Mujahedin Warmongers

All the President’s foes

All the President's foes

By the arrival of Hassan Rohani as new president of Iran, three persons have expressed their worry, saying that Rohani is not moderate. These persons are:

1. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli PM

2. John Bolton, America’s former ambassador to the UN

3. Maryam Rajavi, Wife of the leader of the terrorist group MeK

The first represents the Zionist Regime which is the main cause of war, murder and pillage in the Middle East and accounts Iran an obstacle to its goals.

The second, who is a "friend of Israel", represents a range of extremist warmongers in the U.S and also considers the IR a barrier to America’s dominance over the region.

The third represents a range of Iran’s opposition that support military attack on Iran, and is a practical ally of the two aforementioned above.

The first stream undertakes the task of impact on the U.S policy toward Iran; the second seeks to extend Iranophobia, and impact on U.S internal currents and figures (especially legislators) In line with that policy; and the third undertakes spreading anti-Iran rumors and making scenarios against Iran. All the three streams agree that negotiation with Iran produce no result. They assume the sanctions inefficient measures and Warn about the loss of time.

August 7, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

Bad News for the MKO

Once the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was delisted from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organization of the US State Department, the group opened its Washington office and paid Senator Robert Torricelli to register for lobbying in the Congress on behalf of the group." Unable to operate openly in Iran, the MEK is instead waging some of its battles in Washington” ,reported Susan Cornwell of Reuters. "It opened an attractive new office in April just a five-minute walk from the White House”. [1] In contrary to the efforts of the MKO agents in the United States, on July 18, 2013, 131 members of the US Congress signed a letter urging President Obama to reinvigorate Iran diplomacy. The letter, being circulated by Representatives David Price (D-North Carolina) and Charles Dent (R-Pennsylvania), is the biggest ever pro-Iran diplomacy letter from the Hill, those supporting the initiative said. [2]

A day before the Dent-Price letter was published, Ryan Costello special correspondent to the Huffington Post reported that 29 prominent former government officials, diplomats, military officers and national security experts sent a letter to President Obama urging him to “seize the moment to pursue new multilateral and bilateral negotiations with Iran once Rouhani takes office and to avoid any provocative action that could narrow the window of opportunity for a more moderate policy out of Tehran.” Costello believes that the Obama administration has, rightfully, expressed cautious optimism over the election of Rouhani as a moderate Iranian authority. [3]

This is no good news for the MKO. The group has so far advocated for a tougher US policy towards Iran paying large amounts of money to US prominent figures to "stop appeasing" Iran. The MKO leaders who seek the overthrow of the Iranian Government criticize the West for what they call "appeasement policy" towards Iran. "Long active as an advocacy group in the United States and Europe, the MEK is now formalizing its campaign to pressure the Obama administration to maintain a hard line – including in multilateral nuclear talks – with the Islamic Republic, which it hopes will one day crumble", according to Susan Cornwell. [4]

As Jason Ditz of the Antiwar website puts, "Getting to the top of a Congressional committee with foreign policy implications is reserved mostly for the lunatic hawks, and Congressmen who are reasonable are usually anonymous." But this time as Ditz admits, the names of the signatories of the letter are known to everyone.[5] Worse news for the MKO is that the name of one of its high profile sponsors is found among the signatories of the Dent-Price letter: Senator Sheila Jackson Lee who is "longtime Mujahedeen champion" according to Elizabeth Rubin. [6] Jackson is one of the speakers at the MKO’s recent gathering in Villepinte. She calls Maryam Rajavi "sister". According to Maryam Rajavi at the same rally, "western countries and appeasers are trying in vain to portray such a figure [Rouhani] as a moderate".[7] Congresswoman Jackson Lee seems to be confused between the generous offers of the MKO and her 130 peers who believe that " it will be prudent for the United States to utilize all diplomatic tools to reinvigorate ongoing nuclear talks."[8] However, Jason Ditz implies that the Israelis agree with Maryam Rajavi rather than their American friends, " That’s not going to sit well with the Israel Lobby, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already made it clear that the he wants the US to treat Rohani with hostility, and the Obama Administration has already suggested that’s the path they’re going with."[9]

In order to encounter any move based on engagement and diplomacy regarding Iran, the MKO propaganda machine runs hysterically. Occasionally, together with their multi-million dollar lobbying campaign, the MKO instigators repeat their so-called revelations about the Iranian nuclear program making efforts to convince the West that the Islamic Republic is seeking a nuclear bomb – what the reportedly new sponsor of the group Benjamin Netanyahu is also yelling about. The most recent allegation by the MKO on the Iranian Nuclear program was released last week. To their surprise the Dent-Price letter was regulated a few days after the group claimed to have discovered a secret site in the mountains Northeast of Tehran but the report could hardly ever attract attention in the world. "The group released satellite photographs of what it said was the site. But the images did not appear to constitute hard evidence to support the assertion that it was a planned nuclear facility”, reported Reuters. [10]

