This denial is a strategic effort to rehabilitate their image and present themselves as a legitimate opposition force for a democratic Iran.

The MEK’s cooperation with Saddam Hussein involved receiving arms, cash and a miliary base in Iraq called Camp Ashraf, from which they launched attacks against Iran during the Iran-Iraq War.
They also assisted Saddam Hussein in suppressing Kurdish and Shia uprisings in Iraq in 1991, although the MEK vehemently denies it.

This historical alignment with a hostile foreign power during a devastating conflict led to their deep unpopularity inside Iran.

By denying this cooperation, the MEK leaders aim to distance themselves from these controversial actions and present a more palatable image to international audiences and potential supporters.

Documents on MEK’s alliance with Saddam Hussein

The primary documents and testimonies confirming the cooperation between the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and Saddam Hussein include reports from the United States Department of State, declassifies intelligence documents, and testimonies from former MEK members and Iraqi officials.

Key evidence points to the MEK’s relocation to Iraq in the 1980s, their receipt of financial and military support from the Iraqi regime, and their participation in military operations alongside Iraqi forces, particularly during Iran-Iraq War and the suppression of the 1991 Iraqi uprisings.

A Specific document includes the “country Reports on Terrorism” published annually by the US State Department, which have historically detailed the MEK’s presence and activities in Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s Patronage.

Additionally declassifies intelligence assessments from various Western governments, though not always publicly available in their entirety, have corroborated these alliances.

Testimonies from former high-ranking MEK members, such as those collected by human rights organizations and independent researchers have also provided firsthand accounts of the MEK’s operational and logistical integration with Saddam’s regime.

Furthermore, statements from former Iraqi officials post-2003 have shed light on the extent of this cooperation, including the provision of arms, training, and intelligence sharing.

In the most recent court session examining the charges against 104 members of MEK as well as the organization’s nature as a legal entity, held on September 23rd, six former members of the group named Samad Eskandari, Hadi Shabani, Fathollah Eskandari, Kamand Ali Azizi, Doost Mohammad Farahi, and Foad Basri testifies about the MEK cooperation with Iraqi Baa’th regime during the Iran-Iraq War.

The impact of alliance with Saddam on Rajavi’s political career

The immediate impact of alliance with Saddam Hussein on the political career of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi was perceived as positive because they were successful in achieving some strategic goals as an armed opposition force.

Conversely, the long-term implications were detrimental, especially as Saddam’s regime was increasingly considered as invader to Iran and as an offensive regime that abused human rights of minorities, used chemical weapons against civilians.
Any leader including the Rajavis, closely associated with Saddam have been faced criticism and political fallout as his international standing deteriorated and finally his regime collapsed.

Sources:
1. Country Reports on Terrorism, US department of State
2. Reports of Human Rights Watch on the MEK, Human Rights Watch

The post Collaboration with Saddam: A Criminal Record That Rajavi Denies appeared first on Nejat Society.

The core flaw in this argument lies in its narrow, short-sighted focus on immediate operational gains at the expense of long-term strategic stability, ethical considerations, and international legitimacy. While the MEK may offer certain intelligence or operational advantages, overlooking their problematic history, lack of popular support within Iran, and undemocratic ideology can lead to several negative consequences.

Ethical considerations

Ethical considerations are paramount in foreign policy and intelligence operations. Supporting a group with a history of human rights abuses, cult-like characteristics, and a lack of democratic principles, as the MEK has been accused of, can severely damage a nation’s moral standing and international reputation.

Aligning with such a group, even for perceived operational benefits, can be seen as a betrayal of democratic values and human rights principles, potentially alienating allies and providing propaganda fodder for adversaries. The argument implicitly suggests that “moral purity” is a dispensable luxury, which is a dangerous precedent for any state claiming to uphold democratic values.

MEK, unlikely to bring sustainable, positive change and stable future

Secondly, the argument overlooks the practical implications of supporting an unpopular and undemocratic group. The MEK’s lack of popular support within Iran means that any success achieved through their operations is unlikely to translate into sustainable, positive change for the Iranian people or a stable future for the region.

In fact, their historical association with Saddam Hussein and their past violent actions have made them widely reviled by many Iranians, including those who oppose the Iranian gov.

Relying on such a group for intelligence or operational effectiveness risks alienating the very population whose support would be crucial for any long-term strategic goals, such as fostering a more democratic or stable Iran. This approach could inadvertently strengthen the Iranian government’s narrative that external powers are supporting unpopular, exiled groups.

Doubt the MEK’s actual capabilities and reliability

The “unique operational advantages”, Rennell claims for the MEK must be critically assessed against their actual capabilities and reliability. While they may possess specific intelligence networks or operational experience, their effectiveness can be overstated, particularly given their isolation and lack of broad support.

Relying heavily on a group with a history of internal purges, questionable intelligence, and a vested interest in exaggerating their capabilities can lead to flawed assessments and strategic missteps.

Furthermore, the MEK’s primary goal is their own return to power, which may not align with the broader strategic interests of Israel. Their actions could be driven by self-preservation or a desire to provoke conflict, rather than a genuine commitment to regional stability or democratic reform.

Supporting the MEK escalate regional tensions

The argument ignores the potential for blowback and unintended consequences. Supporting a controversial group like the MEK can lead to accusations of interference in internal affairs, escalate regional tensions, and potentially provoke retaliatory actions. It can also complicate diplomatic efforts and make it harder to build broad international coalitions to engage with the Iranian government. The short-term operational gains might be outweighed by the long-term strategic liabilities and the erosion of international trust.

Using the MEK, a fragile and unsustainable strategy

The argument presents a false dichotomy between “operational effectiveness” and “moral purity.” Effective long-term strategy often requires a foundation of ethical conduct and adherence to principles. A strategy built on morally questionable alliances is inherently fragile and unsustainable.
True operational effectiveness, especially in complex geopolitical environments, often stems from legitimacy, popular support, and alignment with broader international norms, rather than from clandestine operations with unpopular groups like the MEK. Julian Rennell must learn that relying on a controversial proxy force with a background of extremism, terrorism and cult-like practices will lead to a disaster in the region including the very Israeli sponsors of the group.

Mazda Parsi

The post Utilizing the MEK, a devastating strategy for Israel appeared first on Nejat Society.

The article Israel Secretly Recruited Iranian Dissidents to Attack Their Country From Within was published in ProPublica in August 2025.

Melman and Raviv have coauthored several books in the past, including Friends in Deed: Inside the U.S.-Israel Alliance, Every Spy a Prince, and Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars.

IranWire’s Maziar Bahari interviewed Melman to lift the curtain on Mossad’s evolving playbook inside Iran and the information that may provide context for Melman and Raviv’s investigation.
Drawing on four decades covering intelligence, Melman explains how Israel shifted from using Israeli agents with false identities to a vast ecosystem of non-Israeli agents inside Iran trained for operations ranging from running a safe house to conducting a surgical strike.

He revisits the 2018 heist of Iran’s nuclear archive – all 500 tons of it – and the 2024 “beeper” attack on Lebanon’s Hezbollah to showcase how Mossad has undermined the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past decade. The late Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who unified policy levers and saw opportunity in Iran’s ethnic mosaic, was central to the success.

Bahari: This morning, I was thinking about how many books of yours I’ve read, and I counted seven. And I think you’ve written ten books in English.

Melman: Yes, some of them were translated into English, most of them actually. And to other languages as well.

Bahari: And, you know, you have a level of access to current and former Mossad agents that I don’t think anyone else has. And I don’t think that many other investigative journalists in other countries like David Ignatius or Seymour Hersh, they have that kind of access to CIA agents in the US. What do you think motivates and persuades these agents to talk to you and to trust you with their stories?

Melman: Well, thank you for the compliments. I think David Sanger is also a very excellent journalist with good access. Actually, nine years ago, we did a film together, “Zero Days” about the Stuxnet operation. And both of us work with the director and producer Alex Gibney of Jigsaw.

I mean, I think it’s a combination of trust, long years in the field. I mean, as a journalist, I’ve never been in the intelligence community except my military three-year national conscript service. But when I say that I’ve never been in the Israeli intelligence community, people don’t believe me. They think that I work for one of the agencies. But I didn’t.

