First of all we should see the real facts which exist in the political atmosphere in Iran, Europe and Western countries about the PMOI. It is better to begin with a substantial question which contains many ambiguities which has surrounded public opinion about PMOI.
Why do western and European countries persist in supporting PMOI? Why is such a terrorist organization so important for foreign countries? Is it because of PMOI’s slogans, ‘democracy and freedom for Iranian people’ or is it because of their popularity among Iranian people?
I am not a politician but as an Iranian and as a victim of this cult (Rajavi Cult ) it is my right to ask those politicians either European or American, why are you supporting an organization which is cursed and abject among Iranian people? Why have you closed your eyes and your ears to the facts revealed by many witnesses who had been members of this organization for many years? I am a live witness who had spent more than two decades of my life in that organization. I am a real witness of their atrocities toward Iraqi and Iranian people. I am real proof of their violent and brutal internal relations. I have experienced all their savagery and brutality with my own flesh and bones for two decades. Why do not you allow me and others to share our experiences of their real entity and essence which is completely different than the thing which they endeavor to show and present in their external affairs by their professional agents?
This organization which you are supporting politically believes in violence and bloodshed and carnage. Their slogan and catchword is armed struggle. After the presidential election in Iran, we witnessed some unrest inside Iran which was totally and utterly peaceful and non violent. But the PMOI’s agents, who it sent specially to Iran, tried their best to beget bloodbath and carnage out of those peaceful demonstrations just for their organization sake. Many of those agents were arrested and confessed. Iranian people who stood up for their rights peacefully demanded their needs and demands from Iranian politicians peacefully, and interestingly in none of those peaceful rallies and demonstrations they did not mention even once the name of this organization. The people of Iran fought 8 years against the invasion of Iraq to their soil, so how can they support and back the organization which fought shoulder to shoulder with Saddam Hussein’s army against them? How can Iranian people forgive and forget their full cooperation and collaboration with Saddam Hussein in killing their sons and daughters during 8 years destructive war? How can Iranian people support such a treacherous organization which gave vital military and civilian information to Saddam Hussein to utilize that information to bombard and missile Iranian cities and kill innocent people? In Iran it is very rare that we can find a family who has not lost one of their relatives in that war. While I was in this organization, Iraq was ruled by the dictator Saddam Hussein. During those days in Iraq, especially in 1990 and 1991, the leadership of PMOI ordered their National Liberation Army (NLA) to fully cooperate and collaborate with the Iraqi army in the suppression of Iraqi people who stood up against the savagery and brutality of their dictator Saddam Hussein. Massoud Rajavi the PMOI spiritual leader and NLA commander in chief was in complete coordination and cooperation with Saddam Hussein and his army as they were considered as Saddam’s private army. They both had very productive relations with each other. Saddam Hussein utilized the NLA in gaining vital military information from inside Iran by PMOI’s military invasions in Iranian territory as well as in suppression of the rebelling people of Iraq who were fed up with Saddam’s atrocities, and in return Saddam Hussein equipped them with different kinds of arms and tanks, armored vehicles, ammunition, heavy artillery and vast and miscellaneous military training which was taught by Saddam’s high ranking officers, colonels and brigadiers, even Saddam’s Presidential Guard who were professional and specialist in guerrilla warfare tactics, gave a lot of guerrilla training to the members of this organization.
Now I take you to the PMOI’s internal relations in their garrisons and military bases throughout Iraq. It is first worth mentioning that all those garrisons and military bases were given to PMOI leadership as a gift in relation to their espionage services and military cooperation with Saddam Hussein’s army and his notorious intelligence service. In their internal relations we were under severe religious indoctrination and brainwashing methods every single day. The PMOI Leadership Council was in charge of brainwashing and indoctrination of all members. We were forced to accept Rajavi as our spiritual leader, and we had to obey him and his orders without any doubt. Any question and ambiguity toward his position and his orders and his political and ideological analysis were considered to be a deadly sin and no one dared to open his thoughts against him and his ideas, because of the awful consequences. The PMOI Leadership Council tried its best to force us to accept him and his wife, Maryam Rajavi, as holy leaders who were God appointed and God sent. We had to accept and believe that Massoud Rajavi and his wife were totally saint-like and sinless and no one dared to criticize their position or their orders. We had to accept and cave in to everything they were telling us without any rejection or objection. The PMOI leadership during years of treachery and treason in cooperation with the Iranian people’s enemy, Saddam Hussein, little by little converted to a religious cult. Rajavi tried his best to deceive his members by brainwashing them to believe that they were invincible and untouchable. He was preaching that each Mojahed could fight with 100 Iranian soldiers and guards. He was encouraging his members to persevere and fight till the end. But he and his wife, Maryam, were the first who escaped from their so called battlefield, Iraq, when the political and military situation turned against Saddam Hussein and his government. And their escape substantiated that all those sermons and war cry were just brainwashing and indoctrination methods to keep all those members captive in Rajavi’s cultic ideology, to stay in Iraq and die for him and his wife. Both Rajavi and his wife, Maryam, were preaching that Massoud Rajavi will guide each and every Mojahed to Paradise after their death. The Leadership Council even insisted on the doctrine that Massoud Rajavi is the same as Imam Hussein and that Maryam is the same as Hazrat Zeynab.
It is very strange for me to see that despite all kinds of crimes that this organization has committed during three decades, some American politicians and their European counterparts still support them and try to delist them from the terrorist list. I have heard many times directly from PMOI spiritual leader, Massoud Rajavi, in general gatherings in different garrisons and bases that everything said and posed by the PMOI external affairs’ agents in foreign countries such as USA and European countries are just political propaganda to be supported and backed by superpowers for gaining political power in Iran. And after that the PMOI will show its real face which is totally against USA and European countries, because in their real ideology and beliefs, which are purposely hidden, the USA is considered as the real obstacle which obstructs the Third World countries from making progress. In the PMOI ideology, the only way to get rid of this obstacle is by the utter annihilation and destruction of USA. For that reason the PMOI leadership after the fall of Saddam Hussein government ordered the PMOI members to destroy and burn all the books and newspapers, magazines, documents, even the PMOI archives which had any trace of their real opinion and thoughts about USA.
