On Tuesday 12th of December 2006, the European court of justice announced that they had made an errand in not allowing the Mojahedin-E Khalq of Iran the opportunity to defend itself when putting them on a terror list. Link With this decision, the Mojahedin will receive access to the frozen funds and be able to defend themselves in the courts. That is as far as the court decision has implemented. But if you were to view the official Mojahedin TV stations and numerous websites and newspapers you would get the impression that they had in fact been taken out of the terrorist list. This is of course far from the truth.
The European court of justice, declared in its verdict that any funds that had been frozen should now be made available at the disposal of Mojahedin-E Khalq. But the experts on this organization can clearly state that the Mojahedin has never in the past made any of its money transactions through any bank in Europe. The Mojahedin have in fact never placed any of its vast funds that they have acquired through Saddam Hussein in any of the European bank. The exchange and transfer of money has always been conducted in secret and always in cash, just like other terrorist organization like Al-Qaeda.
The reality is that removing the Mojahedin-E Khalq of Iran out of the European Terror list will not make any impact what so ever. In the past, the Mojahedin used to get their entire funding and support from the Iraqi regime, and even with all the tanks and guns it still didn’t amount to anything.
For the Mojahedin, the presence of their names in the European terror list has had very little effect in their day to day activities. They have continued to hold demonstrations over the past few years and still enjoy the full support of many European politicians and lawmakers.
During the past few days the Mojahedin have unofficially proclaimed that they have set aside violent resistance and will from now on only work by peaceful means. But the reality is that the armed struggle against the Iranian regime is a strategic, tactical and ideological essence of the
group. And if they ever decide to set aside armed and violent means as a form of struggle, they cease to exist as a group. The result would be mass defection and finally an implosion of the organization. There has never in fact been an official declaration of distance from violent armed struggle.
The major issue at stake is that the people of Iran do not consider Mojahedin as a serious political force. For the majority of the Iranian people they are only known as a cult that worked with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in time of war against and helped the enemy in killing thousands of Iranian people during the Iran-Iraq conflict that lasted 8 years (1980 – 1988) There remains no support for the Mojahedin-E Khalq by any class, age or gender in Iran’s society.
Karim Haghi Moni
18 December 2006
Karim Haghi, IranPeyvand