiromi and siamak Naderi

In his interview with Siamak Nader, another ex-member of the MEK, Arash speaks of the psychological torture he endured in the MEK’s solitary confinement, Interrogation sessions and brainwashing meetings during his six years of membership. He recalls that after each of these suppressive attitudes by his commanders he would ask them if they were satisfied with him, if they were convinced that he was a trustworthy member. However, oppressions made him leave the cult immediately after the US invasion to Iraq and the disarmament of the MEK by the US military. Today, near 20 years after leaving the Cult of Rajavi he says, “whenever I see a table and a few chairs around it I recall the brainwashing meetings.”

Meetings in the Cult of Rajavi are titled with different phrases like, Current Operation, Weekly Cleansing, Pot, Beit etc. They are examples of coercive manipulation and brainwashing system that defines characteristics of a cult.
According to Giambalvo the most helpful tool for recovering ex-cult members is learning what mind control is and how it was used by their specific cult. “Understanding that there are residual effects from a mind control environment and that these effects are often transitory in nature helps diffuse the anxiety,” she asserts. “Walkaways and castaways, feel relieved when they learn that, given the situation, what they are experiencing is normal and that the effects will not last forever.” This is what we notice in the testimonies of Arash and other defectors of Rajavi’s cult of personality. He admits that he was brainwashed by the Cult of Rajavi and he was not allowed to live by his own free will.

the MEK members in an confession session

The cult exit counselor suggests another effective tool for deprogramming former members of the cults: supportive groups. “When former members live in an area where there is an active support group meeting, it is often helpful for them to participate,” she writes. “Support group meetings provide a safe place for ex-members to discuss concerns with others who are dealing with similar issues. In this environment, no one will look at them like they have two heads.”

During the interview with Arash, Siamak Naderi recalls a midnight of four years ago when Arash called him from his home and opened up about his nightmares. A large number of former MEK members have their own support groups across the world. That of former child soldiers of the group appeared in Club House last year. A large number of former child soldiers shared their heartbreaking experiences of membership in the MEK revealing horrific facts on child rights abuses in the MEK.

The Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) is perhaps the most organized and effective support group to aid defectors of the Cult of Rajavi in Albania get deradicalized. ASILA has been founded by several former members of the group together with a few Albanian human rights activists. It has managed to build a supportive atmosphere in which people feel like being in a family.

By Mazda Parsi

September 28, 2022 0 comments

Iran

Iran’s Families of Victims of Terrorism Write to President Raisi

Thousands of Iranian families who have lost their loved ones in acts of terrorism waged by the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) and other terrorists have urged President Ebrahim Raisi to relay their message to the world.
The families made the demand in a letter addressed to President Raisi ahead of his address to the 77th annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“We seize the opportunity to request Your Excellency to be the voice of the large family of the country’s terror victims to the world,” the letter said.

The signatories condemned the MKO for martyring more than 17,000 Iranians since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In 1986, Iran asked France to expel the group from its base in Paris, following which it moved its base to Iraq.
The group’s members spent many years in Iraq, where they were armed by the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The group sided with Saddam during the 1980-88 war against Iran and then helped him quell uprisings in various parts of the Arab country.

The European country of Albania started hosting the terrorists after the cult was shunned by the government of former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan had previously listed the MKO as a “terrorist organization.” In 2012, though, the group was taken off U.S and Europe lists of terrorist groups.
The MKO throws lavish conferences every year in Paris, with certain American, Western, and Saudi Arabian officials in attendance. These include former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton, former U.S. president Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, and former Saudi Arabian spy chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal.

The letter denounced the MKO for its acts of “blind killings, border attacks, kidnapping and torture.”
It noted how the group, which had become “disappointed in achieving their goals” following Iran’s Islamic Revolution, went to the United States and some other Western countries to continue planning to overthrow Iran’s political system and target authorities and citizens.
“What bothers our people and victims and survivors of terrorist attacks is that the perpetrators of these

operations are fully supported by the United States and some European countries, instead of being punished,” the survivors wrote.
“Such acts indicate nothing but division of terrorism into good and bad and also double standards of the West regarding dealing with terrorism,” the families said.
They said the very Western countries, which were allowing the group to “operate freely” on their soils, lay claim to be fighting terrorism at the same time.

The letter urged President Raisi “to seriously assert the rights of the families of the terror victims through international organizations and institutions for prosecution, extradition, and trial of leaders of the MKO terrorist group.”