At the time of 9/11, while the twin towers in New York were annihilated by terrorists and as a result thousands men and women lost their lives, the PMOI leadership ordered a huge gathering in Bagherzadeh Garrison in Baghdad to celebrate that catastrophic event. I was there in that gathering and I saw with my own eyes as the PMOI leadership Massoud and Maryam Rajavi ordered all their members to celebrate, and Massoud Rajavi said during that meeting, “I said [before] that the USA is just a paper tiger and someday it will be destroyed utterly by the revolutionary people and today [9/11] is just the beginning.”
Despite of all the evidence and witnesses to the real entity of PMOI and its destructive ideology the only reason which crosses my mind why are they supporting the PMOI is that the PMOI is utilized as a bargaining chip vis-a-vis Iran. I am sure that all the politicians who know this organization are totally aware that this organization does not have any capability to overthrow the Iranian regime, because of the following reasons:
1. The average age of PMOI members is over 50 years old.
2. The lack of leadership in PMOI, because their spiritual leader is in hiding and he is not in control of his organization anymore.
3. The vast and profound dissent and discord among its members about the lies which their leaders have told them for many years just to keep them there.
4. The PMOI is too cursed among Iranian people living either in Iran or in foreign countries to be a political opposition.
5. Their criminal records in Iran, Iraq and even against American military advisers in 70’s.
So the question which remains is that while aware of all these facts which I mentioned above, why is the PMOI utilized as bargaining chip? I think the answer to this question is very clear. The PMOI cannot overthrow the Iranian regime by any means and for that reason the PMOI leadership decided to connect itself to the Superpower to ask them for the same thing that Saddam Hussein did for them for two decades. They think that by becoming a mercenary like they were for Saddam Hussein, they will have a chance to gain power in Iran. And this idea has been understood by western politicians, that the PMOI by itself is nothing and is crippled like they were in the past, so they can be easily and cost free be exploited and used as a bargaining chip against Iranian regime and its nuclear agenda. There is no doubt that the Superpower and European countries are totally aware of the real entity of this organization and I am sure and confident that they do not even think that PMOI has the slightest chance in Iran’s future because of their treacherous past. But even supporting
PMOI tactically will be considered as a gross insult to all Iranian people and all the victims of this cult who lost all their lives in that cult for nothing.
The European and western countries should accept this concrete fact that PMOI is politically dead in Iran and the Iranian people who are looking for change in Iran’s politics hate this organization and in their opinion PMOI are considered as traitors and spies who turned their back on the Iranian people during Saddam Hussein’s military invasion of Iran and worse of all, gave him their full cooperation. In the end as an Iranian and a victim of this organization I ask everyone to stop supporting this dangerous religious cult and please do not gamble and bet on a dead horse.
Hassan Piransar/ an expert on Rajavi’s Cult
Liberals court listed terrorist organization
In 2006 then Parliamentary Secretary Jason Kenney attended an Iranian pro-human rights rally in Ottawa and it was later reported that the rally was organized by the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran which has ties to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) which is a listed terrorist group in Canada. This event was just after the resignation of Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj from foreign affairs critic for comments he had made about delisting Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The Liberal Party was quick to point out that this was hypocrisy and by all reported accounts it probably was.
There is a difference however between appearing at a rally in Canada and traveling at the bequest of a terrorist organization – with all expenses paid.
Liberals:
Five Liberal members of Parliament say they did nothing wrong when they accepted an invitation from an Iranian opposition group on Canada’s terrorist list.
MPs Raymonde Folco, Carolyn Bennett, Rob Oliphant, Andrew Telegdi and Tom Wappel travelled to France at the invitation of Mojahedin e Khalq, or MEK, also known as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. The trips are detailed in travel reports submitted to the federal ethics commissioner for the years 2008 and 2009.
The groups’ tactics have led both Canada and the U.S. to deem it a terrorist organization.
According to Public Safety Canada’s website, which lists groups Canada has branded as terrorist organizations, MEK is based in Iraq, with the principal objective to overthrow the existing Iranian regime.
"To achieve their objectives, the MEK has used physical force, including armed attacks," the website says.
It was listed as a terrorist organization in 2005, when Liberal Paul Martin was prime minister.
In 2008, the European Union removed MEK from its terrorism watch list, and Canadian MPs have attended its Paris conferences for the past three years.
In travel reports filed by the MPs, the sponsor appears mostly as the Iran Democratic Association. But Folco does not deny who paid for her ticket and makes no apologies either.
"I was invited by MEK, the Mojahedin e Khalq," she said.
Folco said she knows the group is on Canada’s terrorism list.
Bennett admitted that meeting with the group and accepting free travel from it carries risks. But she also said Canada needs to take a second look at the terrorism listing.
"Sometimes we need to take risks," Bennett said. (CBC)
There has been talk by a number of countries about delisting the MEK especially after the Iraq war as it supplied intelligence on Iran but it doesn’t mean they are good however.
Private citizens could be expected to make the trip but sitting MP’s is disturbing. We’ve seen that the Liberal Party association with the Tamil Tigers lent credence to their cause and inadvertently was used in propaganda campaigns to show that Canadians were behind them. Same deal here, sitting MP’s representing Canada – what a public relations coup for the terrorists! And a free all expense paid trip for chosen Liberal MP’s.
