Albania has been at the center of Iran’s diplomatic attention in the past few years. Once supported by Iran, the tiny Muslim country has now become a base for the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization, an anti-Iran terrorist group targeting Iran’s security from inside Albania. Camp Ashraf 3 is MKO’s new base in Albania hosting around 3000 MKO members who have left Iraq. With the support from Saudi Arabia and the U.S., the terrorist group’s camp in Albania has been built in 18 months.
One of the most important activities of the MKO in Albania is the terrorist group’s cyber activities. MKO’s cyber unit enjoys 1300 members with several thousand fake accounts in Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and Instagram. According to some defected MKO members, a part of this highly protected facility is a factory for creating fake accounts on the internet which is dedicated to mass manipulation of the social Media.
They are tasked with duties such as creation and management of accounts under the cover of different guilds, spreading lies against the Islamic Republic of Iran, diverting peaceful protests to violent movements, etc.
Hassan Shahbaz, a defected MKO member said in an interview with Aljazeera: “We used to receive daily orders instructing us to emphasize on major topics and current problems in Iran. For instance, unemployment, high prices, and poverty were among the topics to which we had to attract the attention of people and blame the Islamic government in Iran for these problems. This was our daily task on the internet.”
Recruiting cyber experts, indicates the fact that MKO leaders view the internet and its impact on the Iranian security seriously. The internet has turned into a soft-war battlefield against Iran and anti-Iran groups have found a tool to damage the country with the least expenses. The end-goal of the terrorist MKO is a regime-change in Iran. The soft-war waged against Iran by enemy-states and their affiliated groups like the MKO is based on spreading gossips, propaganda, and the exaggeration of domestic problems.
Dr. Reza Ekhtiari Amiri,