"Clearly, the MEK’s latest revelations are recycled claims and, like before, are essentially allegations based on vague intelligence leaked to the group by American officials", suggests Nima Shirazi at Wide Asleep in America. "The MEK merely acts as a laundering service for the unproven accusations of its handlers in the United States and Israel." [11]

Mazda Parsi

References:

[1] Cornwell, Susan, Far from Iran election, former guerrillas lobby Washington, Reuters, June, 14 2013

[2] Rosen, Laura , 131 House members sign letter supporting diplomacy with Iran, The Back Channel, July 18, 2013

[3] Costello, Ryan , Congress, Former Policymakers Urge Obama to Revitalize Diplomacy with Iran, the Huffington Post, July 19 ,2013

[4] Cornwell, Susan, Far from Iran election, former guerrillas lobby Washington, Reuters, June, 14 2013

[5] Ditz, Jason, Over a Quarter of House Wants Iran Talks, Antiwar.com, July 18, 2013

[6]Rubin, Elizabeth, The Cult of Rajavi, The New York Times, July 13, 2003

[7] Nejat bloggers are either former MKO members or have a family member who is currently held in Camp Ashraf. They have suffered deeply because of Massoud Rajavi’s crimes. While the Nejat Bloggers recognize that citing sources of information is essential ,we, as a society feel so strongly against the MKO that we have agreed to not include the group’s websites or links in our articles because we consider it as kind of publicity for the cult.

[8] Rosen, Laura , 131 House members sign letter supporting diplomacy with Iran, The Back Channel, July 18, 2013

[9]Ditz, Jason, Over a Quarter of House Wants Iran Talks, Antiwar.com, July 18, 2013

[10]Reuters, Exiled dissidents claim Iran building new nuclear site, July 11, 2013

[11] Shirazi, Nima, Dirty Laundry: MEK Re- Ups 3 Year Old Nuclear Propaganda, Wide Asleep In America, July 13, 2013

July 28, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Fear of Election in the MKO

While the Iranian nation was practicing democracy at the polling stations on Friday to elect their new president, the Mujahedin Khalq Organization that has always boycotted the elections in the Islamic Republic seemed to Fear of Election in the MKO go nuts with the 36 million voters who have no sympathy for the MKO but welcomed the Presidential Elections in Iran.

The MKO propaganda makes efforts to boycott each and every election in Iran labeling it as "sham elections", "rigged elections" and claiming "low voter turnout" despite the fact that the large majority of Iranians hardly ever know the MKO and those who remember them as an Iranian guerilla group hardly ever trust them.

Susan Cornwell of Reuters writes of the group’s well-paid lobbying campaign in the US despite lack of support among its own nation. In her piece "Far from Iran elections former guerrillas lobby Washington", Cornwell analyzes the controversial situation of the MKO among in the United States. " But as Iran elects a new president on Friday, the MEK has no discernible role in politics at home, where it is mistrusted – even by government critics – for having been allied with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war", suggests the Reuters correspondent.[1]

As the Reuters asserts that the MKO tries to compensate its lack of reliability in Iran by running wealthy lobbies in the land of the enemy of the Iranian Government –actually the land of former enemy of the MKO, US Imperialism. Unable to operate openly in Iran, the MEK is instead waging some of its battles in Washington. It opened an attractive new office in April just a five-minute walk from the White House, according to the Reuters. [2]

Despite interviewing a number of prominent supporters of the group in the Unites States the author of the Reuters piece believes that the MKO is a "Tough Sell" in America because of its dark record against the U.S. which for many years has blamed it for the killing of six Americans in Iran in the 1970. [3]

Following the election of Iran’s reformist-backed presidential candidate Hassan Rowhani, it is believed that the US and other Western States see an opening in the process of nuclear negotiations. The New York Times’ piece dated June 13 suggests Rowhani as "the West’s best hope" –although the author tries to convince the audience that the election in Iran is "deeply flawed". However, he views the election in Iran as" important" because "it gives Iran and the United States a fresh diplomatic opportunity to avoid a dangerous confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program". Nuclear talks have always been a nightmare for the MKO. The group has been working for years to use the Iranian nuclear program as a justification to grow animosity against Iran in the world. "Once the election is over, it also needs to step up diplomatic efforts, testing through intermediaries if there is any willingness by the new president", asserts the NY Times. [4]

The above-mentioned hypothesis is what the MKO leaders fear the most because according to several arguments the MKO is seeking a Syrian style or Iraqi style –better to say Chalabi Style — regime change in Iran although it always claims "peaceful" regime change. As an organization with so little support in Iran "peaceful" change is never likely." They’ll deny it, but I think it’s pretty simple: their goal is to keep pushing the politics in America to lead to an invasion, some kind of major unsettlement of Iran, that they can sweep into as a new government," Jeremiah Goulka, author of the RAND study told the Reuters.[5]

The previous time a moderate figure, Mohammad Khatami was elected as an Iranian President, the MKO was left with grave consequences. It is widely believed that the designation of the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 was "a move that has been described as a nod to Iran’s then-new reformist president ". [6] The whole story contends that the MKO is not more than a bargaining chip in the hands of Western politicians.