But I’ve been observing them and following them and writing about them for nearly, I think, 40 years. When I was already in London as Haaretz correspondent in London between ’80 and ’84, there was an incident there, actually, an assassination attempt on the life of the Israeli ambassador there, by three Palestinians, sponsored by the Iraqi intelligence. And that triggered the war and the invasion of Israel into Lebanon in ’82. So since then, I’ve been covering intelligence, terrorism.

And I think that altogether that, you know, I’m experienced. I’ve been around. It’s enabled me to gain the trust of people, enable me to talk to them. But still, I don’t know everything. I mean, you know, I don’t live in the illusion that I know what’s going on in the intelligence community or in the Mossad.

But sometimes I already have the experience to understand the patterns of operations, the modes of operations. So if I read something, even if I’m not sure whether it is Mossad or not, I can reach the conclusion because of all these various elements.

Bahari: Yeah, it comes with experience. And, actually, I have your book “Every Spy a Prince” here and I think it’s one of the best books to understand the psyche of Mossad agents and Mossad as an agency. And I remember reading it 30 years ago. It really opened, you know, a window for me to understand Mossad. And I’m sure it was the same thing for many people.

So based on your knowledge of Mossad, based on the work that you have done on Iran, when—what year do you think that, or do you know that Mossad started to recruit agents inside Iran on such a large scale?

Melman: That’s a phenomenon of the last decade. But you have to make a distinction, until 15, 18 years ago, all Mossad operations, either in Iran or in hostile countries hostile to Israel, the operations were what Mossad would call “Blue and White,” the colors of the Israeli flag. They were Israelis, Israeli nationals, not necessarily going with Israeli passports, most probably with borrowed identities and undercover and so on.

But at a certain moment, they decided, especially with Iran, that it’s too dangerous to have Israeli nationals, even if they are equipped with Australian passports or Irish passports, and therefore they started recruiting these agents, but, Iranian agents or ex-Iranians or people from the neighboring countries which—who have access to Iran and know the terrain.

But most of them were what the Mossad would call infrastructure agents, which means they are not combatants in the sense that they go and pull the trigger. They can be, you know, store owners. They can be people, real estate agents or who rent apartments. They can be people who work for rental car companies. These are infrastructure agents. And their mission is to be there for as long as possible.

Some of them are Iranians, and they work for foreign companies. Not always they know that these are Mossad companies. They can be front companies. They don’t know that it’s Israel or Mossad behind it. And their mission is to be ready, for the judgment date. When you need someone, you need a driver, you need a car, you need a safe house.

Then you have a second layer of agent. These are people who are combatants, people who have been trained, to carry out military operations. And they can be trained—some of them might be trained in Iran, but most probably outside Iran and in very, in some cases, they even are brought to Israel and trained on such missions.

I can give you an example. In 2018, when Israeli Mossad agents, but they were foreigners, non-Israelis, stole the Iranian nuclear archive from a neighborhood in Tehran. They needed to be trained on a model. So the Mossad built for them—I don’t know if it was inside Israel or in another country, they built a model which simulated the exact warehouse where the archive—it’s exactly the same as the archive. Also the safe boxes that were there. And they trained how to break into this place and into the safes and how to bury them or to open them.

Bahari: Turquzabad operation. The agents went to Turquzabad and they took the evidence from there, and they took it to Azerbaijan as you mentioned.

Melman: Probably, yes. Well, but it’s not just that. First of all, they loaded 500—half a ton of documents, documents, discs, you know, photographs, drawings. So it’s a heavy load and they put it in two trucks. Now, it’s not only that, because they, you know, they worked in the middle of the night. They knew they had, like, 6 or 7 hours working inside the place.

So they, I mean, it was such an excellent and precise operation. They knew in advance during the preparatory sessions which safes are important and which safes are, you know, less important, like, I don’t know, about logistics, about accounts, about, you know, bookkeeping and so on. So that’s—that’s an example of an operation which was already, carried out by the Mossad, led by the Mossad, initiated by the Mossad. The Mossad oversaw the operation, but the agents in the field were non-Israelis.

Bahari: And the most probably the those infrastructure agents, they had a role in terms of determining, where the evidence were and where the safes were, etc, etc.

Melman: Okay. Yes. And, and the some of them might be on the, on the lookout for the neighborhood, you know, on observatory positions So these are mostly the, infrastructure agents. The combatants, those who really, pull the trigger or fire the missiles during the last war. These are especially trained on almost similar, to the training of Israeli Mossad agent.

I mean, sure, the Mossad with all not no, would not fully trust them to share with them all the information and all their secrets or all the modern technology, state-of-the-art technology. But they are treated almost as equal as Israeli Mossad agents.

Bahari: And in your article, you mentioned that Meir Dagan, the former head of Mossad, he had an important role in terms of expanding Mossad’s operation inside Iran. Can you tell us about Meir Dagan and his operations?

Melman: Meir Dagan was a general in the Israeli army. He was a good friend of Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of that time. He appointed him as the head of the Mossad, after he left military service. His mission was to concentrate all the measures and all the decision processes from all the Israeli government offices regarding Iran. So he was like the czar of the struggle against Iran, to stop Iran having nuclear weapons.

And Meir Dagan, who was the architect of building all these elements—diplomacy, economic sanctions, sending assassins to kill scientists in Iran, to sabotage warehouses or missile sites or nuclear sites, or technology, which was on the way, brought from abroad, either by sea or by air. He was in charge of that, and the overall authorities were given to him.

And he was a very, important key in building the case, against Iran, not just for the Israeli intelligence community and the Israeli military, but also for, the countries that cooperated with Israel, whether the United States or EU and so on. In terms of imposing sanctions on Iran.

But before you impose sanctions, you need to have information whom to target with your sanctions. So that was the role of Meir Dagan.

Bahari: He was the director of Mossad between 2002 to 2011, negotiating and he was negotiating with the rest of the world about its nuclear program.

Melman: Yes. And, but also there were sanctions on Iran, international sanctions, UN sanctions on Iran from 2006. Now Meir Dagan, at a certain point, it became very—I don’t want to be—obsessed—but he became very interested in the mosaic of Iranian society and Iranian ethnicity.

And he was maybe the first one on such a level. Of course, scholars knew that Iran is built on, you know, minorities and different religions and so on. But he was very much, the guy at the top who, whose attention was was taken into that and to that study of, in the field.

And he became very keen on looking at the possibilities that derived from this, you know, from this mosaic of ethnic differences. And he started, recruiting dissatisfied Iranians, or Iranians that were not happy about their regime or maybe had a grudge family grudge or personal grudge against Iran. And he started recruiting them.

You know, there are Kurds and Azeris, You know better, Maziar. Balochi. Azeris. And Turkmen and Arabs and others.

Bahari: Yes.

Melman: So he started to build that notion that we will use Israeli “blue and white” agents only as commanders, only as supervisors. But we would not risk them in the most daring operations. And then it expanded. After Dagan left office, it expanded into the next directors of of Mossad.

Bahari: Before we move on to the next director, so these members of different ethnic and religious minorities, they were recruited as infrastructure agents or operational agents?

Melman: Both. Most of them, infrastructure agents, because you needed to build the infrastructure. You needed to acquire all the necessary logistics just in case, if you, if you want to execute something.

I can give you an example. You know, the the famous beeper operation in Lebanon against Hezbollah in September 2024, last year. That started, the idea and the, and the planning of the operation and the acquiring of the equipment, it started in 2014. Of course, technologies over time change. Hezbollah started using first radio walkie talkies and then they moved to the beepers.

But it doesn’t matter. The method was the same. So it started 10 years before it was executed. And I assume the same with Iran. Some of these infrastructure agents started working ten years before.

Now, one more point. Some of these operations, because for the Mossad even to bring, you know, a battery into Iran, they call it an operation. So some of the operations failed and they needed to start building them from scratch. Some of them were exposed, some of them were not working.

So, you know, you had to always update your infrastructure operations and your infrastructure equipment and your infrastructure logistics.

Bahari: So based on what you’re saying, Meir Dagan really started this massive recruitment of Iranians from inside Iran as agents of Mossad.

Melman: Yes.

Bahari: Based on what you know or what you’ve heard, do you know which, ethnic minorities were recruited more than others? Kurds, Baluch, Arabs, Azeris? Which ones?