Notably this has been taking place for the past three years but I am unable to find any other reports. Apparently, and I hate to say this but if the CBC hadn’t have done due diligence here on their investigation we probably would not have known about this trip either and for that we should be even more appalled. Not only are Canadian MP’s hanging with terrorists, but they are doing it all cloak and dagger.
Written by Darcey Saturday – metisonline.ca
Families of Terror Victims Objection Letter to the United States Secretary of the Interior
As you know, taking twofold and selective approaches in facing important international plights 
such as terrorism and fighting against it would result in the increase of such measures. There are many terrorist groups in your State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO).
Dear Mr. Salazar:
United States Secretary of the Interior
As you know, taking twofold and selective approaches in facing important international plights such as terrorism and fighting against it would result in the increase of such measures. There are many terrorist groups in your State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO). Based on US domestic laws any assistance and support to these groups is prosecutable and deserves punishment. On the other hand, these domestic laws have also been confirmed and reflected in international scene by some Resolutions including: 1373 (2001), 1456 (2003) and 1335 (2004) of the United Nations Security Council. These resolutions are all related to the existent threats against peace and international security posed by terrorism phenomenon.
Your Excellency,
Undoubtedly you would acknowledge that issuing permission for holding rally to the National Council of Resistance which is included in your FTO list, is the violation of international laws as well as US domestic laws. This is while your country has been the forerunner in the global fight against terrorism. The occurrence of such events in the United State’s governing system and giving permission by your Department to a terrorist organization which has murdered more than 12000 Iranians and thousands of foreign civilians including seven American military councilors to hold gatherings, can not be justifiable and defendable.
National Council of Resistance which is a terrorist organization operates under various titles including:
Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK)
People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI)
National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA)
Muslim Iranian Students’ Society
Organization of the People’s Holy Warriors of Iran
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
This organization is now in US FTO list.
Based on the Human Rights Watch report of May 2005 and the report presented by National Defense Research Institute (RAND) in 2009, Mojahedin-e Khalq organization is a terrorist organization enjoying a cultic nature. US Department of State has also referred to the terrorist operations and international crimes of this organization including arms transactions and the cooperation of MKO with Saddam regime for the suppression of Iraqi Shiites and Kurds in 1991 in its August 2010 FTO list report. In one part of this report about the MKO’s terrorist attacks against American nationals we read:
The MKO exploded time bombs at more than a dozen sites throughout Tehran in 1972, including the Iran-American Society, the U.S. information office, and the offices of Pepsi Cola and General Motors. From 1972-75, the Mojahedin continued their campaign of bombings, damaging such targets as the offices of Pan-American Airlines, Shell Oil Company, and British organizations. They also attacked police posts and prisons. In 1974, MKO exploded the offices of some American companies. In 1975 Mojahedin-e Khalq assassinated two military officers of the United States of America. It staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and killed another US military personnel working on defense projects in Tehran in 1979.
We, the members of Justice Supporters Association comprising the families of terror victims of Iran would like to ask you, considering the background of this organization, how could it receive permission for holding a rally? Don’t you consider this measure taken by your Department as an act denying the rights of victims of this organization and degrading the international efforts for fighting against terrorism?
STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR BRIEFING BRIEFER: MARK TONER, DIRECTOR, STATE DEPARTMENT PRESS OFFICE ( Part 2-final )
Q This group has been one of the sources of previous intelligence on the same subject?
MR. TONER: I’m sorry, is that a question?
Q With the — with the Iranian nuclear site — MR. TONER: I believe they’ve made claims in the past, yes.
But I’m not — Q Have they provided you — the State Department, the U.S. administration — with any
— MR. TONER: Not that I’m aware. I can’t say a yes or no. I don’t know.
Go ahead.
Q They have asked that the secretary of State remove the blacklisting of Iran’s main opposition, the People’s Mujaheddin Organization of Iran. Any plans to do that?
MR. TONER: This is the MEK? Q Correct.
MR. TONER: The so-called MEK? I believe they’re still deemed a foreign terrorist organization. No plans that I’m aware of to change that.
Q Okay.
MR. TONER: Go ahead, in the back.
Q Different topic. Yesterday at CFR, Secretary Clinton said, "We reaffirm our bonds with close allies like South Korea, Japan and Australia," and some Japanese media is taking this wording a little bit seriously. Before, in the past, it’s been said "Japan, South Korea, Australia," so we’re wondering if the switching in terminology has any effect on — is there a change in policy?
MR. TONER: (Laughs.) I think I can state pretty unequivocally that there’s no change in policy. We love them all.
Q Thank you. (Laughs, laughter.) MR. TONER: Anything else?
That’s it? Great.
Nobody will say thank you?
Q All right. (Laughter.) MR. TONER: Great
Federal News Service, FEDNWS
Happiness and rejoice of the Mojahedin-e Khlaq members did not last for a long time and the laughter transfixed on their lips soon. After that the US federal court issued an order to the Department of State for reviewing the terrorist designation of the MKO, Leaders of this organization intended to pretend that they had nothing to do with arms and terrorism. Now following the Department of state’s report for keeping the name of this organization in the terrorist list of US, they are completely stupefied.
Mojahedin leaders along with some anti- Iran newspapers of the United States including Washington Post were considering the rule of the court as the victory of Justice (!!). They thought that it is done and they will not be kept anymore in the terrorist list. However the security issues and the classified information of the US government and department of state were more than the documents of the judges who had not any clear awareness of the terrorist nature and background of Mojahedin-e Khalq. The order issued by the judge in this court was mainly dependent upon the claims of some Mojahedin members and their faked documents.
In early 70s, Mojahedin members who were angry with the US support of Shah, attacked on Americans and killed many civilian and non-civilian Americans that were working on a defensive project in Iran.