Shortly after the declaration of winner of Iran’s Presidential Election, the U.S. Secretary of State as well as many other governments’ officials welcomed the preference of the Iranian people expressing their readiness for engagement with the Islamic Republic. The press statement of the US Secretary of State, John Kerry read, "We, along with our international partners, remain ready to engage directly with the Iranian government. We hope they will honor their international obligations to the rest of the world in order to reach a diplomatic solution that will fully address the international community’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program."[7]

The MKO propaganda is awfully obsessed with the elections in Iran. With the actual result of the elections their fear is said to get more serious. Regardless of what the future of Iran- US relations will be like, it seems that the MKO has to spend more and more money, time and energy to reimburse the loss they incur by the side of the Iranian people.

Mazda Parsi

References:

[1] Cornwell, Susan, Far from Iran election, former guerrillas lobby Washington, Reuters, June 14, 2013

[2]ibid

[3]ibid

[4]The New York Times The Editorial Board, Who will succeed the President Ahmadinejad?, June 13, 2013

[5]Cornwell, Susan, Far from Iran election, former guerrillas lobby Washington, Reuters, June 14, 2013

[6]Lach, Eric, MEK Event Sponsor: Iranian Group Is Not A Terror Organization, TPMMuckraker, January 31, 2011

[7]Indian Express, Ready to engage directly with Iran says John Kerry, June 16, 2013

June 19, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Neocon backed MKO failed attempt to destroy an Anti-War Org

The war over war with Iran has many battlefronts. Inside Washington, the battle line is between a small coalition of peace and security, non-proliferation and religious groups opposing war and favoring a peaceful solution to the Neocon backed MKO failed attempt to destroy an Anti-War Org stand off with Iran, and a well-funded war machine comprising neoconservative organizations who believe war with Iran should have started years ago.

A central organization within the anti-war coalition is the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), the largest Iranian-American grassroots organization. NIAC has been at the forefront of opposing war, favoring diplomacy and opposing broad sanctions that only hurt the Iranian people, while, at the same time, rebuking Tehran’s horrible human rights record.

With its access to the White House, State Department and media, NIAC has increasingly troubled the war crowd, so much so that it has become one of their favorite targets.

Its leading attack dog, Seyyed Hassan Daioleslam [MEK agent in Washington] put it like this in an internal email: “destroying” NIAC and its President Trita Parsi “is an integral part of any attack on (former Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton and President Obama.” In other words, destroying NIAC would also destroy the administration’s policy of avoiding war with Iran.

Daioleslam has engaged in a massive defamation campaign accusing NIAC of being the lobby of the Islamic Republic of Iran — a ludicrous accusation considering NIAC’s unambiguous support for the Iranian pro-democracy movement but one that would rightly destroy the organization if proven true.

NIAC responded, as it had to, by taking Daioleslam to court for defamation.

No doubt, NIAC knew that in suing Daioeslam, it was fighting a David vs. Goliath battle, since the laws are stacked against anyone suing for defamation in the U.S.

But it was worse than that. Not only were the laws stacked against it, NIAC was also significantly outspent because the neoconservatives decided to go all out to deal a death blow to the anti-war forces. In fact, the well-financed anti-Muslim, pro-war and anti-Obama activist Daniel Pipes stepped in to support Daioleslam through the legal arm of his organization, the Middle East Forum. Pipes got Daioleslam a top-notch legal team headed by George Bush’s former White House lawyer Bradford Berenson of Sidley Austin, the sixth largest law firm in the world.

At first, Daioleslam’s court room argument was that his statements were accurate and that NIAC should be compelled to open its books so that the veracity of his claim of NIAC’s control by Tehran could be assessed. NIAC complied and Daioleslam’s high-powered legal team went through thousands of emails, documents and calendar entries.

However, to their great frustration, they couldn’t find a shred of evidence supporting Daioleslam’s claims. Instead, the documents revealed a very simple truth: NIAC is an independent grassroots organization supported by the Iranian American community, and which, engages with all parties to the conflict including the U.S., Iranian and Israeli governments.

Failing to prove his main contention, Daioleslam retreated from the assertion that NIAC was the Islamic Republic’s lobby. This was a huge victory for NIAC and, if the lawsuit had been filed in any other country, the conclusion would have been: Daioleslam lost, NIAC won.

But in the U.S., the plaintiffs (in this case, NIAC) have to go one step beyond proving that they were defamed. Plaintiffs also have to prove that the other side had acted with malice. So NIAC had to prove that Daioleslam knew that he was lying — a tall order under all circumstances. And convincing the very conservative, Bush appointed Judge John Bates — the same judge that got Dick Cheney off the hook in the Valerie Plame case — that Daioleslam acted with malice was probably impossible.

