that the presence of an Iranian opposition group in Iraqi territory is in contradiction to the terms of the Iraqi constitution and most political communities, but that some in the United Nations and the European Union and U.S. forces are demanding the survival of the organization and provide support and stability to it.”After clashes earlier between Iraqi security forces and members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (aka PMOI) ..
“A defector from Camp Ashraf, home to the Mujahedin e-Khalq (MeK) in Iraq, says the group’s leadership at Camp Ashraf is prepared to order residents to kill themselves to protest any arrests of Ashraf residents”“They claim to have turned over all their arms to U.S. forces in 2003, and their camp 60 miles from Baghdad looks more like a relatively affluent Iraqi village than a military garrison. However, until the end of 2008, residents wore military-style uniforms and flew pre-revolution Iranian flags..
An Iranian political group designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization is offering large payments to orators willing to speak at events on their behalf. Among those with connections to the organization, Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) aka MKO/PMOI, are Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s chief foreign policy adviser and liberal politician Howard Dean.
“This is clearly an invitation to provide a service to a designated group[MKO/MEK/PMOI/NCR]. This would be a clear violation of the law,”says Cole, who last year argued a major material support case before the Supreme Court. The material support law bars providing not only money and weapons to a foreign terrorist organization, but also”service,”defined by the government as anything of benefit to the group performed in coordination with or at the direction of the group.Cole adds ..
For now, however, there is virtually no sign of any American goodwill toward Iran, only animosity. Another clue to the tone of engagement is the delisting of the Iranian group, Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK), from the US list of terrorist groups, which will be decided on in the next few weeks. This is bound to heighten tensions as Tehran abhors the US protection of the MEK’s Camp Ashraf inside Iraq.
A clearer picture of what US leaders really think of the MEK aka MKO/PMOI/NCR can be found in earlier assessments of the group by the US government—at a time when MEK’s connections in Western governments weren’t as extensively developed. Today the MEK propaganda efforts mentioned in this report are showing their effects.Excerpts from 1992 report by Congressional Research Service addressed to Lee H. Hammilton, Chairman…
Certainly, an unethical dogmatic cult like the MEK aka MKO/PMOI – which has the capacity of instructing its own members to self-immolate in support of their leaders – a cult that went as far as fighting alongside the troops of Saddam Hussein when he invaded its own country’s territorial integrity – is much less principled and predictable than some hawkish American politicians wish it to be.
In the first years of the 1979 revolution, young members of the MKO had instructions not to engage with members and affiliates of other political groups. Was this true and is there a similar policy today? • If delisted, does the MKO plan to change its structure and make it similar to other political organizations and be subject to the regulations governing such parties? …
The MEK’s ongoing delisting campaign is guided by the belief that the American public and the U.S. government are ignorant enough to believe its statements no matter how many times they’re proven false. The breathless claims of seeming support made by former U.S. officials are marketed by the MEK as a testament to its legitimacy, especially when these people conflate the human rights issue at the MEK’s base in Camp Ashraf near the Iran-Iraq border with its FTO delisting campaign…
The MEK/MKO/PMOI is spending the big bucks to influence that decision.Private jets to speaking engagements and fees that range from $25,000 to $100,000 have gone to a wide political spectra of speakers..That these people would sell their names and reputations is shameful. The speaking fees are paid by local Iranian-American groups and contracts specifically state that “We are not a front organization for the MEK,” in a crude effort to skirt US laws regarding the support of terrorist organizations.