After the Islamic Revolution, Mojahedin- e Khalq announced armed conflict against Islamic Republic and in short time Masoud Rajavi along with Bani sadr fled from Iran and took French refugee. In 1364 they began their cooperation with Saddam Hussein who was fighting against Iran at that moment. Until the collapse of Baath regime by American forces, they were working for Saddam and committing treason against Islamic Republic of Iran.
Some of the prominent attacks of Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist organization include: killing 12 thousand civilians who had mostly private jobs; the explosion of presidential office; the explosion of prime minister’s office; assassination of Assadollah Lajavardi, the head of Iran prisons; assassination of Ali Sayyad Shirazi, commander of armed forces; mortar attacks on president office in 2000 which led to the martyrdom of 1 civilian.
This terrorist group which once had strong anti-American ideology and called this country the Imperialism of the century now is under complete support of the US. However the terrorist background of this organization is as much that the US Department of State could not remove the name of MKO from it Foreign Terrorist Organization’s list.
The recent US intelligence assessments said that the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) still retains the ability to stage terrorist operations.
According to a Saturday report by the Habilian Association, an Iran-based human rights group, the US Department of State made the announcement in newly declassified documents for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia Circuit.
Among the disclosures in the declassified material was an August 2008 US Intelligence Community Terrorist Threat Assessment, which clearly states that "the MKO retains a limited capability to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism".
"The MKO publicly renounced violence in 2001, but limited intelligence reporting indicates that the group has not ended military operations, repudiated violence, or completely or voluntarily disarmed," the US intelligence report said.
"The intelligence community assesses that although there has not been a confirmed terrorist attack by the MKO since the organization surrendered to Coalition Forces in 2003, the MKO retains a limited capability and the intent to use violence to achieve its political goals," the document added, ignoring the several terrorist operations conducted by the MKO in Iran and Iraq since the US invasion of the country in 2003..
"UN inspectors say that much of the information provided to the UN by the MKO about Iran’s nuclear program has a political purpose and has been wrong," the document noted.
The US announced last month that the group will remain in the US list of terrorist groups and organizations.
The announcement came despite intense efforts by Zionist lobbies and a number of the US Congressmen to delist the group.
The US State Department announced in its recent annual report on terrorism that no change has been made in the MKO’s status.
The MKO insists that the US should delist it as a terrorist organization, a demand which has been rejected so far by Washington.
An appeals court in the US had earlier ruled that the State Department should review the terror status of the MKO.
The MKO had filed a petition against the US blacklisting in 2008.
The Bush administration, however, rejected the request in its final days in 2009, after examining the material submitted by the group and the US intelligence community, including classified information.
In July 2010, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Washington said in a 22-page decision that the US government failed to give the group a fair chance to rebut unclassified information that claimed the group supported terrorist activities.
The government was obligated under a 1996 antiterrorism law and 2004 revisions to give the group the chance to rebut unclassified information, the appeals court said, adding that the group was "permitted access to the unclassified portion of the record only after the decision was final."
In a statement, the State Department said it would study the decision, but added that the US government continues to view the group as a terrorist organization.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.
Some other members of the MKO who have had a role in the assassination of a large number of Iranian citizens and officials are currently living in France.
The group started assassination of Iranian citizens and officials after the Islamic Revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the Revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.
Earlier this year, Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.
The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.
Many of the MKO members have abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.
Numerous articles and letters posted on the Internet by family members of MKO recruits confirm reports of the horrific abuse that the group inflicts on its own members and the alluring recruitment methods it uses.
The most shocking of such stories includes accounts given by former British MKO member Ann Singleton and Mustafa Mohammadi — the father of an Iranian-Canadian girl who was drawn into the group during an MKO recruitment campaign in Canada.
Mohammadi recounts his desperate efforts to contact his daughter, who disappeared several years ago – a result of what the MKO called a ‘two-month tour’ of Camp Ashraf for teenagers.
He also explains how the group forces the families of its recruits to take part in pro-MKO demonstrations in the western countries by threatening to kill their loved ones.
Lacking a foothold in Iran, the terrorist group recruits ill-informed teens from Iranian immigrant communities in western states and blocks their departure afterwards.
The Mujahedin-eh Kalq Organization (MKO/MEK) since 1997 has been listed by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The designation was reaffirmed in January 2009 by then-secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The MKO has had a long history of 
terror and violence and has recently and eagerly tried to clean up its image—hoping the effort will help remove them from the FTO list. The MKO believes that if they are removed from the FTO list, they will have more credibility as an organization, and therefore gain more support from Western nations. The MKO currently argues that it had ceased its military campaign against the Iranian government in 2001, voluntarily handed over its arms to U.S. forces in 2003 and provided a flood of information to U.S. intelligence about Iran’s nuclear programs. [1] The MKO’s ultimate goal in this plan is to replace the Iranian government with their own, and they are seeking support from Western nations, never mind the fact that neither of the MKO leaders nor many members of this cult have stepped foot inside Iran for more than three decades. The MKO is out of touch with the pulse of the nation and the more they press for being removed from the FTO list, the more wary regular Iranians become—as it signifies that the MKO is becoming tighter with the very nations which impeded Iran’s natural political progress; Iranian citizens do not want a U.S. supported MKO—they simply see it as treacherous liaison, which if nurtured, will make an already tense relationship with Iran even worse.