Kayhan.ir

September 26, 2022 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MEK cult neither likes women nor Kurds

These days, the propaganda of the Mujahedin Khalq makes efforts to exploit the incidents in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, the Kurdish 22-year-old girl. Although the heartbreaking death of Mahsa sparked wave of protests in Iran, the MEK is absolutely incompetent to take any position in support of Mahsa or Iranian women in general. The group has a long record of women rights abuses and killing Kurds.

When the group was located in Camp Ashraf –the group’s base in Iraq donated by Saddam Hussein– the MEK continued to launch its terror acts staging cross-border attacks against Iran. As Saddam’s private army, it helped Saddam to crush uprisings against his rule after his defeat by the US in the 1990 Gulf war.
In March 1991, Saddam deployed the MEK to help quell the armed Kurdish independence movement in the north. According to the New York Times, Maryam Rajavi told her fighters: “Take the Kurds under your tanks, and save your bullets for the Iranian revolutionary guards.” The MEK vehemently denies it participated in Saddam’s campaigns to put down the Shia and Kurdish rebellions, but an Iraqi human rights tribunal has indicted MEK leaders for their part in suppressing the uprisings.

The Mujahedin Khalq Organization is notoriously known as the Cult of Rajavi, an apparently feminist cult which is actually a polygamist cult. Near a thousand women who have been members of the group since the 1980s were forced to wear hijab according to the group’s regulations. However, gender discrimination in the MEK is not only restricted to forced headscarves.

Female members of the group are victims of a cult of personality around Massoud Rajavi who forced them to divorce their spouses in 1989 and a year later ordered to separate their children from them. The children of Mujahed parents were smuggled to Europe under the order of Massoud Rajavi. Mothers were indoctrinated under the cult of Massoud. They were elevated in the hierarchy of the cult until they were coerced to marry Massoud Rajavi, under the rule of his third wife, Maryam Rajavi.

A number of children were smuggled back to Iraq in their teen years. These teenagers included dozens of girls. They were recruited as soldiers of the MEK’s so-called National Liberation Army (NLA). They were ordered to wear military uniforms and headscarves. They were forced to receive military trainings by MEK commanders.
Although several of MEK female members could manage to escape the group and eventually reveal facts on women rights violations in the MEK, there are still hundreds of women in the MEK’s Camp Ashraf 3 in Albania. These women usually show up in the group’s propaganda with red silk headscarves tightly tied under their chins. They do not even have the right to choose a different color for the scarves or they are never allowed to push the scarves just one or two centimeters back on their foreheads.

Thus, Maryam Rajavi is neither a representative of Iranian women, nor she is a sympathizer of Iranian Kurds. She is just a chameleon who chants slogans according to the incidents in Iran in order to please her paid advocates in the West.

September 24, 2022 0 comments

Nejat Publications

Nejat Newsletter No. 97

Inside this issue:

– Letter from the CEO of Nejat Society

“For your information, Massoud Rajavi, the cultic leader of the MEK, announced in a message that was read to the members at the camp of this Cult in Durres, that “entry of the families into Albania is crossing our red line and this should never happen”. The question that arises for the families is whether Massoud Rajavi can decide who should enter the country and who should not?

– Maryam Rajavi sends her thugs to attack a book fair

August 20, 2022 Agents of Maryam Rajavi attacked a book fair in Albania. The book fair which has been set up in the garden of Hotel Arvi, Durres, Albania was attacked on 17 August 2022 by several..

– State Terrorism and the History of MEK

The specialized meeting of State Terrorism and the Black History of Mujahedin-e Khalq was held by Terror Spring foundation that seeks to introduce the real face of the terrorist group of the group. The video conference was hosted by Alirez Niknam. Dr. Olsi Jazexhi, the Albanian historian and university professor from Malaysia spoke on the topic of state terrorism and supporters of the terrorist group of
the MEK. He discussed the likely links between the MEK and the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad.

– Why do they call Rajavi, Pol Pot of Iran?

About two decades ago when Elizabeth Rubin titled his article on the Mujahedin-e Khalq as “the Cult of Rajavi” and published it in the New York Times Magazine, she quoted the Iranian public opinion at the end of the article with a phrase that was actually

– Belgium decides to break free from the MEK terrorist group

In recent days, the annual meeting of the MEK terrorist group has been canceled for reasons that have been listed as security concerns. In Belgium, with a courageous and humanitarian act, the country’s parliament

– MEK and Children – Mohammad Koohestani

Mohammad Koohestani was born in 1982 when his parents had a clandestine life in Iran. His father Mostafa Koohestani had married his mother Zahra Farahnak three years earlier because..