NIAC could not pull that off and the judge responded by shifting some of the legal “discovery” costs ($184,000) from Daioleslam to NIAC. But that was Daioleslam’s only victory.

Not only was the claim that NIAC is a foreign lobby shattered but Daniel Pipes and other neoconservatives had spent considerably more than $184,000 on their efforts to destroy NIAC. They had hoped to shift a much larger chunk of those costs to NIAC to cripple it by emptying its coffers.

But NIAC succeeded in striking out the largest item on Daioleslam’s menu of requests, leaving NIAC with an $184,000 bill, an amount it is appealing. In short, Dailoeslam’s attack backfired, apparently leaving him (or Pipes) heavily in the hole. In fact, during a press call last week, Dailoeslam actually called on reporters to donate and help defray its costs!

So at the end of this five-year process, no evidence was found to substantiate the accusation that NIAC was lobbying for the Iranian regime; the objective of “destroying NIAC” has completely failed as the organization continues to be one of the most prominent voices on Iran policy in Washington; and the vast majority of the cost of the discovery process remains with the defendant and his neo-conservative backers.

Not a good day for the pro-war lobby, but a very good one for Americans who find the idea of being embroiled in a third Middle East war – so soon after Iraq and with our troops still in Afghanistan – utterly appalling.

——————————————————————————–

M.J. Rosenberg is a Special Correspondent for The Washington Spectator. He was most recently a Foreign Policy fellow at Media Matters For America. Previously, he spent 15 years as a Senate and House aide. Early in his career he was editor of AIPAC’s newsletter Near East Report. From 1998-2009, he was director of policy at Israel Policy Forum. Follow him @MJayRosenberg and @WashSpec.

M.J. Rosenberg, Washington Spectator

May 11, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MKO Fuels Warmongering Propaganda

MKO grasps at every available opportunity of serious aggression against Iran

Ideologically a violence-oriented group, MKO appreciates any military option against Iran and has kept at MKO grasps at every available opportunity of serious aggression against Iran fuelling anti-Iranian, warmongering propaganda warfare. But the group intensifies the struggle whenever it grasps at every available opportunity that seems a foretaste of serious aggression against Iran by any foreign power antagonizing Iranian regime. MKO calls such a power that adopts or pursues an aggressive approach an ‘alien element’, a most suitable power to depend on and to cooperate with. The ousted Saddam’s regime was the most apt ‘alien element’ at the time that it collaborated with fierce loyalty.

The fall of Saddam advanced Iraq’s political transition and the new government showed no signs of seeking to compromise with other frustrated political factions and mercenary terrorist groups. So MKO had to seek for a new external supporter and ‘alien element’ to form another parasitic alliance. The only elements at the time being and are those countries that are engaged in an ongoing strife over Iran’s nuclear activities and America in particular. The group took the first step to be the main source of intelligence on Iranian nuclear sites and exposing what was believed to be hidden nuclear sites in Iran for alleged military nuclear activities. However, it is said that MKO disclosed the information it had been provided by the United States and Israel. Michael Mukasey, the American advocate of MKO, in providing reasons for removing the group from FTO list stated, “… there are many reasons, including MEK’s close cooperation with the United States in exposing Iran’s nuclear program for removing MEK from that list”.

Since then, Iran has been facing a challenge from America and its Western allies, and Israel as the closest ally; all have been moving on a deadlock negotiation that has further deepened the crisis.

Following a different policy to confront Iran’s nuclear activities, Israel, widely believed to possess an ever-growing nuclear arsenal, has grown impatient with protracted talks and has threatened preemptive war against Iran if it deemed diplomacy ultimately futile. Announcing a full support for Israel, Secretary of State John Kerry has stressed that Obama is determined Iran will not succeed in acquiring a nuclear weapon and noted that his administration is working closely with Israel: “We are deeply engaged with our Israeli allies, friends, comparing on a regular basis. I think we’re on the same page”.

Not only in words but in action is the United States arming and supporting Israel for any possible military option against Iran. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in his first visit to Israel pushed a new arms deal to help preserve Israel’s military edge in the region saying that the arms deal would be “another very clear signal to Iran” that the United States allies in the region were prepared to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

No doubt, MKO is the only opposition that supports and beats drums of a military option against Iran and is ready to walk on any front that might take the lead, be it America, Israel, or any Western ally. However, Israel seems a better option for MKO as an ‘alien element’ since the existing differences between Iran and Israel is far beyond the nuclear issue and is rooted in ideological, political and historical arguments. The United States in contrast has shown eagerness in reaching an agreement through negotiations. Israel, however, risks a loss of credibility over both its “red line” for Iran’s nuclear program and its threat of military action, and its room for unilateral maneuver is shrinking. Patrick Clawson, the head of the Iran Security Initiative at The Washington Institute, in his political analysis entitled Preventing an Iranian Nuclear Breakout states: “The United States and Israel agree that Iran should not have nuclear weapons, but they may not see eye-to-eye about how to proceed regarding the impasse with Iran. High-profile disagreements surfaced in September 2012 about setting a “redline,” or deadline, for termination of Iran’s program …”