The MKO believes they have made an advancement because now, by way of a heavy handed legal battle, they are celebrating a federal appeals court decision—argued January 12, 2010 and recently decided July 16, 2010—which orders the State Department to review its FTO designation of the MKO on the grounds that the MKO was not privy to classified information, and therefore could not establish an argument and rebuttal which they believe would generate a stronger case to get them removed from the list. The final order was not about lifting the MKO off the Foreign Terrorist Organization list, but about due process for the group. The court stated that the purpose of the remand was to afford the MKO “an opportunity to review and rebut the unclassified portions of the record.” [2] The court also stated in the order that the Secretary of State’s “denial of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran’s petition for revocation of its 2003 designation as a foreign terrorist organization is remanded to the Secretary for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” [3] What this means, is that the petition will end up back on the Secretary’s desk and the Secretary will look at it again. The judge who preceded over the case made a note in the order which states that “none of the AEDPA (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996) cases decides whether an administrative decision relying critically on undisclosed classified material would comport with due process because in none was the classified record essential to uphold an FTO designation.[4] This is an unfavorable comment—although the Secretary is obligated to reconsider, she is unlikely to lift the MKO from the FTO list.
Standard procedure for the MKO in a situation like this is to celebrate as if it was a huge victory. The celebration is meant to bolster morale among members and augment interest from anyone from the media who will listen and report on the MKO’s plight. In essence they have used this ruling to exaggerate the issue and create a positive hype. In celebrating, they also hope to reinforce support from agenda-pushing neoconservative politicians who believe that Iran cannot handle its own domestic affairs. In France, in Auver Sur d-Oise where Maryam Rajavi, the self-imposed leader of the MKO, who feels entitled to speak on behalf of Iranian citizens despite, as previously mentioned, not having set foot in Iran for more than three decades, spoke to her sympathizers after the ruling; her response to the court order was that "sanctions against this regime are necessary and very important, but not enough. A regime change materializes in the resistance of a nation. International peace and security can only be guaranteed when ruling religious fascism is gone. So barriers to change must be removed. The chains tying the hands of the organized resistance of people must be removed." [5]. The chains she speaks of is the designation of the MKO as an FTO, and the bottom line here is that the MKO has not been de-listed from the Foreign Terrorist List—a statement she wishes to twirl into a bondage metaphor.
Rajavi claims that the FTO designation of her cult is a barrier to gain international peace and security. This is fine to claim, but the logic is fuzzy because the information gleaned from the court proceedings suggests nothing about moving Iran towards peace and security. According to Glen Kessler’s report from the Washington Post, “During the court proceedings, some of that information was declassified. State asserted that the group has not ended its military operations, still intends to use violence to achieve its political goals, has trained females to be suicide bombers and that much of the information it has provided on Iran’s nuclear program has been wrong. But the court cast doubt on some of these assertions and said the group now must be given the opportunity to rebut these charges.” [6] Kessler asserts that the State Department said it would study the opinion ‘carefully’ and noted it continues to view the group as a terrorist organization.” [7] It’s clear that promptly, the court cast doubt not because they thought the MKO was really a peaceful and non-violent group, but because the MKO was denied access to classified information and therefore could not rebut.
It is important for Iranians to know that the people in the West are aware of the use of violence by the MKO against Iranian authorities and civilians. In fact, MKO terrorist activities are always mentioned in the United States’ description of the group. The following excerpt regarding the MKO’s activities is from the State Department’s “Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003”:
The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism. During the 1970s, the MEK killed U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. In 1981, the MEK detonated bombs in the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Premier’s office, killing some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Premier Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. Near the end of the 1980-1988 war with Iran, Baghdad armed the MEK with military equipment and sent it into action against Iranian forces. In 1991, the MEK reportedly assisted the Government of Iraq in suppressing the Shia uprisings in southern Iraq and the Kurdish uprisings in the north. In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and installations in 13 countries, demonstrating the group’s ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. In April 1999, the MEK targeted key military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff. In April 2000, the MEK attempted to assassinate the commander of the Nasr Headquarters, Tehran’s interagency board responsible for coordinating policies on Iraq. The normal pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during "Operation Great Bahman" in February 2000, when the group launched a dozen attacks against Iran. One of those attacks included a mortar attack against the leadership complex in Tehran that housed the offices of the Supreme Leader and the President. In 2000 and 2001, the MEK was involved regularly in mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids on Iranian military and law enforcement units and government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border, although MEK terrorism in Iran declined toward the end of 2001. The MEK leadership ordered its members not to resist Coalition forces at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and they surrendered their arms to Coalition forces in May 2003. [8]
In May 2005, Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball wrote an article about the hullabaloo of the MKO. They state that the MKO has long been controversial because of its history of violent attacks in Iran, its relationship with Saddam’s regime and its background as a quasi-religious, quasi-Marxist radical resistance group founded in the era of the late Iranian shah. They mention that in 1997, the Clinton administration put MKO on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist groups. They also put forward that the MKOs U.S. supporters, among whom at one point numbered dozens of members of Congress, charged that the Clinton administration only labeled MKO as a terrorist group as part of an ill-conceived attempt to improve relations with the ayatollahs who currently run Iran. They relate that the Bush administration added two alleged MKO front organizations to the State Department’s terrorist list in 2003. [9] Isikoff and Hosenball state that “despite the group’s notoriety, Bush himself cited purported intelligence gathered by [MKO] as evidence of the Iranian regime’s rapidly accelerating nuclear ambitions. At a March 16 press conference, Bush said Iran’s hidden nuclear program had been discovered not because of international inspections but ‘because a dissident group pointed it out to the world.’ White House aides acknowledged later that the dissident group cited by the president is the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), one of the [MKO] front groups added to the State Department list two years ago.”[10] Finally the Newsweek article reveals that “in an appearance before a House International Relations Subcommittee a year ago, John Bolton, the controversial State Department undersecretary who Bush has nominated to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was questioned by a Congressman sympathetic to [MKO] about whether it was appropriate for the U.S. government to pay attention to allegations about Iran supplied by the group. Bolton said he believed that [MKO] ‘qualifies as a terrorist organization according to our criteria.’ But he added that he did not think the official label had ‘prohibited us from getting information from them. And I certainly don’t have any inhibition about getting information about what’s going on in Iran from whatever source we can find that we deem reliable.’” [11]
Regardless of John Bolton’s—or any other official’s ambition for Iran, and regardless of the MKOs position or non-position on the FTO list, the MKO simply can not and should not be a trusted device. Following the 2005 report of Human Rights Watch on MKO atrocities against its own members titled "No Exit," various cases of human rights violations by the MKO was revealed through testimonies made by the group’s former members. Joe Stork, a Human Rights Watch expert on the Middle East, in a UN Refugee Agency report stated that “it would be a mistake to promote an opposition group that is responsible for serious human rights abuses". [12]
U.S. officials, especially those of the State Department should research and reflect deeply before making any decision about a group that owns all the criteria of a destructive terrorist cult. Western politicians should realize that their support for the MKO will never improve their standing among Iranians inside or outside the country and the reason why is articulated by Trita Parsi, an author who founded the National Iranian American Council (NIAC):
[The MKOs] involvement in terrorism is undisputed. It assassinated several Americans in Iran in the 1970s. It supported the taking of the U.S. Embassy in Iran and blasted Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini for releasing the American diplomats in 1981, arguing instead that the hostages should have been executed. It made a pact with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and fought alongside his army against their Iranian countrymen. Later in the 1990s, they became Saddam’s most trusted henchmen, tasked with quelling Kurdish and Shiite uprisings against the Iraqi dictator.