Melman: I don’t think they are very picky, the Mossad, about it. Anyone who can be useful for them after he has been tested, after he been examined, after he, you know, his background is checked, is suitable for them and he’s suitable for a particular mission, would be selected.

So it can be, you know, Iranians, Farsi, Azeris, Baluchis all of them, Arabs, Kurds, As long as, you know, as long as they can serve Mossad purposes and they’re, they are ready to be part of it, because it’s not by coercion. You cannot—I mean, the Mossad is not is not recruiting people, not just, you know, for Iranian operations, even against the Lebanese or Hezbollah or Palestinians, usually not by coercion, because the recruiters and the case officer, they know that if force someone, okay, you can have some leverage against against him. But eventually he would betray you because he hates you.

Bahari: It has to be volunteered to a certain extent.

Melman: Yeah. He would he would hate you and maybe would turn you over. So, they want to build trust with the agents that they recruit. And. Yeah, I mean Of course it’s trust. You know it’s not between equals.

Bahari: Yeah. In your article, you mentioned something important, that these agents, they get paid but money is not the primary reason for them to work with.

Melman: I mean, money is always necessary to be able to sustain that help, but it’s not the primary reason for them to volunteer their services. The reasons why why people agree to work for the Mossad, varies.

It can be, some of it, some of it is financial rewards. But it’s the hatred of the regime, it’s the grudge against certain elements in the regime. It can be a desire to take revenge because a member of your—of a family, was tortured in a prison or maybe he was tortured in a prison.

Sometimes it’s based on promises that are made, “We will take care of your family” “We will take care of your medical necessities”. Maybe education, you know, I know about cases in which, people, Iranians were sent abroad, for education after a member of their family worked for the Mossad. And you wanted to, you know, and that particular person wanted to, to bring a better future for his kids or a better education for his kids abroad. And Mossad is taking advantage of all these, you know, motives.

Bahari: And in your article, you also mentioned that medical help is a great motive for many Iranians and non-Iranians, and Mossad has access to many medical facilities and doctors around the world, and that’s how they recruit many agents through those doctors and medical facilities.

Melman: Yes, in some cases they recruit agents because the agents or a member of the family need a medical treatment. But you know, it doesn’t apply only to Iranians. Human beings would walk an extra mile for medical treatment for life-saving treatment. I mean, it’s human nature.

And therefore, yes, the Mossad is very good at it. It has contacts around the world with clinics and with doctors, not necessarily, They know they who is brought into the clinic, you know, but the Mossad is bringing someone and, you know, someone, a doctor in a clinic or in a hospital and and asking them to please take care of this patient. They don’t know who is the patient. Maybe they know his nationality. Although I would be—I would doubt it very much.

Bahari: Yeah. I want to ask two more questions about Meir Dagan, because he’s a very fascinating character. In your article, you also mentioned that Holocaust played, or the memory of the Holocaust, and his grandfather especially played an important role in terms of motivating him. And on IranWire we try to educate the Iranian public about the Holocaust and tell them the truth about the Holocaust, could you tell us about what role did that play, the memory of the Holocaust in terms of Meir Dagan’s actions and decisions?

Melman: Meir Dagan was born in the Soviet Union to Polish immigrants, and his parents emigrated to Israel. Later on he found, in the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, he found a photo which he recognized as a picture of his grandfather kneeling in front of German Nazi soldiers, and they killed him.

And once he found that photo, he took it with him wherever he went, to whatever office he served. And on his desk in the Mossad headquarters, there was this photo. And he was highly motivated by the notion that Israelis, Israeli Jews, Israelis should defend themselves, and that it would not happen again.

But at the same time, after he retired from Mossad, he also said, when Israel started to change a little bit, as we see nowadays, he said that he reached the conclusion that almost in every human being there is, there are traits of brutality or, there are, you know, infrastructures or layers in which might grow brutality and sadism and so on. So, yes.

The Holocaust factor was very important, especially when the Iranian leaders have been threatening left and right, day after day, that they don’t recognize Israel and they want to destroy Israel. I think it was Rafsanjani who said—and Rafsanjani was considered a reformist—

Bahari: A moderate, yes.

Melman: Yeah, yeah. A reformist president and politician. He said it would take only one bomb to get rid of Israel, so that notion that Iran may use, may reach the stage in which they have a nuclear bomb. Israel doesn’t want to take that chance. Or to wait and see whether they use it.

We call, I mean, in Israel that perception, that notion is called, the Begin Doctrine after Prime Minister Menachem Begin was the first prime minister to order to destroy a nuclear facility, at that time, in 1981, of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, saying no single country or a coalition of countries in the Middle East, would have nuclear weapons, we would not allow it. And indeed, in 2007, Israel bombed the Syrian nuclear reactor. And now that was a kind of a preemptive action to prevent Iran of building nuclear weapons.

Now, Iran learned from from the experience with Iraq and Syria, and they dispersed their nuclear facilities and not put it like you say, like you used to say, the eggs in one basket, as Saddam Hussein did. And, as Assad did in Syria.

Bahari: So another question about your article, and maybe it was a little bit before Meir Dagan, becoming director of Mossad. You mentioned that the Mossad gave the information about Iran’s nuclear program, the information that was gathered in the 1990s to a dissident group. In your article, of course, you do not mention the name of the dissident group, but everyone knows that it’s the MEK, the Mojahedin-e-Khalq.

And this is the first time that I’ve read anywhere that this information has been mentioned, because I’ve asked many different journalists, different experts, and they say, yes, probably that happened that Mossad passed the information to to the MEK. But are you certain that it was the, information that was given to the MEK by Mossad? And it was not the MEK agents in Iran that gave them the information?

Melman: Well, maybe they work for the Mossad and they gave the information to the Mossad. But the Mossad, in order to launder the information, the Mossad didn’t want to declare it. Nowadays, they have no troubles. I mean, they conduct almost every day through social media, psychological operations against Iran, in which they point out about, you know, targets, or about personalities who are involved and wanted by Israel, as a warning.

But at that time, 25 years ago, 20 years ago, the Mossad was still trying to keep these secrets for itself. And if they wanted to reveal something, they use, you know, through channels. And I, as far as I know, I think it was MEK who published the story, once again through some other groups in the West.

So that was about Natanz, by the way, about the nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, which was at that stage only at very early construction.

Bahari: Yeah. But that was the first time that the world heard about Iran’s nuclear program at that time. And while we were on the subject of the MEK. As far as you know, again, how does the Mossad or different Israeli agencies work with Iranian opposition groups, armed opposition groups, in terms of carrying out the goals or the operations of Mossad?

Melman: Well, you know, the Iranian authorities accused the Baluchi…

Bahari: They accuse everyone. They even accuse me of being an agent of Mossad. And I know that I’m not. So, let’s forget about the Iranians..

Melman: Yeah. but they hanged someone, they hijacked his plane, the leader of that group and brought him to to Tehran and eventually—Jondollah.

Yeah, yeah. What, what, I’m trying to say is that the Mossad would not recruit. The Mossad would not recruit, the Mossad would not recruit entire groups as agents. They may recruit members of a particular group, because first of all, you know, they are very keen and they are a security—their field security, information security is very important. Departmentalization.

So you don’t spread, you know, the information that, you know, this group or that group is working for the Mossad. You may use some members of that group, maybe with the knowledge of the leader, maybe there would be some people in the group, in the organization, in the opposition, dissident group that are working as recruiters for the Mossad. That’s possible, but there’ll always be a buffer between the Mossad and these groups.

Bahari: Okay, so the groups are not recruited, but members, individual members of groups can be recruited.

Melman: Yes. Once again, you know, if they are suitable for the job and passing all the tests, no problem recruiting them.

Bahari: Yeah. And speaking of the agents inside Iran, in your article, you’re careful not to mention the third countries or citizens of third countries. After the 12-day war, Iran expelled hundreds of thousands of Afghan migrants in Iran. As far as you know, where those citizens of third countries that were mostly from Afghanistan or from Iraq or any other, country

Melman: I don’t know, and it’s good that I don’t know, I shouldn’t know, but, as I said time and again, the Mossad is ready to recruit anyone, be it Afghan, or Pakistani, or Azeri or maybe from Western Europe or Southeast Asia, who is up to the job. So look, I also read that the Iranians arrested 21,000 people, accused them of being involved one way or another in treason during the war.

