++ Dr Zahra Jazayeri, a fierce critic of the MEK and its leaders, died this week in London. Zahra is the sister of Hassan Jazayeri who died in Iraq from heat exhaustion exacerbated by a heart condition in an MEK training camp in the 1980s. Zahra vociferously criticised the MEK and took action against her brother’s widow, a loyal MEK supporter called “Azam Farahani Mollahasani Kohneh” after Azam changed her name by Deed Poll to “Leila Jazayeri” to evade criminal charges. Zahra tried to make Azam give up the Jazayeri name because the family are highly respected and successful in Iran, and they did not want the taint of the MEK and criminality to link to them. Zahra enlisted the help of Dr Nourizadeh and other prominent Iranians in the UK to prevent the misuse of the family name, and also complained about the waste of Hassan’s son Hanif’s life saying that he could have been somebody if his mother had not given him to the MEK.
++ This week MEK websites have published pictures of Dr Zahra Jazayeri and her brother Hassan dating from the 1980s. Presumably they could not find any more recent pictures of her. The MEK labelled Hassan “a martyr killed by Iran” and claimed that Zahra was a supporter of the MEK, and especially of Maryam Rajavi. Many commentators in Farsi are expressing their disgust at Maryam Rajavi and her brazen misuse of Zahra now she is dead and cannot respond.
++ There has been severe criticism of the Brussels based European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) led by MEK advocates Sturan Stevenson, Alejo Vidal-Quadras and Paulo Casaca, pointing out that although by themselves they are nobodies, they are part of a wider warmongering front across the world. Criticism was levelled at the European Union for allowing this open promotion of terrorism.
++ An article in a prominent Israeli newspaper promoted the MEK and advised Israel to make more use of them as proxys in Iraq now the country has been destabilized. One suggestion was that Israel make use of Camp Liberty near Baghdad. Reactions in Farsi were that this is simply more proof that the MEK is in the pocket of Israel.
++ Saudi backed channel Al Arabiya broadcast news citing a Kurdish source claiming that the MEK have been in talks with Massoud Barezani and as a result will be given sanctuary in Iraqi Kurdistan. As this rumour gained momentum, representatives of the Kurdish Regional Government rejected the news emphasising that the MEK is a criminal organisation which has killed many Kurds and therefore such a thing would never happen. The KRG also rejected news that Barezani met with Maryam Rajavi in Paris saying this would never happen.
++ On 21st June, the anniversary of ’30th Khordad 1981′ when the MEK staged a failed coup d’etat, Yaran Association, a network of former MEK members and their groups, organised a meeting, followed by a leaflet drop. The attendees condemned the MEK’s current alliance with ISIS which has now killed many Iraqis. They also raised the issue of Camp Liberty as a humanitarian crisis because now the head of the cult is working with ISIS, these vulnerable people could be killed.
++ The MEK tried to disrupt the Yaran Association meeting – as they have done with other gatherings of ex members – but this time were unable to do so. They therefore they went back to their usual internet attacks. This consisted of re publishing the pictures taken by Yaran and adding comments like ‘traitor’ or ‘agent of the regime’. This was so that they could report to the leader that they managed to do something to push back the enemy. Massoud Khodabandeh commented in Facebook, ‘it is interesting that these guys couldn’t even achieve the minimum like taking pictures as they used to, let alone knifing which they have also done in the past. Whether they have been curtailed by the French authorities or whether it’s due to the incapability of the MEK itself, the MEK’s so-called Intelligence department has apparently collapsed.”
++ Ebrahim Khodabandeh has analysed some articles published by the MEK, one of which claims the MEK have an important role as a support. Khodabandeh says that what they come up with is not that they get their position as a support from the people, but rather from their ideological leader. He recalls the speeches of Maryam Rajavi saying nobody can replace Massoud, and points out how suddenly the MEK have now switched from Massoud to Maryam as the ideological leader. He says that in cults it is not possible to change or replace the guru, but that is what they are trying to do.
++ There have been many comments about Villepinte from different points of view. One is a question that “everyone inside the MEK should ask”: “If what you claim is true, and you have all this support and the whole world is with you, then why is Massoud still in hiding?” Many ask why the MEK pays so much for the speakers and the audience and why they do this. Some have answered by saying this is to solve internal problems, others say it is to satisfy Maryam Rajavi’s ego, but whatever the reason, nobody takes it seriously as a force.
++ In Tehran a new book by Seyed Hojjat Esmaili a high ranking ex member of the MEK’s Intelligence Department, has been published. He has worked on it for five years. The book is titled, ‘The Rise and Fall of the God of Ashraf’.
++ A short article by Aawa Association in Germany ridicules the MEK claim that it has the support of 100 German MPs. Aawa does not see how this is possible since no names have been published, and says that as a German Association, they would certainly have known about it. It is also ironic that the photograph accompanying the MEK claim shows two individuals who were MPs many, many years ago, revealing that the MEK couldn’t even find a recent picture to back its claim.
++ On Friday 27th, before the start of the MEK rally in Villepinte, Iranians in France, particularly those Yaran Associations who met last week, distributed thousands of leaflets around the area exposing the criminal past of Maryam Rajavi and her gang for the people who have been bussed in.
++ In various Iraqi papers this week there have been reports of MEK members being seen alongside ISIS. One paper specifically identifies a group of 120 MEK in Mosul who are working within ISIS.
In English:
++ The French Foreign Ministry made its position toward the MEK very clear in a press release following a Q & A session on 26 June.
“Q: What is your view towards the Iranian opposition Mojahedin Khalq and Mrs. Rajavi, who reside in France?
“A: France has no contact with the “People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran” which is known for its use of violence. It has no legal existence in France as an organization. Its violent and undemocratic Ideology has been exposed by several human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International who have reported on the organization’s cultic practices and its refusal to formally renounce violence. We also warn about the intense campaign of disinformation and influence it leads.”
++ A short Press TV item mentioning the 30th June 1981 event had Ebrahim Khodabandeh, (a former high ranking MKO member who knows the organization inside out and author of the book ‘One man – One Day – Thirty Years’) comment, “despite claims by the group that they would no longer use weapons, arms struggle is still a part of MEK ideology”.
++ Mazda Parsi writes for Nejat Bloggers to expand on an article by Eldar Mamedov – who warns new MEPs who might be approached by the MKO well-funded lobbyists to “be wise to think twice about associating with an organization that attempts to minimize the acts of a group so murderous and fanatical that even al-Qaeda has declared it too extreme.” John Kerry, writes Parsi, says that “they are threatening the United States and Western interests”. Parsi concludes however that, “As a matter of fact the MKO terrorist cult does not recognize the interests and benefits of any side and neither the interests of its own members. Their only strategy is always focused on violence, the more extreme the more favorable for the MKO.”
June 27 2014