++ Massoud Khodabandeh was interviewed by Iranic TV. Khodabandeh covered a variety of subjects starting with the source of MEK money – Saddam Hussein, Saudi gold and money laundering. He said the MEK are still involved in money laundering, but now, instead of being alongside military/terrorist activities, they are now being paid for click farm propaganda activity and intelligence work for anyone, including paid work for Zionists against Europeans. Khodabandeh talked about the recent renewed interest in the case of child soldiers, rapes and sexual abuse and women in the MEK. He talked about the assassination of general Soleimani and how this put an end to the west’s hopes for regime change. He concluded by talking about the MEK’s situation in Albania where they act with impunity – as above the law as they were under Saddam Hussein – with the backing of Israel in particular. Khodabandeh stressed that the Albanian authorities are not happy with this situation at all.
++ Exit News in Albania, which previously reported the arrest of two high ranking MEK personnel on charges of drug and human trafficking, is continuing to report on the crackdown on criminal activity in Albania. This time involving unauthorised cryptocurrency labs, fraud and hiding income. Commentators ask in Farsi why the authorities turn a blind eye to the MEK’s criminal behaviour. Why the two arrested MEK officials are not being prosecuted and why the authorities refuse to investigate well-evidenced allegations of modern slavery and human rights abuses in Camp Ashraf 3.
++ The MEK are placing fundraising ads on their TV channel. This is in spite of the fact that everyone knows the MEK is paid for by the anti-Iran coalition (US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and UK). As several commentors pointed out, the MEK’s main job is money laundry for the purposes of propaganda and dissemination of false and misleading information.
++ Maryam Rajavi was delighted to pose with some non-Iranian former politicians and personalities presumably in a bid to win over the hearts and minds of Iranians. It was deliberately unclear whether these photo ops were made Albania or France, though Rajavi is trying hard to pretend she is living in France. Responses pointed out that the Rajavi Cult is more and more irrelevant to Iran and that observers expect the group to morph into the Cult of Qajar in Paris headed by Maryam’s daughter and her niece (her brother’s daughter) who are both French citizens by birth.
++ Hackers managed to hack an Iranian TV channel for a few seconds last week, placing photos (over 30-year-old) of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi on screen. This prompted a hashtag storm with # down with MEK in Farsi from everywhere. Social media found the stunt ridiculous. Nobody cares about MEK and those who did simply laughed at how desperate MEK is to prove it actually exists at all.
In English
++ Gjergji Thanasi wrote about the trafficking activities of MEK being revealed in Greece which are a repeat of the drug and human trafficking which led to the arrest of two high ranking members in Albania. Thanasi wrote that Greek police and journalists have raised concerns about the long term activities of Mehdi Mazloomi and Bahman Rahimi, both MEK members, in Greece. The fear is that MEK is causing problems in the EU and in NATO countries. Thanasi suggests that the US embassy should help Albania to end the Rajavi cult.
++ In a joint broadcast between ASILA in Albania and Nejat Society in Iran, Albanian journalist Gjergji Thanasi told families of the entrapped MEK members that things are changing for the better. According to the Albanians there is now an alternative for the inmates, to have a normal life in Tirana; Thanasi stressed that new legislation allows them to find a job. He said everyone should work together to help the MEK members as the alternative could be that they die of COVID 19 due to negligence.
++ Nejat Society published the story of Mahvash Jahanbanian whose husband Ali Ebrahimi was taken as a PoW during the Iran-Iraq while serving as an officer in the Iranian army. In spite of being registered with the ICRC, Ebrahimi’s letters stopped in 1989 and his wife had no news of him until an anonymous note revealed he was with the MEK. After the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 Jahanbanian, with other families, visited Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty four times to find her husband. They had rocks thrown at them. Later, former MEK members who knew him told her that he refused to comply with MEK demands that he denounce his wife as an agent of Iranian Intelligence and was punished for this. Jahanbanian is continuing her efforts to contact her husband and called on the Albanian authorities to help. Meanwhile, she sent a direct message to him on her video with Mardom TV: “Ali! I still love you and respect you the same as I did the day you left. We will warmly welcome you whenever you come back home.”
February 04 2022