So, I mean, I think maybe it was just a good opportunity to get rid of…

Bahari: It was a face-saving measure, basically, they had to do something because the way that they lost that war was really disgraceful. So, the reason that Israel attacked Iran on June 13th was that Iran was two weeks away from the from building a nuclear weapon, as far as you know, was that genuine and correct information, that Iran was just two weeks away, or it was the right moment to carry out the operation that they had been preparing for such a long time?

Melman: Well, all the analysis by the IAEA, the Vienna-based atomic watchdog, by the Israeli intelligence, by the CIA and it was this in recent, in the last year, Iran has been accelerating its nuclear program, and especially in the phase, which is known as weaponization.

Now, Iran was very close within a week or two weeks from having, reaching, having 90 per cent purity fissile material, enriched uranium, that was for sure. But this is only one component of building a nuclear bomb. The other one is the engineering of how to assemble the bomb, the optics, chain of reaction, and so on. And then to equip it on a missile.

Now, Iran has ballistic missiles. I witnessed it on my skin in the last war because I was staying in my house in the shelter and windows were shattered and doors were broken because of one of the missiles, two of them fell not far from my house which is by the Tel Aviv University. I think they targeted the university as a revenge, tit for tat for bombing in the Iranian embassy.

So, you know, it’s more complicated to see that Iran was two weeks before having a bomb. They were two weeks before having enriched uranium. They were very fast working on the weaponization. With the missile, it would take them longer. And then there is, you know, the big, big question, will they test the bomb or not?

Now, the archive information, which was stolen by Mossad in 2018, revealed, one of the major revelations of the documents, was that Iran was preparing five sites, in Iran, as nuclear test sites. There were no tests. They didn’t test it, but they were preparing it for tests.

So, you know, the Iranian rationale of moving forward was step by step, you know, stone by stone, very slowly. But yeah. And they wanted to be a nuclear state. A threshold state. They were very close to it, maybe they are, they were already and therefore Israel decided to bomb them.

And as you mentioned, because, you know, the timing was perfect for Israel. Trump is president. He gave an ultimatum to the Iranians “Within 60 days, you have to reach an agreement”. They didn’t. And then he gave the green light for Israel. And even he was part of the deception. You know, by setting this 60-day deadline, I think it was part of a deception.

Bahari: I guess at this point, it’s irrelevant whether it was two weeks, three weeks or whatever, they were. According to your sources, did they know that they would be so successful or did their success really surprise them?

Melman: Well, the Mossad and the military intelligence and the Israeli air force all work together, in a very collaborative effort. Unlike maybe other Western intelligence services, where the cooperation between the agencies is not always perfect with this in Israel, it’s very, very, good cooperation. There are some rivalries, of course, but basically they serve the same aim.

They had a very precise plan, and they knew what they were after. But to a certain degree, I would say that they even surprised themselves with the success of the operation. Really successful … because they I mean, you know, they the surprised from two angles.

One, the military operation in the field, in Iran itself. The second one, Israel prepared for thousands of injuries and, and, you know, death, with the Iranian missiles. And in that sense, Israel was surprised that the interception of the missiles, the Israeli air defenses, with the help of the United States was so good. That the damage relatively, relatively—Still, there was a damage in Israel. As I said, my house was hit and many houses were hit, but only 30 Israelis were killed altogether.

So the surprise was on both fronts, on the military field, that the operation was so precise, so accurate, so successful, and no one was killed. Not a single airplane was shot down. And that the damage that Iran caused was tolerable. Let me put it this way. Still, it’s a terrible to say.

Bahari: Not as bad as it could be. I’m thinking that, the reason that Mossad is able to recruit agents in Iran, be able to successfully operate in Iran, it all goes back to the actions and policies of the Islamic Republic in the past 46 years, because of the corruption, because of the economic problems, because of the political disenchantment, because of the discrimination against minorities.

Is Mossad, and are intelligence agencies in general, as far as you know, aware of such problems in Iran? Do they have the right academics and researchers to research and tell them this information? Or do you think that it’s a little bit more haphazard than that?

Melman: No. They know about it and they take advantage of it, of the weaknesses of Iranian society and the Iranian regime, of course. I mean, we know, you don’t need intelligence-gathering methods to know that there is a water problem in Iran, drought, there is shortage, there is corruption. The people, many people, don’t want to see this regime in place.

Absolutely. They know about it. And this is—You know, Israel is still a very vivid democracy, despite the problems that we have with our government. So, you know, democratic nations would always have an upper hand when it comes to intelligence, because the intelligence services of dictatorial regimes care only about preserving the regime, not about presenting the real picture.

I can give you a very funny example of how Iranians— I’m not trying to undermine the Iranian intelligence. They have some capabilities. They show some skill, skillfulness. I have all the respect for them. But they don’t understand Israeli society. And even when they launch some sort of a propaganda operation, as they did three days ago, as we speak, they put up a poster with Israeli leaders that are “Wanted”. Prime Minister, you know, tit for tat, Israeli prime minister, defense minister, chief of staff, some generals. They misspelled their names. I mean, you know, it’s open source information. It’s, you know, it’s clumsy.

Bahari:I mean, this is so sad for them because if I were an Iranian leader I would have died of shame, really, because how miserably I failed, and not only is their mission of destroying Israel is ridiculous and unrealistic, but even even if they wanted to destroy Israel, they would not be able to do that with this level of corruption and inefficiency and infighting and not being able to protect their own people. One other thing that I think Iranians misunderstand—How can they destroy Israelis if they cannot spell the names of Israeli generals? You have to be able to spell first and then, yeah, destroy it.

One other thing that I think the Iranians do not know about Israel, and as an Israeli, as someone who I know, you are critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Iranians do not understand the level of patriotism in Israel. In Israel, I’ve been to Israel three or four times, and I’ve met many Israelis. I know some Israelis in London, and I know how much they love their country, how much they, many people dedicate their lives to their country, including those Mossad agents.

What can you tell people in Iran, especially in the government, especially someone, named Ali Larijani, who used to be the speaker of the parliament who says that Israelis are not patriotic at all? What can you tell them as an Israeli about patriotism in Israel?

Melman: Well, Israeli are— Israelis, even if they disagree with the government, and many Israelis do not agree nowadays with the Benjamin Netanyahu government. Still, they have a sense of, there is a great sense of solidarity within Israel. And I can give you one example. You know, there was, before the terrible massacre by Hamas, supported by Iran of October 7th, 2023, when 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were butchered by Hamas. Before that, there was a protest in Israel against the government, and many people went to the streets and demonstrated, including, you know, some reservist pilots who said we will not fly if Netanyahu is aiming to change the nature of Israeli democracy.

When the day of judgment came, when Hamas invaded Israel, all the pilots were called to office and they and they appeared and they flew their airplanes and protected Israel. So it gives you an example that Israelis are very patriotic, even if they disagree with the government, and because they—they know what is at stake.

And what is at stake is that still, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, before the change, before Ahmed al-Sharaa came to power recently, they don’t want to see Israel amidst the Middle East. They don’t. They don’t think that Israel deserves the right to exist. And that’s at the heart of the problem.

Israelis want to make peace. Their neighbors, even Netanyahu. You know what, You know what I think about him. But even Netanyahu, is almost every week, twice a month is broadcasting messages to the Iranian people. He’s saying, “We support you, “We are not against Iran as a country.” “We are not against the Iranian people. We are just against the regime.”

Bahari: Yeah. So, based on your conversations with these agents, what’s the end game of Israel in Iran? Do they want regime change? Do they want to get rid of the nuclear program? What is the end game? Because, although they were successful in assassinating military commanders, these nuclear scientists, they made some really strange, bizarre, and some people would say stupid mistakes. Such as bombing the prison, and killing people who are against the regime in the prison. And they thought that it’s a symbolic gesture. What’s the end game?

Melman: The purpose, they declared purpose of the war in the plans, was to try to destroy as much as possible the Iranian nuclear project and Iranian missiles. Before that, Iranian air defenses were destroyed. And that’s what enabled the Israeli air force to bomb Iran and to stroll over the skies of Tehran like it was Tel Aviv.