MKO hopes that the old allies develop a unanimous consensus over the military option against Iranian regime. It would make both allies a perfect united ‘alien element’ for a total dependence. What MKO has achieved so far has been an unfortunate outcome; its desperate struggle to achieve the reproachful, anti-national and ambitious goal has brought the group into disrepute among all struggling oppositions. It is not amazing to see MKO, sticking to what is regarded a flagrant example of national betrayal, namely demonizing Iran’s peaceful nuclear activity, spending lavishly to be accepted by any ‘alien element’ that might move on a decisive path of materializing consequent threats.

May 7, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq as an Opposition Group

Report Discloses MKO’s Key Role in Stirring Recent Unrests in Iraq

The terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCRI) has ordered its Report Discloses MKO's Key Role in Stirring Recent Unrests in Iraq members to fuel sectarian unrests in Iraq through bombing Sunni centers, media reports revealed on Monday.

In a report today, Didehban Center quoted an unnamed source in Iraq as saying that the MKO members have been ordered to use all possible means to increase tension in the country.

"Owing to the sectarian and ethnic nature of the recent unrests in Iraq, the MKO elements are tasked with planting bombs in Sunni mosques and public centers in a bid to intensify clashes in Iraq and blame the terrorist operations on Iraq’s Shiite government," the report said.

The source noted that the terrorist group is seeking to delay its expulsion from Iraq by igniting instability in the country, warning that the MKO plot can worsen the situation in Iraq.

Earlier media reports had disclosed that the MKO has offered the US to help it spark Syria-like unrests in Iraq.

In a report earlier this month, Didehban Center disclosed that the MKO has on many occasions asked the US administration to provide the group with financial support in a bid to make Iraq insecure.

The report said that the proposals have been put forth to the US officials through former and retired Washington officials who are now among the MKO advocates, including former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, Former presidential candidate John Mc Cain and former US Attorney General Michael Mukasey

The MKO has claimed that it can recruit extremist and terrorist groups in Iraq due to its three-decade-long stay in that country which has also provided them with some in-debt knowledge of the Arab country, and then organize bombing plots, suicide attacks and spark sectarian and ethnic conflict in a bid to make Iraq’s atmosphere tense similar to the present conditions in Syria.

April 30, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US administration: pro MKO or pro Iranians

It doesn’t matter whether we believe that the MKO has renounced violence (although we don’t The MKO is now hoping to set up to play the role Ahmad Chalabi believe it at all); the US administration doesn’t believe it, at least for the time being. Recent acts by the US administration have somewhat dismantled the mask that the government actually cares about the Iranian people. Once upon a time the US was at least pretending that it was caring for people of Iran.

The removal of the MKO cult from the list clearly indicates Washington’s increasing animosity against the Iranians. Although the brutal substance of the MKO have been described several times in various reports – including RAND report 2009, HRW 2005 – and once they were financially and militarily sponsored by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the US officials gave credit to the group by delisting it. Undeniably, the MKO is highly despised by the majority of the Iranian people. Thus, it is very disturbing for them to observe the US supporting a group that has the blood of a large number – at least 12 thousands victims, according to Habilian Website – of their country fellow men in its hands.

The US risks its reputation at stake by supporting the MKO. But is it really worth that?
The MKO is now hoping to set up to play the role Ahmad Chalabi played in the days preceding to the American led invasion to Iraq. The so-called intelligence they published about the Iranian nuclear program has earned some approval among Western officials for them.

The Vancouver Sun journalist, Jonathan Manthrope suggests, “it seems unlikely that the Obama administration would fall for the same kind of blarney from the somewhat sinister husband and wife team of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi ,who, if several US government reports are to be believed, run MEK[the MKO] as a personality cult complete with brainwashing, brutal internal discipline, and the indoctrination of children.”[1]

The ultimate objective of US warmongers politicians such as Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs sub-Committee is to support and use Iranian oppositions and separatists to destabilize the Iranian government. Rohrabacher who welcomed the MKO’s delisting by the State Department, is pushing the US government to embrace the MKO as the “legitimate opposition” to the Iranian government.[2] it seems that they are willing to turn the MKO to a “Syrian National Council” type opposition and eventually to use them to launch terrorist acts against Iranian people. This is exactly what Maryam Rajavi is looking for. Her so called resistance movement seeks “Syria-style recognition”, according to the AFP. These days she is passionately prostituting her cult among Western authorities. [2]