According to defectors, Mujahedin members in Camp Ashraf celebrated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In 2003, French authorities descended upon the Mujahedin headquarters in France, arresting the leader of the cult, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. Immediately, zealous Mojahedin members staged hunger strikes and several set themselves ablaze. Hardly the behavior of a democratically oriented opposition group. [13]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose reputation would be tarnished should she allow a change of status for the MKO after the current court ordered remand, would be making an insouciant error. The removal of the MKO from the FTO list is a Pandora’s Box and both the U.S. and Iran would face a political nightmare over the next several years. In order to be fair, the U.S. should afford the MKO the right to a democratic process in which they can review the charges against them, but they should also be acutely conscious as to why they are on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list in the first place, and why they need to remain there.
References:
[1] United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. Argued January 12, 2010. Decided July 16, 2010 No. 09-1059. PMOI v. Hillary Clinton. http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/201007/09-1059-1255582.pdf
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] Policy prevents this author from citing this source, which is readily available on the web.
[6]Kessler, Glenn. "Court tells State Dept. to reconsider terrorist label for Iran opposition group." Washington Post 17 July 2010, Print.
[7] Ibid
[8] http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm
[9] Isikoff Michael & Hosenball Mark. "Consider the Source: The State Department says MEK is a terror group. Human Rights Watch says it’s a cult. For the White House,
MEK is a source of intelligence on Iran.
”MSNBC.com 20 May 2005: Web. 10 Aug 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7902719/site/newsweek/>.
[10] Ibid
[11] Ibid
[12] Human Rights Watch, No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camps, 18 May 2005. Web. 10 August 2010 http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/45d085002.html
[13] Parsi, Trita. "Deciding the Fate of the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation." Iran Press Service 10 October 2008: Web. 10 Aug 2010.
<http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2008/october-2008/
deciding-the-fate-of-the-mojahedin-khalq-organisat.shtml>.
By Mazda Parsi
How is it that you recognize the MKO as a terrorist group but at the same time you support it to keep our children as gladiators in slavery?
(No wages! No spouses! No family! No outside contact! No readings! No thinking! No future! No . . . ! Just worshiping Rajavi, being terrorists, and killing until being killed)
Ms. Sorayya Abdullahi has written a letter to the US Secretary of States on behalf of the families
picketing in front of Ashraf cultic garrison in Iraq which is seen below. It is worth mentioning that hundreds of family members of the victims seized inside Rajavi cult (Mojahedin-e Kahlq Organization – MKO) in Iraq have been picketing outside Ashraf garrison the base of this cult in Iraq for about six months and demanding visiting their relatives, but the MKO is still refusing to fulfill their demands. The physical and psychological pressure on these families caused by long time demonstration has led to Ms. Abdullahi and some others to be hospitalized in Baghdad.
Mrs. Hilary Clinton
US Secretary of States
I have learned that the Mojahedin-e Kahlq Organization (MKO- Rajavi cult) has once again been designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the US State Department. We are of course pleased that the United States government recognizes the group as a terrorist cult. But this letter is about the rights of the families of the members of the cult in Ashraf garrison the base of the MKO in Iraq. I am a mother and my son has been seized inside the garrison for many years. I am writing this letter from the hospital and I am not in a healthy condition at all.
It is now round 6 months that I am picketing along some other families outside the main gate of Ashraf garrison. Not only the leaders of the cult have not given a positive answer to us, but also they have continuously intimidated and insulted us in order to keep us away from our relatives. Isn’t it our right to be able to visit our loved ones and freely talk to them while they are just a few hundred meters away?
The Iraqi government wished to dismantle the garrison and put the leaders of the cult on trial for their crimes against the Iraqi people and free the victims. Apparently they cannot execute their official decision since the influence of dominating powers in Iraq would not let them do so. Would you consider this a just policy that on one hand you designate the MKO as a terrorist group and on the other hand use your influence to support them and do not let the families reach their just and natural demands?
The UNHCR, the ICRC, the AI, the HRW, the Iraqi officials and the ministry of human rights of this country, and many lawyers and politicians have approved the legitimacy of our demand and believe that the leaders of the MKO must be under pressure to accept the wish of the families.
Even well-known international institutes such as the American RAND and the British Chatham House are now criticizing US the support for the Rajavi terrorist cult and are disturbed by this support. We do not need or ask for the support of the US, but if your government stop backing the group which you designate as terrorists, this would be a great help to us to reach our just demands to see our loved ones.