– MEK is at best, a creepy cult; at worst, a terrorist group

The American journalist, Michael Rubin warns about the US strategy to support the Mujahedine Khalq Organization (MEK/ MKO/ Cult of Rajavi). He discusses three Iran strategies taken by the US that are guaranteed to fail. One is supporting the MEK which according to him at best is a creepy cult; at worst, it
is a terrorist group.

– ASILA develops the book fair

The association “Asila” is known as the only one in Albania which mainly
contributes to the support of the Iranian community in Albania. Asila works with a highly qualified staff
following all the legal steps to be as correct as possible with the regulation of the statute based on each legislative protocol.

– Families of martyrs of terrorist attacks call on Europe not to support the MEK

Some members of families of martyrs of terrorist attacks in Iran called Monday on Europe to stop supporting the terrorist group of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) that has assassinated 17,000 Iranians.

– Iran politicians, scientists victims of west-backed terrorism

In the past four decades, Iran has been the biggest victim of terrorism in the world regarding the number of Iranian politicians and scientists who have fallen victim to the terrorism sponsored by the West and Zionists.

– Warning of the CEO of the Iran Nejat Society

Following the recent events in Albania and especially the fabrication of lies in some of the country’s media against the ASILA, the CEO of the Iran Nejat Society wrote a letter to the American ambassador in
Tirana on behalf of the concerned families and warned about the terrorist conspiracy of the MEK in Albania against former members in this ..
To view the pdf file click here

September 24, 2022 0 comments

Maryam Rajavi

Maryam Rajavi Knocked out by Iranians in social media

The death of the young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested by the Iranian morality Police was heartbreaking and was followed by waves of protests across the country but the words of the leader of the Mujahedin Khalq to nobble the protests in Iran in favor of her cult of personality was encountered with hatred and disgust by the Iranian public opinion in social media.

The reaction of the Iranian public against Maryam Rajavi’s tweet is worth to know about her status among Iranians. The so-called president-in-exile of the NCRI twitted as if she is the leader of Iranian civil protests. She clearly calls for violence trying to surf over the recent wave.

Maryam Rajavi tweet and the reaction of the Iranian public against her tweet

In order to evaluate her base among Iranians, one can simply analyze her recent tweet. The number of likes and retweets are almost equal as it is normal in any content that is published by the Cult of Rajavi in social media. The reason is definitely clear regarding the troll farm of the group in Manza Albania who are working in cyber space to promote the group’s agenda day and night.

Nevertheless, the number of comments is at least six times the number of likes. It is worth reading the comments written by ordinary Iranians in Persian. More than six thousand comments were left under the post. The majority of users have expressed their detestation for Maryam Rajavi and her group.

In only one case, one comment addressing Rajavi “Shut up asshole!” has received near three thousand likes. Besides, a large number of celebrities and journalists mentioned Rajavi’s account and criticized her by ironic comments or simply insults. Ali Karimi, the famous Iranian soccer star mentioned Rajavi twitting, “You! Shut Up!”. Just these two words twitted by the Iranians’ favorite athlete has been liked by more than 90 thousand people, and has been retweeted more than ten thousand times.

For four decades, in every international report that has been issued on the Mujahedin Khalq, this fact has been notified that the MEK is widely detested by the Iranian public. However, the recent reactions against the group’s leader in social networks indicate a more revealing dimension of the nation’s antipathy towards a group that has the blood of Iranians, Iraqis, Kurds and even Americans in its hands.

September 21, 2022 0 comments

Albania

Dominos of problems for Albania after MEK’s relocation

Following the recent hacking of the Albanian government systems which caused the country sever ties with Tehran, Israel offered cyber defense assistance to Albania. Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll met with Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka on the sidelines of the Conference on Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy in Berlin, where he “offered to share our knowledge and experience in cyber defense” and “expressed Israel’s appreciation” for Tirana’s decision to sever its diplomatic ties with Iran, he said in a tweet.

Albania hosts a group with violent capacities

Albania agreed in 2013 to take in members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an anti-Iran cult-like group also known as the Cult of Rajavi and a longtime ally of Israel, at the request of Washington and the United Nations, with thousands settling in the Balkan country over the years. The group based its new headquarters in Manza, 30 kilometers north of the Albanian capital, Tirana.

Women fighters armed with AK-47s in the National Liberation Army of Iran stand at attention during a flag ceremony at Camp Ashraf,Wednesday Jan 29 1997, 110 kilometeres northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The fighters are dedicated to overthrowing the Islamic regime in Iran and installing a multi-party democracy. (AP PHoto/ Jassim Mohammmed)

MEK is a paramilitary group which was once the private army of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and was disarmed by the US military after the US invasion on Iraq, in 2003. As an armed group with a dark background of terrorist activities in Iraq and Iran, the group was listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department until September 2012. The delisting was based on the group’s alleged denouncing of armed struggle but the DOS’s report notified, at the time, that regarding the group’s cult-like system and its violent history, it maintains the capacity to commit acts of violence. And, that was true. The MEK is still promoting violence inside Iran by its so-called resistance units (in Persian called Kanoon-e Shooreshi).