Glenn Greenwald, the American prominent journalist and lawyer in an interview with Iranian journalist Kourish Ziabari told that the MKO is still engaged in violence.”There are credible reports that they are the ones who are working with Israelis and behind the assassination of civilian scientists” he said. “And because this group has paid so many influential politicians in the United States and also because this group now carried out terrorist operations on behalf of Israel and the United States in promotion of the interests of Israel and the United States.”[4]

The experience of Ahmad Chalabi and even the Syrian opposition demonstrate how distorted the miscalculations of Western politicians would be. Maybe, that’s why that Manthrope believes ,”If Obama is not about to be stampeded into war with Iran by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – with the aim of stopping the Tehran regime acquiring the ability to make nuclear weapons – he is unlikely to be impressed by the Rajavis.”[5]

To use the MKO against the Iranian nation is definitely cynical act and maybe worse than what we saw in regard to Iraqi INC or Syrian National Council.

By Mazda Parsi

References:
[1] Manthrope, Jonathan, Iranian Terrorist group now freedom fighters, in US eyes, Vancouver Sun,October3,2012
[2]McGreal, Chris, MEK supporters to push US to recognized as official Iranian opposition, Guardian, September28, 2012
[3]AFP, Iranian Opposition seeks Syria-style recognition, December5, 2012
[4]Greenwald, Glenn & Ziabari, Kourosh, The US and Israel have made a joke of the United Nations Security Council, Global Research, December16, 2012
[5] Manthrope, Jonathan, Iranian Terrorist group now freedom fighters, in US eyes, Vancouver Sun, October3, 2012

December 26, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MKO’s position in the policies against Iran

As Noam Chomsky has stressed, “the escalation to attack undefended civilian targets is just a ‎classic illustration of terrorism” and “the United States happens to be the only state in the world ‎that has been condemned by the World Court for international terrorism”.‎

Supporting a resistance, legal or illegal, against any outside threat or invasion is one thing, but ‎backing and organizing a terrorist army for imperious purposes and political interests is a ‎different thing. Why has the US government, which denounces other governments’ involvement ‎with terrorism, been supporting MKO (Mojahedin Khalq Organization) and removed it from its ‎list of the designated FTO? How the US chooses to use the group’s violent and terroristic ‎capacity, especially when it still has a historical falling out with Washington and has won ‎nobody’s trust because America and capitalism have historically been the organization’s primary ‎enemies?‎

Possibly, it’s because MKO is regarded an enemy of the current Iranian regime and can be ‎utilized in the most horrific and possible way of foreign intervention, that is, to wage wars ‎against those who oppose the US. Many believe that the US is using the MKO to disrupt Iran’s ‎nuclear program and it is quite possible, however, that the MKO is also being used to set the ‎stage for, or even to effect, the regime change. Although at the first look it sounds so simplistic, ‎but it is an undeniable fact that the US cannot overlook MKO as a possible political lever of ‎pressure against Iranian regime whatever the consequences might be.‎

What the US policy makers have been inattentive to in their decision makings against the Iranian ‎regime is the people themselves. Any wrong step further deepens the already wide gap between ‎the two countries, as the imposed sanctions has so far proved ineffective to change a national ‎perspective on the opponents and oppositions. In relation to MKO, its delisting doesn’t help the ‎US to recreate a different image of the group within Iran; in contrast, the move has negative ‎ramifications since MKO is long despised inside Iran. Paul Pillar, a former top CIA analyst who ‎served as the National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia asserts that: ‎‎“Delisting will be seen not only by the Iranian regime, but also by most Iranian citizens, as a ‎hostile act by the United States. The MEK has almost no popular support within Iran, where it is ‎despised as a group of traitors, especially given its history of joining forces with Saddam Hussein ‎during the Iran-Iraq War.”‎

Regardless of the unwritten agreements about the West’s manipulation of the group’s ‎potentialities, MKO leaders insist to take its delisting to be a victory over the US in a legal and ‎universal battle that proves rightness and veracity of its historical, organizational, ideological and ‎political positions. The claim implicitly suggests that the group desists to be used by the US in ‎any plan against Iran. However, neither the US covert support for MKO since at least ‎‏2008‏‎ nor ‎the group’s renunciation of its role as a possible proxy have authenticated a behind the curtain ‎plot in any form against Iranian regime.‎

The time is not still ripe for either to speak up of what they have up their sleeves and there is no ‎evidence of reckoning on MKO in any options against Iran. But one thing is for certain at the ‎moment; MKO fiercely embraces, circulates and glorifies the terrorist deeds and operations of ‎Syrian insurgents who are disturbing the country to end Assad’s rule. If the US plans to draw a ‎pattern seen repeated in Libya and most recently in Syria, that is to say, arm, train and support ‎terrorist insurgents in pursuit of regime change, that is a second fatal mistake. It is so naïve to ‎think that a group of armed terrorists deployed against Iran can possibly change a nation’s ‎perspective even if they are wrangling over internal problems.‎

By N. Morgan

November 7, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Russian Institute: US Main Supporter of Extremist Groups in Region

Director General of the Institute for Foreign Policy Research and Initiatives in Moscow Veronika Krasheninnikova criticized the United States’ open and rude support for extremist groups in the Russian Institute: US Main Supporter of Extremist Groups in Region region, including the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, NCR and P1I).

