Mujahedin Khalq Declining

In an interview with Javan daily, Persian language Iran-based newspaper, Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad reiterated that the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, also known as MKO and NCRI) has been limited and the US and the European countries are interacting with the terrorist group and providing them with unsparing supports.

What follows is a rough translation of the interview:

Javan: After MKO’s relocation to Camp Liberty and the way the group was treated during the transfer procedure, it seems the United States government has somehow agreed with more limitation of the group. On the other side we see the MKO is delisted in the United States and practically, provided with a series of new services! So a contradictory behavior is witnessed here. Recently, countries like Albania have received a number of the MKO members and this is also in contrast with the initial signs of the terrorist group’s limitation. What’s your evaluation of the situation?

Hasheminejad: We should consider many facts here. The MKO was first listed in 1997, but we know that the group’s social activities were never limited by the US or the European countries. For example, while the MKO was still on the list of terrorist organizations, the leaders of the group used to gather some poor and helpless people who were desperate for some money, and organized meetings and gatherings in the Paris suburbs on the anniversary of their armed conflict with the Islamic republic by paying huge amounts of money. There were also some American and European figures who used to participate in those meetings and supported the very same group they had placed on the list of terrorist organizations! They also used to provide the MKO with a lot of financial resources.

This is a fact that has been confirmed by many American and European jurists. The MKO has faced no limits since 1997 whether during or after the Saddam era. I have personally witnessed their activities in some European countries. Their activities are well coordinated in the United States and Europe. Such a situation has been continued from the day they escaped the country, up to right no without any changes.

Javan: What was the reason of MKO’s listing?

Hasheminejad: Listing of the MKO in a specific period of time, was mentioned as a good will gesture towards Iran by the U.S. politicians, which was practically useless. So the MKO was delisted in a similar procedure. Nothing especial took place neither when the group was listed nor when it was delisted. A review on the reports published by FBI, the U.S intelligence agencies and also the French Police, could prove the MKO’s record is filled with various violations of law in the European countries, while not even a single member of the MKO was arrested. I mean the European countries and the United States had provided the MKO exactly the same social freedom that Saddam had provided them to let them continue their criminal acts. The MKO members would easily go into the European Parliament and recruited people to lobby for them. As it was mentioned in the RAND report, I think the US government tried to keep the MKO in Iraq for specific situations and also for acts of sabotage in the country. Even the US Defense Department had released a report before the MKO was delisted, in which the group’s horrible crimes were listed. These documents reveal that MKO has been listed or delisted just to benefit the US interests. The US government doesn’t want to receive the MKO for two reasons: first one is to be able to use the MKO’s terrorist potential in Iraq and the second is that the Americans are well aware that the MKO members are dangerous.

Javan: What is the reason behind the fact that some western governments suddenly changed their minds and started to receive the MKO members in their countries?

Hasheminejad: The United States and the West had no other ways but to act legally following the Iraqi government’s legal pressures during a several year long procedure. So the United Nations was forced to sign an agreement with the Iraqi government and the Europeans let the MKO members in their countries. The informal relocation of MKO members to the European countries had started since their announcement of armed conflict and they have offices in most of those countries. FBI has even announced the MKO has 36 specific places for its activities in the United States. But for being formally relocated, the group needed a legal procedure to be delisted. From one point of view, this is a good thing but from other points of view it is a negative measure. If the plan is to disintegrate the MKO, it should not be delisted. The relocation has got a special legal process. The UN Commissioner for Refugees has defined the relocation process: the terrorist person or organization should be delisted with enough guarantees and the Red Crescent must also guarantee that they won’t return to their terrorist activities and after that, a third country is negotiated to receive them. It is not even necessary to completely delist the whole terrorist group. It is a positive measure since it leads to the MKO’s disintegration but we also condemn their illegal works.

Javan: Don’t you think the MKO was delisted in order to be spread all over the world and have more freedom to do their works?

Hasheminejad:The MKO is free to do anything even right now and this decision is not going to have much impact. Mrs. Clinton cleared this point out in her recent announcement and practically showed how much freedom the MKO has got. She said: From now on, the MKO can transfer their money freely! This show that the MKO was limited only regarding to its money transferring. Of course the MKO used to transfer its money before, too. But it was mainly under money laundering efforts.

Javan: At the moment, how unified do you think the MKO is?

Hasheminejad: It seems they are disintegrating. Some 100 persons have escaped the MKO since 2 or 3 years ago. These defections are moving from the body of the MKO to its leadership level. Out of the 70 women who were members of the MKO’s leadership council and Rajavi deeply trusted them, 3 have defected. Massoud Rajavi’s main translator has also escaped. All of these show that the MKO is on the verge of collapse and its disintegration has accelerated. It was clear from the beginning that this would be their end.