Frequent reports on violent attacks of the so-called MEK’s resistance units against Iranian governmental or religious buildings across Iran are regularly broadcasted on the group’s media. The most recent demonstration of the MEK’s violent attitude has been reflected in Massoud Rajavi’s latest message from his hiding place which was published by the group’s media on September 13, 2022. In a ten-point command, Rajavi orders the resistance units to attack Iranian government buildings “following the pattern they acted in fall 2019 in Iran” when government buildings and banks were set on fire by the MEK agents.

Albania

Albania, victim of MEK-Israel alliance’

The MEK has long been an operative arm for the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. In 2002, they were first used by Mossad to publish the intelligence on the Iranian nuclear program. The investigative journalist, Gareth Porter writes in the American Conservative that the MEK was used by Israel’s Mossad to “launder” information that it wanted to make public but didn’t want attributed to Israel, according to two Israeli journalists.
Since then, the MEK’s agents became Mossad’s operative arms to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists. In November, 2012 NBC reported that two US senior officials confirmed that the MEK was “financed, trained, and armed by Israel” in killing Iranian nuclear scientists.

The MEK and Israel are also known for launching cyber-attacks against Iran, most notably in 2010 when the Stuxnet virus — believed to have been engineered by Israel and the US — infected Iran’s nuclear program and the most recent but trivial one was committed by the MEK in June 2022 when the MEK claimed it had hacked Tehran security cameras, dozens of municipality websites. According to AFP, the Cult of Rajavi claimed the hacking attack which it said temporarily took control of dozens of websites run by Tehran’s municipality and thousands of the capital’s surveillance cameras.

Albania seems to have become the victim of a war between Iran and Israel’s proxy force, the MEK. In order to stop the domino of problems, the Albanian government should stop hosting the MEK as a whole entity. Instead, it must host the rank and file of the MEK as human beings who need to be deradicalized and welcome by the Albanian society in order to build a normal life in the free world.

Mazda Parsi

September 19, 2022 0 comments

European Union

Letter from the CEO of Nejat Society to Josep Borrell Fontelles,

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union

Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union

Greetings and Regards,
I am Ebrahim Khodabandeh the CEO of Nejat Society in Iran. Nejat Society is a non-governmental human rights organization consisting of families whose loved ones are trapped in the isolated and remote camp of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, Rajavi Cult) in Albania. According to the cultic rules and regulations within the MEK, the members are deprived of any communication with their families, and their most basic human rights are violated.

You are aware of the tensions and challenges between the governments of Albania and Iran these days. We try to stay away from political issues and focus on our human rights goals only. But the type of work and our aims require us not to be indifferent to the political changes in Albania, which are very worrying for the families.
Not long ago, a panel discussion was held on the recent tensions on the SYRI TV channel in Albania. Five expert guests with different opinions participated in the round table discussions. The topic of the round table was “Iran’s possible future threats against Albania”. One of the experts clearly stated that Iran is not a threat to the national security of Albania, but the presence and unconventional activities of the MEK in this country is considered a threat to the national security of Albania, because before the terrorist and subversive actions of the Rajavi Cult in Iran which are directed from Albania, there were no such tensions.

On behalf of the expectant families, I wrote a letter to Mr. Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, which is attached. At the end of this letter, I mentioned three very vital and important demands of the families, which were:
1. Dismantling cultic relations inside the MEK camp in Albania
2. Observance of the most basic human rights regarding the members in this camp
3. Connecting the members of the MEK with the outside world, especially their families
These are the legitimate and rightful demands of all families during these years and they will not fall short of it and will not stop trying.

The MEK has caused a lot of pain and suffering to the families of its members. Most of the expectant families have lost their health completely due to the mental pressure caused by long years of separation, as a result of stress, fear and worry, and some of them died before meeting their loved ones due to these sorrows.
The mothers of members imprisoned in the camp of the Rajavi Cult in Albania are, in fact, forgotten victims who have no voice. They know where their children are, but they have no possibility of communicating with them due to the obstacles of the leaders of the Rajavi Cult supported by the Albanian government.
The greater the tension between the government of Albania and the government of Iran, the more the MEK can exploit its brainwashed members and carry out its threats to the whole of Europe in general and the country of Albania in particular.