Krasheninnikova said that, unsatisfied in "crippling" Iran with sanctions, the US looks to be set for active operations in Iran, and already has a terrorist organization in mind: a group called Mojahedin-e Khalq, which in the near future could become the Persian equivalent of the so-called Free Syrian Army.

She went on to say, on September 21, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton passed Public Notice 8050, delisting the MKO from the State Department’s Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, effective on September 28.

The director general of the institute said that MKO is an anti-Iran terrorist organization in exile that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since its inception in 1965 in Iran, the group conducted assassinations of US military personnel and civilians working in Iran in the 1970s, jubilantly supported the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and opposed the release of American personnel, calling for their execution instead, fought against the Islamic Republic together with Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran War (1980-1988) and set up headquarters in Iraq at Camp Ashraff.

She added that, in recent years, according to various sources including NBC, the MKO teamed up with the Israeli secret service to kill Iranian nuclear scientists, adding NBC reported that US officials confirmed that "the Obama administration is aware of the assassination campaign but has no direct involvement".

She said that, in 1994, the State Department sent a damning 41-page report to Congress on why the MKO is a terrorist organization; that designation was enacted in 1997. The report concluded, "It is no coincidence that the only government in the world that supports the MKO politically and financially is the totalitarian regime of Saddam Hussein."

The report said that, the MKO’s mission to overthrow Iran’s leadership has not changed since, but the US agenda has, in a vertiginous about-face, Washington became the powerful protector of the MKO.

She said that, over the past few years, a formidable fundraising operation and campaign to delist MKO from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist register was carried out by the US.

Krasheninnikova added that, when speaking about terrorist groups, one might think of MKO as a ragtag bunch of cutthroats in shreds and tatters, confined to an unsanitary tent city, but the truth is nothing of the sort.

She said that, well-versed in American political mores, the MKO’s leadership says the group is "pro-democracy". However, even the New York Times disagrees, in the middle of the 2011 delisting campaign; it described MKO as "a repressive cult despised by most Iranians and Iraqis".

The director general of the institute went on to say that, totalitarian cult is indeed the most frequent label applied to the MKO by people who come in contact with the group, adding that American support for MKO is not limited to military protection, for instance, Seymour Hersh, in his New Yorker piece "Our Men in Iran?" revealed that beginning in 2005, MKO fighters were trained in Nevada by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

She said that as General Shelton said at a conference in February 2011, "When you look at what the MKO stands for, when they are antinuclear, separation of church and state, individual rights, MKO is obviously in the way that the US wants Iran to go. … By placing the MKO on the FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organizations) list, we have weakened the support of the best organized anti-Iran group."

She added, in an interview with Germany’s WDR TV back in 2005, ex-CIA operative Ray McGovern explained the logic, "Why the US cooperates with organizations like the MKO, I think, is because that they are local, and because they are ready to work for us."

McGovern said that, "Previously, we considered them a terrorist organization, and they exactly are, but they are now our terrorists and we now don’t hesitate to send them into Iran …. for the usual secret service activities including attacking sensors, in order to supervise the Iranian nuclear program, mark targets for air attacks, and perhaps establishing secret camps to control the military locations in Iran."

Krasheninnikova explained that, Karen Kwiatkowski, formerly with the Department of Defense, makes a long story short for WDR TV, "MKO is ready to do things over which we would be ashamed, and over which we try to keep silent. But for such tasks we’ll use them."

Director General of the Institute for Foreign Policy Research and Initiatives concluded that, now is the time for Russia and the world community to take active political measures preventing the United States from launching another proxy war in the Middle East. This time, unlike in Syria, the world should not ignore the march to war, and must take steps to prevent it from happening again.

The MKO, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the 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.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who argued for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

November 7, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Mujahadin-e Khalq: America’s protected terrorists gearing up against Iran

Unsatisfied in "crippling" Iran with sanctions, the US looks to be set for active operations there – and already has an in: a group called the Mujahadin-e Khalq, which in the near future could become the Persian equivalent of the Free Syrian Army. Mujahadin-e Khalq: America’s protected terrorists gearing up against Iran

On September 21, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton passed Public Notice 8050, de-listing the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK) from the State Department’s Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, effective September 28.

What is MEK? Mujahadin-e Khalq is an Iranian Islamic militant organization in exile that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since its inception in 1965 in Iran, the group conducted assassinations of US military personnel and civilians working in Iran in the 1970s, jubilantly supported the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and opposed the release of American personnel, calling for their execution instead, fought against the Islamic Republic together with Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran War (1980-1988) and set up headquarters in Iraq at Camp Ashraf.