But when the war progressed, there were some voices in Israel that were saying, maybe we would target the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. I don’t know if it would have been possible, but there were some thoughts about it. I think it would have been a mistake. But, eventually it wasn’t, it wasn’t, even considered, although some voices in Israel were talking about it.

For example, the Iranian president, Pezeshkian, was wounded, but he was not a target. And I know from my sources he just happened to be in the place that was bombed. He was not a target.

So, you know, the end game of Israel, I mean, maybe Israel would fantasize to see a different regime in Iran. But I don’t think it was a realistic aim. And it was not part of the war goals.

Regime change, most people would tell you, including scholars and intelligence analysts in Israel, would come from within. It would not come from outside pressure, international pressure. It’s not the story of ’53, when the CIA and MI6 toppled the regime of the Shah in Iran.

Bahari: So the end game is to weaken the Islamic Republic and contain Iran?

Melman: Maybe that would create a trigger reaction, would generate a trigger reaction, which eventually would lead to a regime change because the people would turn against the regime.

Bahari: Yeah. And, one thing that many Iranian propagandists are talking about is Israel’s aim to cause secession in Iran. In particular, you talked about Meir Dagan and him using ethnic minorities in Iran. Some Iranians, most of them, Islamic Republic propagandists, but also some opposition members, are talking about Israel aiming to cause divisions in Iran and separatism in Iran and secessions in Iran. As far as you know, as far as your sources told you, is that the plan?

Melman: No, there is no such plan. But Israelis would not shed tears if there is, you know, if there are divisions in Iran or there is a breakup of Iran as a country, or maybe some regions would need to see independence. So but I don’t think Israel is encouraging them with, you know, intelligence, in military force.

I mean, it was again, part of kind of a, if it happens welcome – we would welcome, we would welcome, we would bless them. But that’s not a target. And, you know, and sometimes we learn from even from our own experience that when there is a breakup of a country or, or a unit or organization, or if you kill someone who is a leader of of a group, these successors would be worse and chaos would emerge. So I’m not sure it’s part of the Israeli.

Bahari: So it’s not part of the plan as far as you know?

Melman: No, there is no grand strategy, grand plan to turn Iran into or to fragmentalize Iran as a state.

Bahari: Yeah. So the last question is about the current status of Mossad agents in Iran. As you mentioned, Iran arrested 21,000 people, and released most of them. They have said that they are penetrating into different cells, as far as you know, and your sources have told you, how much of Mossad infrastructure has remained in Iran and is intact inside the country?

Melman: Well, I know that around maybe 200 agents that were operational in Iran, and participated in the combat were lifted safely outside of Iran to their houses, to their places, to their families, whatever.

As far as the infrastructure agents, maybe some of them stayed. Most certainly they stayed. But I don’t think that Iran has a clue about them. And most of the Iranians that have been arrested is just face-saving to show to the people and the regime “We are now in a counterintelligence operation, and we will expose our enemies.”

So, in talking to some of my sources, I asked them, what’s next? “What will you do with the agents?” And they said, well, first of all, they will get bonuses. Secondly, they will send them to—they will go for vacation. Thirdly, some of them would retire and would say, thank you. We will not continue with the mission, which is fine. Some of them will be recruited again or will stay in place, and be activated again.

Bahari: And what did your sources tell you about the possibility of another war, another conflict, military conflict between Iran and Israel in the next few weeks, months, year?

Melman: I’m very optimistic that there won’t be another round. Iran doesn’t want another round, at least for the time being, until they would rebuild and recover and lick their wounds, not just air defenses, but also, you know, to try to salvage their proxies. Hezbollah, Iraq, the Houthis.

I’m not sure Israel would initiate another round. I don’t see that happening as it is—with Lebanon, you know, in Lebanon, whenever the Hezbollah is trying to, you know, to salvage some of its operations or some of its, to get some new equipment, Israel is bombing them. The Israeli air force goes into action. I don’t think it would be replicated in Iran.

But you know, maybe there would be some warning flights over Tehran skies, just, you know, to send a message to the leadership there. “We watch you—We know what you are up to,” “and be aware of it.”

And and above all, I think that eventually Iran and the United States will reach a deal, there will be some sort of an agreement because it’s in the interest of both sides. Trump is talking about peace all the time, you know, so we’ll see how it comes out of the talks with Putin. What will be the result between Russia and Ukraine?

He’s pushing to have some sort of agreement between Israel and Gaza. He’s portraying himself as a man of peace. And I think he’s very much anxious to have a deal with Iran. And so the Iranians—But it’s all up to the Supreme Leader, right?

Bahari: Yeah, yeah. He’s been very quiet in the last couple of months. But let’s hope for the best. I think it’s a great time to end the interview and say, inshallah. Thank you so much, Yossi, for this interview. I’m sure that many Iranians, including people within the Iranian government, find the information that you gave us very useful.

Melman: And let me say that I’m not an enemy of Iran. You’re a journalist doing your job. I’m doing my job. And I think is really at the same time. I met some Iranians abroad, not just you and, you know, they are ordinary, nice people, like many people all over the world from different nationalities. It’s just the politicians and the regimes that are turning people into what sometimes they are.

Bahari: One thing that I think a lot of people don’t know about you is the fact that you are a marathon runner and you’ve done more than 50 marathons.

Melman: No. Don’t exaggerate. Only 35, only.

Bahari: 35 marathons all around the world?

Melman: Yes, maybe. Well, I’m not that young, so I don’t think that I’ll be able to run a marathon in Tehran in my life.

Bahari: Let’s hope for that.

Melman: Yeah, I hope to.

Bahari: All right then. Great. Thank you so much.

Maziar Bahari – Iran Wire

The post How Israel Uses Dissident Iranians Against the Islamic Republic appeared first on Nejat Society.

The Islamic Republic claims that the MEK, which failed to garner popular support by promoting concepts such as “rebel cells” and “uprisings,” has now aligned itself with foreign powers and warmongers. The MEK, which once relied on Saddam Hussein for support, is now believed to be working with Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, to carry out operations in Iran, including the recent bombings.

Following earlier attacks on Iran’s nuclear scientists, where several were killed, U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News that the attacks on the scientists were carried out by the MEK, which was financed, trained, and armed by Israeli intelligence. The latest wave of violence—targeting civilians through bombings—continues this pattern of terrorist activities.

Iran’s government stresses that the MEK, as a group of exiled Iranian nationals familiar with the language, culture, and operational tactics, is an ideal tool for Mossad to execute covert operations like the recent bombings in Tehran. The MEK’s role in spying on Iran’s nuclear program and its involvement in the assassination of Iranian scientists have been documented by various investigative journalists.

Kevin Jon Heller, an international law and security professor at the University of Copenhagen, analyzed the NBC News article and stated: “According to the Terrorist Bombing Convention, ‘states cannot be terrorists’ only as long as bombings are carried out by ‘military forces’ of a state; bombings conducted by a civilian intelligence service like Mossad are not exempt from the definition of terrorism under the convention. Therefore, Mossad’s actions in using the MEK to kill Iranian nuclear scientists qualify as terrorism.”

In recent years, bombings in public spaces—aimed at destabilising independent governments—have often been attributed to ISIS, an entity created by Western powers and their regional allies. However, long before the rise of ISIS and al-Qaeda, it was the MEK that pioneered such acts of terror in Iran and the broader Middle East. For this reason, many consider Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the MEK, as the architect of these types of assassinations in Iran and the greater West Asia region.
The Alliance of Maryam Rajavi, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and Reza Pahlavi / WANA News Agency

WANA News Agency

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After the MEK’s recent show in Washington DC to supposedly expose an Iranian nuclear weapons program, entitled “Kavir Plan,” Newsweek magazine, publishing a report on Alireza Jafarzadeh’s claims at that meeting, considered the MEK and Israeli efforts to obtain information and spy on Iran’s nuclear program to be parallel:
“The MEK’s efforts to in expose Iranian nuclear secrets dates back to at least 2002, when the group revealed the existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment site and Arak heavy water plant. The campaign has run in parallel with efforts by Israel to target and unveil covert Iranian nuclear activity, including a 2018 raid by the Mossad intelligence agency through which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed to have obtained up to 100,000 documents related to Iran’s nuclear program.”