The only group that benefits from the tension between Iran and Albania and wants to fuel these tensions is the MEK. The Rajavi Cult is trying to put Iran’s government against the Albanian government, so that in this way USA’s foot will be pulled in the middle, so that it may reach the sovereignty of Iran in the shadow of these contradictions and confrontations.

Massoud Rajavi, the hidden leader of the MEK, in a situation where everyone is trying to reduce tensions, recently in a message dated 13 September 2022 to the MEK rebel centers (terror teams) inside Iran, titled “Be alert and ready for rebel centers and rebel youths all over the country” has asked them to kill and destroy inside Iran with all their might. The MEK can grow like a rootless mushroom only in the cracks of tensions and contradictions.
As the coordinator of foreign and security policy in Europe, it is necessary to remind the authorities of Albania that the Albanian government, which wants to enter the European Union, as well as the Iranian government, do not benefit from the current situation, and the MEK is the only party that benefits from existing tensions.

Copy to:

Ms. Helga Maria Schimid, Secretary General of the European External Action Service EEAS
Mr. Marcus Cornaro, Principal Adviser to the Secretary General of the European External Action Service EEAS
Albanian authorities and the media

September 18, 2022 0 comments

Albania

MeK to Pose Security Threats in Albania: Iranian Terror Victims

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)

September 18, 2022 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

How is the US involved in the Iran-Albanian political crisis?

Tehran claims Tirana has become the victim of a plot by Washington to further tarnish already-strained diplomatic relations.
Albania cut diplomatic relations with Iran and expelled its diplomats over a cyberattack it accused Tehran of launching, and the United States has backed the Balkan state.
Iran told Albania and the United Nations it was not involved, but a restoration of ties that were already strained because of Albania’s hosting of a group that Tehran considers to be “terrorist” appears unlikely at least in the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, Tehran has accused Washington of fanning the flames of conflict.

Here is everything you need to know about the cyberattack and everyone involved.

After Albania joined NATO in 2009, American influence was cemented there

How did the cyberattack affect Albania?

The cyberattack happened on July 15, temporarily shutting down numerous Albanian government digital services and websites.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said earlier this month the Eastern European nation determined through “undeniable evidence” it was a “state aggression” by four groups orchestrated by Iran.
The Albanian government formally gave the Iranian embassy staff in Tirana, including diplomatic and security personnel, 24 hours to leave the country.

How did the US support Albania?

The US government was quick to back NATO ally Albania with words and actions.
In addition to condemning the cyberattack, Washington on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran’s intelligence ministry, in addition to intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, for what it called “malign cyber activities”.
The sanctions are symbolic since Khatib and the ministry are not thought to hold assets in the US that can be frozen, and have no plans to conduct direct business with American citizens. Both were also sanctioned under different designations before.
A day earlier, Washington also blacklisted several companies it accused of producing and transporting Iranian drones to Russia, which the US claims are to be used in the Ukraine war.
This comes amid Tehran and Washington’s efforts since April 2021 to restore their 2015 nuclear deal, abandoned in 2018 by the US and followed by the imposition of all-encompassing sanctions.

How did Iran respond?

Iran’s mission to the UN and its foreign ministry denied what it called “baseless” claims, saying Tehran has been falsely accused of mounting the cyberattack.
In a letter to the Albanian mission and UN chief Antonio Guterres, Iran’s mission said Albanian police forcefully entered the Iranian embassy in Tirana, a move Tehran said violated international law and consular relations.
The Iranian foreign ministry on Saturday went one step further, saying Albania has become “the victim of a scenario designed by Washington against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
The foreign ministry said the US has supported, and cyber-trained and equipped a “terrorist” group, which acts “as a US tool in implementing terrorist acts, cyberattacks and psychological war against the government and nation of Iran”.

MKO Terrorist Group Hires Top US Lobbying Firm BGR

Who is the ‘terrorist’ group involved?

Iran’s claim about the US involvement relates to a group known as the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), which Tehran considers a “terrorist” organisation for a string of bombings, assassinations and armed assaults on Iranian soil during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
Iran says MEK is responsible for the deaths of 17,000 Iranians, many of them women and children, and has also blacklisted dozens of US officials for supporting the group that calls for the forceful overthrow of the current Iranian establishment.
With US support and coordination, MEK is mainly based in Albania, in addition to several other European nations, a presence that has for years contributed to tarnished relations between Iran and the host nations.
MEK was also designated a “terrorist” group by the US and the European Union, but was delisted more than a decade ago after renouncing violence.

By Maziar Motamedi – Jazeera

September 14, 2022 0 comments

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