In recent years, according to various sources including NBC, MEK teamed up with the Israeli secret service to kill Iranian nuclear scientists. NBC reported that US officials confirmed that “the Obama administration is aware of the assassination campaign but has no direct involvement”.

In 1994, the State Department sent a damning 41-page report to Congress on why the MEK is a terrorist organization; that designation was enacted in 1997. The report concluded: “It is no coincidence that the only government in the world that supports the Mujahadin politically and financially is the totalitarian regime of Saddam Hussein.” Well, the MEK’s mission to overthrow Iran’s leadership has not changed since, but the US agenda has: In a vertiginous about-face, Washington became the powerful protector of the Mujahadin-e Khalq.

Over the past few years, a formidable fundraising operation and campaign to de-list MEK from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist register gathered some high-caliber US supporters including General James Jones, President Obama’s National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2010; Bill Richardson, Energy Secretary and UN ambassador in the Clinton administration and Obama’s Special Envoy to North Korea; Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security; General Wesley Clark, former supreme commander of NATO; Louis Freeh, former director of the FBI; three former directors of the CIA – Michael Hayden, James Woolsey and Porter Goss; Rudolph Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City; former UN Ambassador John Bolton; General Hugh Shelton, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002; and many others.

Top Washington lawyers and lobbyists made the case for the terrorist group as well: Akin Gump, Strauss Hauer & Feld, Patton Boggs and others. Robert Strauss, of the firm of the same name, was US Ambassador to the Soviet Union during the critical months of August 2, 1991, through December 26, 1991. A senior member of the firm Tobi Gati was also head of the intelligence branch of the US State Department.

When speaking about terrorist groups, one might think of MEK as a ragtag bunch of cutthroats in shreds and tatters, confined to an unsanitary tent city. The truth is nothing of the sort. Watch this report by CNN’s Michael Ware dating back to 2007: You will see a marching army in crisp brand-new white-and-blue and khaki uniforms, entering a spacious parade ground framed by sculptures of lions. Camp Ashraf itself is one of the best-kept military facilities in Iraq and a sprawling city of 4,000 people, with shopping centers and hospitals, gardens, monuments, fountains and illuminations quite unexpected in the war-torn deserts of Iraq. The MEK is also armed with more than 2,000 well-maintained tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft guns and armored personnel carriers. Its supplies are guarded by US military police, and the camp itself is guarded by the American military.

Indeed, “The coalition remains deeply committed to the security and rights of protected people of Ashraf,” US Major General Gardner said, according to a Headquarters Multinational Force Iraq document dated March 11, 2006. Michael Ware calls the MEK “the US’ officially protected terrorists.” Another film of Australian origin shows Camp Ashraf’s own parliament and hundreds of tanks on the camp’s parade ground.

Well-versed in American political mores, the MEK’s leadership says the group is ‘pro-democracy.’ However, even the New York Times disagrees: In the middle of the 2011 de-listing campaign, it described MEK as “a repressive cult despised by most Iranians and Iraqis.”

‘Totalitarian cult’ is indeed the most frequent label applied to the MEK by people who come in contact with the group. And American support for MEK is not limited to military protection. Seymour Hersh, in his New Yorker piece“Our Men in Iran?” revealed that beginning in 2005, MEK fighters were trained in Nevada by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

Why is Washington backing the MEK? As General Shelton said at a conference in February 2011, “When you look at what the MEK stands for, when they are antinuclear, separation of church and state, individual rights, MEK is obviously the way Iran needs to go. … By placing the MEK on the FTO [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] list we have weakened the support of the best organized internal resistance group to the most terrorist-oriented anti-Western world, anti-democratic regime in the region.”

In an interview with Germany’s WDR TV back in 2005, ex-CIA operative Ray McGovern explained the logic: “Why the U.S. cooperates with organizations like the Mujahadin, I think, is because that they are local, and because they are ready to work for us. Previously, we considered them a terrorist organization. And they exactly are. But they are now our terrorists and we now don’t hesitate to send them into Iran …. for the usual secret service activities: attacking sensors, in order to supervise the Iranian nuclear program, mark targets for air attacks, and perhaps establishing secret camps to control the military locations in Iran. And also a little sabotage.”

Karen Kwiatkowski, formerly with the Department of Defense, makes a long story short for WDR TV: “MEK is ready to do things over which we would be ashamed, and over which we try to keep silent. But for such tasks we’ll use them.”

Now is the time for Russia and the world community to take active political measures preventing the United States from launching another proxy war in the Middle East. The MEK is much better trained and prepared for war than the Syrian rebels were at the beginning of the conflict, or even today. The MEK has all the necessary capabilities to become the military arm of an American attack against Iran. This time – unlike in Syria – the world should not ignore the march to war, and must take steps to prevent it from happening again.

By eronika Krasheninnikova, Director General of the Institute for Foreign Policy Research and Initiatives in Moscow, for RT

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

October 27, 2012 0 comments

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