We do know that there are numerous reports of intelligence and operational cooperation between the MEK and the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad. Following the first wave of attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists, which killed several of them, US officials confirmed the allegations made by Iranian leaders, telling NBC News that the deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists were being carried out by an Iranian opposition group (the MEK) that was financed, trained and armed by Mossad.
In fact, the MEK, as an opposition force with Iranian nationality, familiarity with the Iranian language and culture, and very experienced in organized operations, is the best choice for Mossad.

The role of the MEK organization in spying on the Iranian nuclear program and assassinating nuclear scientists was later confirmed in reports by other investigative journalists. Kevin Jon Heller, professor of international law and security at the University of Copenhagen, discussed the potential role of Israel and the MEK in the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists. Specifically, Heller addressed the NBC report that suggested Israel and MEK were responsible for these killings and that Israel was sponsoring the MEK’s actions:

“Under the Terrorist Bombing Convention, “states cannot be terrorist” only insofar as bombings are conducted by the “military forces” of a state; bombings conducted by a civilian intelligence service such as the Mossad are not excluded from the Convention’s definition of terrorism. So yes, the Mossad’s actions in using MEK to kill the Iranian nuclear scientists qualify as terrorism.”

Today, about 13 years after the publication of the above-mentioned analysis, the Newsweek reporter asks Jafarzadeh about the MEK’s cooperation with Israel at a press conference:
“Jafarzadeh declined to comment on whether or not the MeK was cooperating with Israel on the issue. However, he confirmed that the information was being shared with President Donald Trump’s administration as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”

Gareth Porter, an American investigative journalist, has published numerous reports and even a book on the fabricated intelligence by Israel and the MEK and their collaboration to undermine Iran’s nuclear program.

After the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, another Iranian nuclear scientist, he suggested that Israel’s Mossad had spent years on a propaganda campaign aimed at convincing the world that Iran had a nuclear weapons program and legitimizing the assassination of Iranian scientists. According to Porter’s research, the MEK is also the operational arm of Mossad in its propaganda against Iran to justify its assassinations.

According to Porter’s article, “in their 2012 history of Israel’s intelligence service,” Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service”, Michael Bar-Zohar and Nisham Mishal pointed to Mossad as the culprit behind the appearance of the supposed Iranian nuclear documents. The writers recounted how Mossad gathered the personal information on Fakhrizadeh that was later released to the public through the MEK, including his passport number and his home telephone number.”

“This abundance of detail and means of transmission,” Bar-Zohar and Mishal wrote, “leads one to believe that… ‘a certain secret service’ ever suspected by the West of pursuing its own agenda, painstakingly collected these facts and figures about the Iranian scientist and passed them on to the Iranian resistance [MEK].” Porter asserts that this is “a pattern of assassinations justified by disinformation”.

It is obvious that the MEK organization, which has failed to gain the support of the Iranian people by repeating concepts such as “resistance units”, “uprising” and “democracy”, is forced to hang itself in the hands of superpowers and warmongers, just as they once considered Saddam Hussein their master and landlord. Thus, the MEK’s footprint in the tragedies that are occurring in Iran today is evident.

Mazda Parsi

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On November 1st, the National Post published an article, titled “Tony Clement: Iran’s Pro-Democracy Resistance Deserves the West’s Support” in which the former Canadian federal politician and former member of Parliament claims to have issued a statement along with eighteen other former government ministers from Canada and the European Union urging Western Powers to recognize the MEK as a legitimate alternative to the current government in Tehran. The so-called statement calls for Maryam Rajavi to install a provisional government as a transitional president.

National post article on Toney Clement comments

he petition considers the MEK “a deeply problematic group” that never presents the aspirations of the Iranian nation. It offers a brief history of the group atrocities and treasons:

So, what is the MEK?

MEK is a political-militant organization, described by critics as a ‘totalitarian cult’, currently led by Maryam Rajavi whose primary mission is to overthrow the I.R.I. According to an estimate by the United States Department of Defense in 2011, the guerrilla group has between 5,000-13,000 members, the majority of whom live in Europe and the US – with currently no support or relevancy in Iran.

MEK was designated as a terrorist organization by the US in 1997. The group has taken responsibility for many acts of terrorism over its inception in 1960s, including:
• Involvement in the killing of 6 US citizens in Iran in the 1970s
• Staged attacks against civilian and military targets across the border in Iran for over two decades
• Involvement in Sadam Hussein’s genocide against the kurds in 1991
• Attacking Iranian embassies in 13 countries including Canada and the US in 1992
• Assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists in 2012

After years of intense lobbying, MEK managed to reverse its designation as a terrorist organization across the western world. By rebranding itself as a pro-democratic group that advocates for gender equality, the MEK does little to hide its ties to the ultraconservative and autocratic government of Saudi Arabia. As Britain removed the group of its terror list in 2008, the European Union followed suit in 2009, followed by Canada and the United States in 2012 – allowing for MEK to lobby freely.

We urge the leaders of Canadian political parties to practice their solidarity and advocacy by listening to the demands of Iranian people; to condemn Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) and all of its fronts and campaigns; and to recognize that MEK is NOT the voice of Iranian people.

The post The MEK is NOT the voice of Iranian Nation appeared first on Nejat Society.

Rubin who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributor to the Washington Examiner and Commentary Magazine, is a critic of the Iranian government but he is also an opponent to any policy based on embracing the MEK and ethnic separatist groups. He has already written several articles to warn western politicians about the MEK’s cult-like terrorist background. In his recent article on the Washington Examiner, on August 4th, 2022, Rubin asserts about the MEK, “What it is not and has never been is popular or democratic.”

Leaked photo of MEK’s Albanian headquarters

On the MEK’s alleged part to expose the Iranian nuclear program Rubin writes, “That the group sometimes reveals intelligence is no metric of its influence or infiltration within the Iranian system. First, its intelligence is often wrong. Second, even when right, it simply represents how the Israelis, Saudis, or perhaps even the CIA use the group to launder information to the public so that the real fingerprints of those who gathered it are not exposed.”

About a year ago, Rubin condemned the American politicians who spoke in Maryam Rajavi’s annual gathering. He titled his article by this statement: “The Mujahedin-e-Khalq has become a barometer of Washington corruption.” He denounced a number of American retired authorities who advocate the MEK in exchange for “Five and six-figure honoraria and speakers’ fees.”

He accurately argued that corruption of the MEK’s paid speakers is obvious because “In reality, its leaders Masoud and Maryam Rajavi rule with an iron fist. It runs as a cult with its rank-and-file cut off from their families and the broader society.”

“Claims about high support inside Iran are fiction”, Rubin emphasized. “Many resent the MKO’s terrorism that as often killed innocent Iranians as the regime officials they targeted. More despise the group for siding with Iraq during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.”

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Recently it has been reported that MEK members are helping Albanian police identify Iranians among migrants arriving in the country. On the surface, this might appear a benign form of help. But deeper inspection reveals a sinister treachery.

Working with the police in itself throws up questions. Migrants seeking asylum from repressive countries have no need or benefit in lying about their origins. What role do the MEK personnel play in seeking out fraudsters? Who lies about their origins? Do the police employ the MEK members in some official capacity or are they simply there as ‘volunteers’? In this scenario, do the police ‘employ’ other ethnicities to identify their own? Once such individuals are identified, what purpose does this serve? Are the MEK personnel used as translators? Are the individuals informed that these are members of MEK? These questions should in themselves raise alarm bells about the involvement of this unethical, criminal group in a highly sensitive arena involving extremely vulnerable asylum seekers.

However, there is growing evidence that MEK are able to exploit this scenario for recruitment purposes. They will tell the migrant in Farsi that they will almost certainly be deported back to Iran unless they accept help from them. That help will be framed as facilitating their forward travel to Germany or France or the UK, etc, and that only they can prevent deportation. In this case, the target will need to stay in Camp Ashraf 3 to ensure their safety until travel arrangements can be made. In reality, no such arrangements will be made and these duped victims will be trapped inside Camp Ashraf 3 with no recourse to help or saviour.

This is exactly how MEK has behaved in the past. During the Iran Iraq war 1880-88, the MEK would visit Iranian Prisoners of War in Iraqi camps. They would promise to remove them from the appalling conditions of the camps where death, violence, torture and malnutrition were a daily risk. The PoW would be taken to Camp Ashraf and from there, the MEK would promise to facilitate their return to Iran, often via Europe. Of course, that never happened, and tens of these PoWs are still trapped in the MEK camp in Albania after three decades.

