The MKO has launched a new barrage of propaganda to both impress those who support the group, and solicit pity from those who don’t know about their scheme. The MKO’s spokesman in the US, Alireza Jafarzadeh, who specializes in systematically swaying the West’s opinion with his numerous positive articles about the group he works for, told reporters that the people’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, MKO MEK, NCRI) has evidence that Tehran is building a uranium enrichment plant. [1]
Jafarzadeh has declared that the so-called site is certainly part of the Iran’s “secret nuclear weapons program" but a US government official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the US has known about the facility for years but has no reason to think it is nuclear. [2]
On September 9th, Jafarzadeh published his allegedly precise report about the nuclear site that his organization, the PMOI has supposedly detected.
His three-page report on the Behjatabad-Abayek site in Iran presents no hard evidence to support the assertion that the site includes a network of underground chambers designed to hold centrifuges to enrich nuclear material in violation of United Nations sanctions. [3]
It is not the first time that the MKO propaganda machine has tried to deceive public opinion with false allegations. In fact, the claims of MKO agents are taken for granted by US officials because "the NCRI had made similar claims in the past." [4]
Although the US government has always been suspicious about the nuclear program in the Islamic Republic of Iran, at least they think that people should be cautious about reaching conclusions. *Newsweek* reported that the “group’s announcement drew attention<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/
world/middleeast/10nuke.html>from a wide
range<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/09/
iran-watchdog-group-announce-findings-alleged-nuclear-site/>of media outlets, with reports noting that the group had released satellite photos showing what appeared to be an extensive tunneling operation in a hilly area. But nuclear-nonproliferation officials inside the U.S. government and independent experts on the subject say substantiation is lacking for claims that the tunnel project is nuclear-related. A leading private nuclear-weapons study group has also raised questions about the track record of the MEK, which in the past has claimed to be first with major public revelations about the Iranian nuclear program but has been accused of exaggerating the exclusivity and value of its information. "[5]
Iran’s top nuclear official, Ali Akbar Salehi responded to the MKO’s claim at a press conference, by saying, "No such nuclear installation with a specific definition exists in Iran which has not been declared…[but if the MKO is] really are aware of such an installation, perhaps they would like to tell us about it so that we can thank them." [6]
It’s difficult to believe that the MKO’s spying system is really more reliable than those of the most powerful and technologically advanced nations in the world. Alireza Jafarzadeh bases his recurring allegations on satellite photos that he presents. How can the MKO, a designated terrorist organization own a spying satellite and the US or other nations not know about it? Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell told Agence France Presse, "I don’t know if this site is one that they have discovered that our intelligence experts have not seen." He adds, “I find that hard to believe but we shall see."[7]
The MKO amplifies the idea that Iran harbors a nuclear facility. David Albright, head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security told Reuters that the NCRI’s previous assertions have sometimes turned out to be "unsubstantiated, exaggerated, or wrong."[8] The allegations are simply a flop because the MKO-perpetuated news of Iran’s building a new nuclear site is not only dubious but ineffective as a tactic to achieve their goal of increasing the West’s meager support. According to Yossi Melman of haaretz.com, the MKO "clearly has a vested interest."[9]
This "vested interest" is mainly presented in Jafarzadeh’s report on the so-called new nuclear site. He suggests that "to effectively thwart Tehran’s nuclear drive, a two-pronged policy is imperative. The first is to impose comprehensive sanctions on the regime. The second is removing the barriers placed on the path of the opposition, particularly the main opposition, the PMOI. The terrorist label against the group has acted as a major impediment to democratic change in Iran."[10] The main barrier on the path of MKO is its foreign terrorist designation by the US State Department which limits the MKO’s activities in the West as well as Iraq and Iran.
The MKO has already committed treason against the nation of Iran and with the nuclear smear campaign they bear the responsibility of fear mongering in their effort to destabilize Iran’s credibility as a way to substantiate their own. In his so-called revealing report on the Iranian secret nuclear site, Jafarzadeh claims that “the disclosure of the site will irreparably undermine the regime’s international standing and would have unimaginable repercussions."[11] The West’s reaction to the MKO’s report was a disappointment for the cult’s pitiful leaders because their cheap shot means aid is no longer a possibility.
By Mazda Parsi
References:
[1] Burns, Robert. "Dissidents Claim Iran Has Secret Nuclear Facility."
boston.com (online *Boston Globe*) 09 September 2010.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/
2010/09/09/dissidents_claim_iran_has_secret_nuclear_facility/
[2] ibid
[3] Quinn, Andrew. "Dissidents Claim New Iran Nuclear Site but U.S.
Skeptical." *Reuters* Online 09 September 2010.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6884VK20100909
[4]ibid
[5] Hosenball, Mark. "Is There Really Another Secret Iranian
Uranium-Enrichment Facility?" *Newsweek* 13 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct
2010. <
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/2010/09/13
/another-secret-iranian-uranium-enrichment-facility.html>.
[6] Melman, Yossi. "Iran Denies Having Third Enrichment Facility." *
Haaretz.com* 12 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
iran-denies-having-third-enrichment-facility-1.313284>.
[7] Daragahi, borzou. "IRAN: Nuclear Chief Rejects Allegations of Secret
Enrichment Site." *Los Angeles Times* 10 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/
2010/09/iran-nuclear-salehi-secret-enrichment-iaea-.html>.
[8] Quinn, Andrew. "Dissidents Claim New Iran Nuclear Site but U.S.
Skeptical." *Reuters* 09 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6884VK20100909
[9] Melman, Yossi. "Analysis / Who Should We Believe? Is Iran Building a New
Nuclear Site?" *Haaretz.com* 12 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
analysis-who-should-we-believe-is-iran-building-a-new-nuclear-site-1.313291
>.
[10] Jafarzedeh, Alireza and Soona Samsam, "Weapons of Mass Destruction."
globalsecurity.org. *globalsecurity.org*, 09 September 2010. Web. 10 Oct
2010. <
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/
iran/2010/iran-100909-spc01.htm>.
[11] Ibid