There are some views indications that some war mongering cliques who have a great influence on US policy wish to save the cultic structure of the MKO with the hope that one day maybe they can be used against the Islamic Republic of Iran the same way that Saddam Hussein did. Is this true? If not how would you justify the double standard policy of US administration against this terrorist group?
I, as well as the suffering mothers and families who have gathered outside Ashraf garrison despite the high temperature and hard living, would like to have a clear answer from you. Please do not respond to us saying that this is not related to your government since it is clear for all of us and even for the international officials in Baghdad that the American forces and the American influence in Iraq is the only obstacle against to freely visiting our relatives and I write this letter on their recommendation and I ask for answer.
Apparently some currents among US policy makers consider our children as free and ready to use terrorists who must go to kill until they are killed. How do you justify this undue policy for your people and for the people of the world? It seems that we have no choice but to either continue the present sufferings and go to hospital one by one or reach to our right and see our beloved ones.
Copy to:
US Ambassador in Baghdad
UN General Secretary
UNHCR
ICRC
IA
HRW
Iraqi minister of human rights
Iraqi and international media
American Forces Commander in Iraq
Sorayya Abdullahi
On behalf of the families picketing outside Ashraf garrison in Iraq
Baghdad – hospital
Saturday 7 Aug 2010
About Ms. Abdullahi and her son:
Ms. Sorayya Abudllahi Mirzanaqi the daughter of Gholam-Reza was born in 1961 and lives in the city of Ardabil in the north west of Iran. She has two daughters and one son. His son named Amir-Aslan Hassanzadeh the son of Manuchehr was born in 1982. He left Iran to Turkey in June 2002 along with his friend Mahmoud Akbari to find a job and of course a better life in Germany.
After 10 days Amir called his mother and said that he is in a hotel in Ankara and has found a man called Ali Ankaraii and he is supposed to take them to Germany.
Ali Ankaraii is a known name for all trapped in the Rajavi cult in Turkey. He was the MKO contact man in Turkey and of course he never used to reveal his true identity and the organization he was working for to his victims. He managed to send many individuals to Iraq through Jordan deceiving them for a job and a better life in Europe.
Ali Ankaraii called Amir’s mother and asked her several thousand dollars but Ms. Abdullahi could only manage to send 1700 USD to Ali’s bank account.
Finally Amir told her mother that she could ring him after two weeks and gave her a telephone number in Germany. Ms. Abdullahi tried several times to call the given number but did not succeed and could never find a trace of her son.
Round 5 years after Amir had been disappeared one day Mahmoud Akbari, Amir’s friend, went to Ms. Abdullahi’s house. She was surprised to see him there and asked him what happened in Germany and asked him after Amir. Mahmoud answered that they did not go to Germany but to Ashraf garrison the base of the MKO in Iraq. He then explained that he left the MKO when the Americans invaded Iraq and came to Iran with the help of the Red Cross. He also said that he asked Amir to go along with him but Amir said that if he leaves the MKO he would have no choice but to go to Iran where he would definitely be executed.
The anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), remained in the US list of terrorist groups and organizations despite intense efforts by Zionist lobbies and a number of the Congressmen to delist the group.
The US State Department announced in its recent annual report on terrorism that no change has been made in the MKO’s status.
The MKO insists that the US should delist it as a terrorist organization, a demand which has been rejected so far by Washington.
An appeals court in the US had earlier ruled that the State Department should review the terror status of the MKO.
The MKO had filed a petition against the US blacklisting in 2008.
The Bush administration, however, rejected the request in its final days in 2009, after examining the material submitted by the group and the US intelligence community, including classified information.
In July 2010, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Washington said in a 22-page decision that the US government failed to give the group a fair chance to rebut unclassified information that claimed the group supported terrorist activities.
The government was obligated under a 1996 antiterrorism law and 2004 revisions to give the group the chance to rebut unclassified information, the appeals court said, adding that the group was "permitted access to the unclassified portion of the record only after the decision was final."
In a statement, the State Department said it would study the decision, but added that the US government continues to view the group as a terrorist organization.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.
Some other members of the MKO who have had a role in the assassination of a large number of Iranian citizens and officials are currently living in France.
The group started assassination of Iranian citizens and officials after the Islamic Revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.
Earlier this year, Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.
The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.
Many of the MKO members have abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.
Numerous articles and letters posted on the Internet by family members of MKO recruits confirm reports of the horrific abuse that the group inflicts on its own members and the alluring recruitment methods it uses.
The most shocking of such stories includes accounts given by former British MKO member Ann Singleton and Mustafa Mohammadi — the father of an Iranian-Canadian girl who was drawn into the group during an MKO recruitment campaign in Canada.
Mohammadi recounts his desperate efforts to contact his daughter, who disappeared several years ago – a result of what the MKO called a ‘two-month tour’ of Camp Ashraf for teenagers.
He also explains how the group forces the families of its recruits to take part in pro-MKO demonstrations in the western countries by threatening to kill their loved ones.
Lacking a foothold in Iran, the terrorist group recruits ill-informed teens from Iranian immigrant communities in western states and blocks their departure afterwards.
Despite all the vast propaganda campaign and pulling any lobbying string, while leaving no stone unturned, for taking the name of MEK out of the US State Department terror list, once again this terrorist group was designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
In a new report by the US Department of State office of the coordination for counterterrorism which was released on August 5, 2010, Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization was referred to as a terrorist organization.