Later, as Iranians fled from the post-war revolutionary conditions imposed on them in Iran, including financial hardship, the MEK set up a recruitment department in Turkey to lure would be victims with similar deceptive promises of help. All the migrants needed to do, they were told, was come to Iraq for a while until arrangements could be made to transfer them to Europe of North America. Again, this was a deceptive trap, and these individuals were never freed from either Iraq or now Albania unless they made their own escape.

The MEK needs to recruit now in particular. From the 3800 members detained in Iraq by the US army in 2003, only around 1600 or fewer remain in Albania. The attrition of members has come about from various causes. Most are defections – tens of hundreds of people who simply could continue as members of a cult that daily destroys them and so fled the clutches of MEK. Some have died – from old age, illness, murder and suicide and of course, COVID-19. Of those who remain, the great majority are old, sick or disabled – from war and disease and neglect.

Whatever the reason, the number of members has diminished and deteriorated so much that the MEK’s sponsors and masters are beginning to find them a burden rather than an asset. Certainly, even slaves need feeding, housing and clothing if they are to perform valuable tasks. The return for this contract is barely worth it. Rajavi sells her organisation’s members for various tasks – to organise and participate in glitzy propaganda rallies, to act as click farm operatives and perhaps most sinister, to be the hiding place for several dangerous persons skilled in terrorism and prepared for suicide missions. As long as these services are in demand, Rajavi has a need for more younger healthier members. But there is a fine balance as to how necessary and cost effective this particular group is in the west’s calculations.

Whether or not the anti-Iran coalition continues to fund and exploit the MEK in its current manifestation – a slave camp in Albania – the authorities there should consider the national interests of Albania now and what its presence there means to the future of the country. There are, of course, multiple steps that can be taken toward dismantling the group. Certainly, this should start with preventing further recruitment into the camp and into slavery.

By Massoud and Anne Khodabandeh,

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If people in their 50s or 60s remember, the terrorist group of MEK assassinated six American advisers in the 1970s and published the news of the assassinations in a magazine affiliated to its group and was also proud of it. The interesting thing was that although the United States had placed the group on the list of terrorist organizations, it removed them from the list in an unexected turn, and even provided this terrorist group with financial, political, and intelligence assistance. This is one clear example of these double standards regarding international terrorism, in another example, the terrorist group of MEK has killed more than 12,000 Iranians, 6 Americans and thousands of Iraqi Kurds, and has repeatedly tortured and executed its own members, in a stupefying act holds a meeting in the Italian Senate, with some of the country’s political officials accusing Iran of violating human rights laws. In conclusion, I must say that this terrorist group does not even allow its own members to get married. In this group, no one has the right to think about sex, and if someone thinks about it, he or she should inform the superiors about it to be ridiculed, humiliated and finally insulted in a meeting. None of its members has the right to criticize the group and its leadership, and if they do, they will be tortured and even executed. According to many European and American scholars, this group is a terrorist cult, now with this regard, how can such a group claim human rights while violating all human rights laws regarding its own members?

Female soldiers of the National Liberation Army of Iran stand in formation at a training camp east of Baghdad, Iraq. Women make up nearly half of the NLA, the armed wing of the MEK.
Photo: Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images

In this interview with Dr. Haniyeh Tarkian, an Italian Islamic-Studies researcher and geopolitical analyst, we intend to ask questions about different aspects of the MEK activities.

Jack Turner: Some time ago, the MEK held anti-Iranian meeting in the Italian Senate under the pretext of human rights violations in Iran. Despite the fact that this terrorist group was on the list of American and European terrorist groups until 2012 and has shed the blood of thousands of Iranians, Americans and the Iraqi Kurds, and the torturers of this terrorist cult are still proud of their criminal acts, how is it possible that some of the Italian authorities are willing to attend a meeting of such a terrorist group?

Dr. Hanieh Tarkian: On the one side, we should not be surprised of European and Western double standards towards terrorism and terrorists. We have witnessed their bias in the Syrian crisis, when Western media, politicians and activists supported the so-called “moderate rebels” against the legitimate government of Bashar al-Assad. However, in reality, these “moderate rebels” committed crimes that were no less in number and cruelty than those of the ISIS terrorists, and we must also remember how the West supported Saddam Hussein’s crimes against Iran. On the other side, unfortunately, some Italian politicians and authorities are profoundly influenced by the American and Zionist propaganda against Iran and they do not know anything about Iran except that which comes from those sources.

J.T: How do you justify the contradictory view of the supporters of this terrorist group on human rights? While the fans of the group support them on the field of human rights violations in Iran, there are many cases of human rights violations in their past and present, and these criminal acts cannot be denied. (Deprivation of the right to marry, have children and have sex because of their cult affairs in the group to the massacre of more than 12,000 Iranians and also collaborating with Saddam in the genocide of Iraqi Kurds, and assassinating 6 American advisers are part of human rights violations and crimes against humanity related to this terrorist group).

H.T: It cannot really be justified; some of them as I said really do ignore the actual facts and do not know anything about the history of MEK and their ideology and some others are in bad faith and at the service of Western propaganda. This is why I think it is very important to make people aware of the history of MEK and their crimes. Western politicians will probably keep their biased view because they are at the service of American and Zionist propaganda but we have to do our best to let people know the truth. Most people in the West do not trust the media anymore as they did in the past, and they are looking for reliable sources of information.

J.T: As you know, the terrorist group of the MEK is known in the world for spreading fake news and propaganda against Iran, and the United States has repeatedly acknowledged that this information and news is false in its reports, such news as an example is the producing atomic bombs. That news was repeatedly sent by the MEK to the International Atomic Energy Agency, but after inspectors visited the area, they found out that there was no case in that area. Also on human rights issues, the group is spreading lies by creating troll farms that with this trick they can mislead political officials and whitewash their own activities. Do you think that with this black record and history, this terrorist group is a reliable entity for the political authorities to organize a meeting against Iran because of these cases?

H.T: This terrorist group is not a reliable entity but I think those in charge of the Western media propaganda are not looking for a reliable source; when they were spreading false news about the Syrian government they used the false reports from terrorist groups such as al-Nusra. From the Western media point of view, everything that introduces in a negative way the Axis of Resistance and the countries (Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, etc.) and groups (Pasdaran, Hezbollah, Ansarullah, etc.) linked to it is good, although false. They are not looking for the truth, they are looking for their interests, they want people to think that the Axis of Resistance is an evil entity and the USA, the EU and their allies are fighting against this enemy. Whereas we know that the Axis of Resistance and the countries and groups linked to it are trying to preserve their nation, their people, their culture and their resources from the globalist and arrogant forces.

J.T: The United States have repeatedly faced a double standard in dealing with the issue of terrorism, such as what we have seen in Syria and Iraq, attacking the forces that confronted ISIS or other terrorist groups, even in the case of the MEK, with the regard that they were on the list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) until 2012 but the political figures of the USA attended their meetings and spoke in their favor. In your opinion where do the double standard and activities of the United States on global terrorism come from? Why does the United States support a group that assassinated American citizens? Is this group a puppet for western countries or do they have another scenario for them?

H.T: The United States wants the Axis of Resistance, the countries and groups linked to it to become weak, they see them as their enemy because it prevents the Americans and their allies to reach their interests in the region. One of the ways to reach this aim is to maintain a state of perennial destabilization in the region (West Asia) and the terrorist groups have an important role in this, so the United States supports them as long as they are useful for their interests.

J.T: The terrorist group of MEK is one of the opposition groups of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has no social base, not only inside Iran but also among other opposition groups, because they are known for betraying Iran because of their alliance with Saddam. On the other hand, the members present in their camp in Albania have reached old age and are losing their capabilities. Now with this regard how do you assess the future of this group?

H.T: As you said they do not have social base and they are weak, the strength and influence they seemingly have now come only from the propaganda and the support they receive from the Western countries. They are small in number, nobody likes them, and eventually the Western countries will get rid of them as they did with Saddam when he was not useful for their interests anymore.