MUJAHADIN-E KHALQ ORGANIZATION
aka MEK; MKO; Mujahadin-e Khalq (Iranian government name for group); Muslim Iranian Students’ Society; National Council of Resistance; NCR; Organization of the People’s Holy Warriors of Iran; the National Liberation Army of Iran; NLA; People’s Mujahadin Organization of Iran; PMOI; National Council of Resistance of Iran; NCRI; Sazeman-e Mujahadin-e Khalq-e Iran
Description:
The MEK was originally designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997. The MEK is a Marxist-Islamic Organization that seeks the overthrow of the Iranian regime through its military wing, the National Liberation Army (NLA), and its political front, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
The MEK was founded in 1963 by a group of college-educated Iranian Marxists who opposed the country’s pro-western ruler, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The group participated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that replaced the Shah with a Shiite Islamist regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini. However, the MEK’s ideology – a blend of Marxism, feminism, and Islamism – was at odds with the post-revolutionary government and its original leadership was soon executed by the Khomeini regime. In 1981, the group was driven from its bases on the Iran-Iraq border and resettled in Paris, where it began supporting Iraq in its eight year war against Khomeini’s Iran. In 1986, after France recognized the Iranian regime, the MEK moved its headquarters to Iraq, which facilitated its terrorist activities in Iran. Since 2003, roughly 3,400 MEK members have been encamped at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.
Activities:
The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian government uses propaganda and terrorism to achieve its objectives. During the 1970s, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran. In 1972, the MEK set off bombs in Tehran at the U.S. Information Service office, a U.S. diplomatic facility staffed by internationally protected persons, the Iran-American Society, and the offices of several U.S. companies to protest the visit of President Nixon to Iran. In 1973, the MEK assassinated the deputy chief of the U.S. Military Mission in Tehran and bombed several businesses, including Shell Oil. In 1974, the MEK set off bombs in Tehran at the offices of U.S. companies to protest the visit of then U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger. In 1975, the MEK assassinated two U.S. military officers who were members of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group in Tehran. In 1976, the MEK assassinated two U.S. citizens who were employees of Rockwell International in Tehran. In 1979, the group claimed responsibility for the murder of an American Texaco executive.
In 1981, MEK leadership attempted to overthrow the newly installed Islamic regime; Iranian security forces subsequently initiated a crackdown on the group. The MEK instigated a bombing campaign, including an attack against the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Prime Minister’s office, which killed some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. These attacks resulted in a popular uprising against the MEK and an expanded Iranian government crackdown that forced MEK leaders to flee to France. For five years, the MEK continued to wage its terrorist campaign from its Paris headquarters. Expelled by France in 1986, MEK leaders turned to Saddam Hussein’s regime for basing, financial support, and training. Near the end of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, Baghdad armed the MEK with heavy military equipment and deployed thousands of MEK fighters in suicidal, mass wave attacks against Iranian forces.
The MEK’s relationship with the former Iraqi regime continued through the 1990s. In 1991, the group reportedly assisted the Iraqi Republican Guard’s bloody crackdown on Iraqi Shia and Kurds who rose up against Saddam Hussein’s regime. In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and installations in 13 countries, demonstrating the group’s ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. In June 1998, the MEK was implicated in a series of bombing and mortar attacks in Iran that killed at least 15 and injured several others. In April 1999, the MEK targeted key Iranian military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, Brigadier General Ali Sayyaad Shirazi.
In April 2000, the MEK attempted to assassinate the commander of the Nasr Headquarters, Tehran’s interagency board responsible for coordinating policies on Iraq. The pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during “Operation Great Bahman” in February 2000, when the group launched a dozen attacks against Iran. One attack included a mortar attack against a major Iranian leadership complex in Tehran that housed the offices of the Supreme Leader and the President. In 2000 and 2001, the MEK was involved in regular mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids against Iranian military and law enforcement personnel, as well as government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border. Also in 2001, the FBI arrested seven Iranians in the United States who funneled US$ 400,000 to an MEK-affiliated organization in the UAE, which used the funds to purchase weapons. Following an initial Coalition bombardment of the MEK’s facilities in Iraq at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, MEK leadership negotiated a cease-fire with Coalition Forces and surrendered their heavy-arms to Coalition control. Since 2003, roughly 3,400 MEK members have been encamped at Ashraf in Iraq.
In 2003, French authorities arrested 160 MEK members at operational bases they believed the MEK was using to coordinate financing and planning for terrorist attacks. Upon the arrest of MEK leader Maryam Rajavi, MEK members took to Paris’ streets and engaged in self-immolation. French authorities eventually released Rajavi. Although currently in hiding, Rajavi has made “motivational” appearances via video-satellite to MEK-sponsored conferences across the globe.
According to evidence which became available after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the MEK received millions of dollars in Oil-for-Food program subsidies from Saddam Hussein from 1999 through 2003. In addition to discovering 13 lists of recipients of such vouchers on which the MEK appeared, evidence linking the MEK to the former Iraqi regime includes lists, as well as video footage of both Saddam Hussein handing over suitcases of money to known MEK leaders, and of MEK operatives receiving training from the Iraqi military.
Strength:
Estimates place MEK’s worldwide membership at between 5,000 and 10,000 members, with large pockets in Paris and other major European capitals. In Iraq, roughly 3,400 MEK members are gathered at Camp Ashraf, the MEK’s main compound north of Baghdad. As a condition of the 2003 cease-fire agreement, the MEK relinquished more than 2,000 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy artillery. Between 2003 and 2006, a significant number of MEK personnel voluntarily left Ashraf, and an additional several hundred individuals renounced ties to the MEK and been voluntarily repatriated to Iran.
Location/Area of Operation:
The MEK’s global support structure remains in place, with associates and supporters scattered throughout Europe and North America. Operations target Iranian government elements across the globe, including in Europe and Iran. The MEK’s political arm, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has a global support network with active lobbying and propaganda efforts in major Western capitals. NCRI also has a well-developed media communications strategy.
External Aid:
Before Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, the MEK received all of its military assistance and most of its financial support from Saddam Hussein. The fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime has led the MEK increasingly to rely on front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2009/140900.htm