J.T: There have always been many ambiguities about the financial issues of this group. Holding glamorous conferences in Paris, paying speakers and politicians to participate in their programs, and various lobbies against the Islamic Republic of Iran are just some of the huge expenses that this group spends. It does not seem that only members’ financial contributions can compensate for these costs, apart from the cost of keeping members of this group in Albania. Don’t you think that the judiciary and regulatory bodies in charge have turned a blind eye to MEK’s money laundering and other crimes?

H.T: I would not be surprised if that were the case, as this is part and parcel of the Western double standards.

By  Jack Turner- Geopolitica.ru

The post Double Standards on the MEK Terrorism appeared first on Nejat Society.

Robert Fantina; Journalist

Mr. Robert Fantina is a journalist and political analyst, and an author of wonderful books that you can find on Amazon. He’s working for peace and social justice. He writes extensively about US foreign policy and the Middle East, which focus on Palestine, he serves on the board of Canadian voices for Palestinian rights and Canadian for peace and justice in Kashmir.

JT: As you know, in the war condition when two countries are in conflict, if someone betrays his or her country, in most countries of the world, this person is sentenced to death. Does this law also apply in the United States?

– As you know the MEK betrayed their country during the Iran-Iraq war and massacred a large number of innocent people in their country. They even massacred hospital patients in their invasion to Iran, this kind of action which is also prohibited by international law is known as a terrorist act. What do you think is the verdict of these people in wartime?

RF: yes, it does. Treason, the act of being a traitor, is dealt with severely in most circumstances. Some countries have outlawed execution, the United States has not, and this is an option if somebody doing that.

The MEK is a terrorist organization that seeks the overthrow of the legitimate government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Their terrorist activities – the killing of innocent people – are well-known. Yet they receive support from some western nations, most notably the United States, because that nation’s government harbors an irrational hatred of Iran, and will support any organization, even a terrorist one, that opposes it.

The leaders of the MEK should be charged in the International Criminal Court with the many crimes they have committed.

JT: As you know, the money of the MEK has led to the non-observance of international law in Western countries, and as we have seen in the case of Asadullah Asadi, an Iranian diplomat with political immunity, was illegally detained in Germany and in a Belgian court, he has sentenced to 20 years in prison that this verdict violates the 1961 Geneva Convention, and now Mr. Hamid Nouri has been arrested by the Swedish police on a sham complaint and is on trial. On his trial, he had repeatedly stated that he had not served in the Iranian judiciary at the time due to the pregnancy of his wife, and another point was that Mr. Nouri was not a decision-maker in the judiciary at that time, Do you think that a person who did not appear in the court and did not even a decision-maker can be condemned on behalf of a government?

– As you know, the courts issue the verdicts according to the judicial laws of the same country. Do you think that a court in a European country or any other country has the right to decide on the rulings of the Iranian courts? If that were the case, would it not be better to prosecute the US and Saudi Arabian court judges who sentenced people to death, or an American police officer who pressed his knee against the neck of George Floyd for 9 minutes for being black and suffocating him?

RF: This is another case of western hypocrisy. If an official of any country is accused of a crime, there are international bodies, such as the International Criminal Court, that are responsible for dealing with the situation. One must consider, for a moment, if a U.S. official, say, for example, former President Donald Trump, was visiting a European nation and was arrested for the murder of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Trump ordered his assassination, while the general was visiting Iraq. Several international laws were violated by Trump’s order. Yet he has not been held accountable. But if he were to be arrested for this crime when traveling outside of the United States, the U.S. government would condemn the nation that arrested him, issue sanctions, and possibly invade. Yet the U.S. supports the arrests and incarceration of Iranian officials outside of their nations. This double standard is typical of the United States. It also shows that the U.S. remains powerful, despite its decreasing influence on the world stage, because the ICC has not charged Trump or any else in the former U.S. administration for the general’s murder.

JT: A while ago, the representatives of the Albanian government intrusively entered the camp of the MEK and fingerprinted the members of the entire camp to present the citizenship identity card. As you know, when a member enters the cult of MEK, he has to hand over all his identity cards to the superiors of the group from the first day, and he no longer has the right to take them back, and he somehow loses his identity. According to recent investigations, a large number of members of Camp Ashraf in Albania intend to flee the group but have avoided fleeing due to lack of identity documents, but now that new identity cards are being issued and due to electronic version of these identity cards, those documents can no longer be confiscated by the group. For this reason, a large number of people will be estimated to leave this cult. Now, considering this issue, how do you assess the future of the MEK if it loses a large part of its members?

RF: Reports indicate a great degree of dissatisfaction among members of the MEK. It is one thing to disagree with some policies of a government; it is another to want to violently overthrow it. U.S. officials often speak about any protest demonstrations that occur in Iran as indicating that the people there want a new form of government. Yet in the summer of 2020, when millions of people demonstrated in the streets of major U.S. cities across the country, these same officials didn’t see the situation quite the same way. Some MEK members disagree with some Iranian government policies; no government will ever exist that pleases all its citizens. But following their involvement in the MEK, and seeing the mental and physical manipulation that membership in it involves, the MEK’s numbers will likely see a substantial decrease now that electronic identity cards have been issued.

JT: As you know, Albania has been a safe haven for terrorists for several years, and it hosts ISIS, MEK, and other terrorist groups, and the Albanian government made separate camps formed for each of these groups. What do you think are the reasons why a country like Albania is willing to turn its country into a safe haven for US-backed terrorists?

RF: The reason is simple: the U.S. has ordered it to. When the MEK was forced to flee Iraq, the U.S. government forced Albania to accept its members. The U.S. wants its terrorists physically united so that when the U.S. government wants to mobilize them to destabilize some nation that refuses to do the binding of the U.S. or Israel, it can do so with ease.

JT: The MEK ceremonies are usually attended by former American political figures, who give speeches and receive large sums of money from this group. These speeches have been legal since 2012 due to the removal of the MEK from the list of terrorist organizations, but with the regard that the group has a history of killing six American advisers, does the community of political, cultural, and social elites tolerate the presence of their politicians in these ceremonies?

RF: This goes back to what I mentioned earlier, about the irrational hatred that U.S. government officials have for Iran. The Iranian people overthrew the brutal U.S. puppet, the Shah of Iran. The newly-formed government severed ties with the Zionist entity and has offered stalwart support for the Palestinian people. It must be remembered that it is very expensive to run a political campaign in the U.S., and many U.S. officials rely heavily on financial contributions from pro-Israel lobbies. So if Israel tells them to oppose the JCPOA and support brutal and illegal sanctions, they will do so. The lobbies, not the citizenry, are their constituencies, and it is from them, and not the voters, that they take their orders. The fact that the MEK is responsible for the deaths of U.S. citizens is not important to these people.

JT: As you know, the corruption case of some American figures has been investigated these days, and even the issue of the presence and receiving money by Rudy Giuliani from the group of MEK has been included in the case of his financial corruption, which is being investigated by the FBI. In another case, John Bolton attended and spoke at a time when the group was on a list of terrorist organizations, which is considered a crime under US law. Now the question arises that what are the motives of politicians to cooperate with American killers? Is it just about money or something else?

RF: It is partly money, but also partly ideology. Iran is a mainly Muslim country; there is a great amount of hostility towards Muslims by U.S. government officials. Also, many U.S. officials, especially those that have been appointed by the current president, or previous presidents, are avowed Zionists. They will, therefore, do whatever it is that Israel wants, and Israel seeks to be the only powerful nation in the Middle East. Its main competitor for that title is Iran.

Additionally, especially during the disastrous Trump administration, there were many members of the so-called Christian Right in positions of power; former vice-president Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were two among many. It must be remembered that the evangelical Christian movement has strayed so far from the teachings of Jesus Christ that he wouldn’t recognize them as Christian if he were to attend any of their meetings. These people support Israeli terrorism and see Islam as the arch-enemy of Christianity. I can assure you that that is not what true Christianity is about. Yet that is why many of these people embrace MEK and any and all enemies of the peaceful nation of Iran. This is a nation that hasn’t invaded another country since at least 1798; conversely, the U.S. has been at war for at least 227 years of its 245-year history, and most of those have been offensive, not defensive wars.

Officials of the U.S. government need to use diplomacy, and not discredited religious ideology in dealing with other nations in the world. This is a lesson they have yet to learn.

geopolitica.ru

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