Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

++ Reactions to the Paris court case continue. Rajavi is on overdrive to shout “victory, victory”. But critics asked “what victory?” Ali Jahani has written listing all the so-called victories Rajavi has announced, with this as the latest one. He asks “as what part of your non-existent strategy or tactic does this so-called victory have a place, how is this a victory?” Irandidban has reacted to the court case saying that this is not something worth Iran even thinking about, but certainly France lost face when the judge accepted the word of Maryam Rajavi saying she had nothing to do with the Mojahedin Khalq organisation and was therefore not answerable for any crimes. It goes without saying that Massoud Rajavi has suffered the biggest loss here because all his excuses have gone – similarly being removed from the terrorism lists and similarly the change of government in Iraq. Now we must wait and see what Rajavi’s next excuse is for not doing anything useful. Using the same argument, Maryam Sanjabi’s article asks “what is Massoud Rajavi’s excuse for not coming out? With all these victories why is he still hiding.”

++ Rajavi has published an extensive article (in Farsi) claiming that the Paris judge has said ‘the MEK are a legitimate political force and have not undertaken any wrongdoing whatsoever, and are a respectable group, etc, (basically repeating what the MEK’s hired lobbyists say). It is interesting that the court of around 9 affiliated people have nothing to do with the MEK at all. As usual, there is no source given for this claim, and it its becoming a trend for the MEK to simply make things up on their sites. Their hope is that by repeating these lies they will be made to look like facts. They have increasingly opened new outlets under pseudonyms in London and Brussels, and now manufacture document-like pdf files about all sorts of issues and then link them all together. The MEK are also using these made-up networks against the Khodabandehs and Iran Interlink (as their main exposer and main enemy according to a pronouncement of Rajavi). As usual the outpourings are a mish-mash of everything to hide their true faces and, as usual, they are trying to show themselves as anti-fundamentalist but at the same time attack Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne and anti-war MPs and personalities, (and placing the Khodabandehs in the centre of these). An example is the website standforpeace.org.uk.

++ An article on Sahar reports that Rajavi has a new audio message for Camp Liberty residents in which the story of the “Moon or the Well (Mah va Chahr)” is explained. He says that some see me at the bottom of the well and some see me in the moon. He says that people who blame me for everything from 30 khordad (1981) to the situation in Iraq, don’t know what they are talking about! He says “I am in the moon”, and declares “you and the people of Iran should be grateful because I saved the MEK, (he doesn’t say for what purpose), and that was the biggest achievement of its history, and it has been its utmost aim and its highest aim ever. He does not explain what happened to ‘toppling the regime’ etc. Sahar reports that the situation inside the camp is explosive and trouble can be triggered any day, and the situation is becoming more and more dangerous as members resist orders and fights break out.

++ Nejat has a briefing article about the members of the so-called Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament which had its first meeting on 17th September as announced by the MEK. The article talks about the MEK undertaking damage limitation after the loss of Struan Stevenson and Alejo Vidal Quadras in the EP. “The new group comprises the same people who denounced Iraq – which did not take off – the same disrepute people who have been recruited as the MEK’s paid lobbyists”. Nejat concludes the article describing this as “Too little. Too late”. The new group is described as a mirror for Netanyahu’s policy against any deal between Iran and the West and as advocates for war and bombing.

++ Ghorban Ali Hossein Nejad has written a letter to the French president saying that “now the country of France (where I live) has accepted that the Mojahedin have done no wrong, could you please ask your friends to let me see my daughter for five minutes after all these years, and arrange for my other daughter, who has never seen her sister, to be allowed to have a short visit? After all you now have a responsibility in this as the head of the Mojahedin Khalq, who have my daughter in the unacceptable camp in Iraq, is operating from this county as your guest.”

++ Parsian Youth site has posted a new article further exposing a number of MEK torturers. Their names are Mortezaee (aka Javad Khorasan), and Abdolvahab Faraji Nejad (aka Afshin), both trained interrogators and torturers of Saddam’s Private Army. They have now been sent to Tirana, Albania, to control the members and ex members there. Both carry ‘Pentagon ID cards’ to show and they claim thereby to have ‘full immunity from the law’.

In English:

++ In Geneva the Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism (ADVT), an Iranian non-governmental organization for people who have lost loved ones to terrorism, hosted a panel in the 27th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. Speakers from Iran, Britain and the United States attended – Shia, Sunni and Christian. In the meeting Iranian victims of terrorism were able to tell their story.

++ Razak Abdul A’imma al-Haidari, Iraqi MP, from the Badr Parliamentary bloc said that the Mujahedin Khalq Terrorist Organization was counting on the ISIL in Iraq to collude with them to keep its members at Camp Liberty (Temporary Transit Location) and then to take them back to Camp Ashraf. “The MEK is ready to cooperate with any terrorist party hostile to the Iraqi government and the people”, the MP Al-Haidari told Ashraf News reporter.

++ News Analysis, Xinhua News: DAMASCUS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Washington’s recent decision to arm and train the Syrian rebels, who will supposedly fight the Islamic State (IS) terror group, will only exacerbate and prolong the Syrian crisis in what analysts said would be like “casting oil on a smoldering fire.”

++ An article by Massoud Khodabandeh published in Huffington Post and Iranian.com says ‘America Must Make Its Underlying Intentions Toward Iran Clear’. “If America’s Iran policy was designed to weaken and isolate the country, it has failed. Iran certainly feels itself in a much stronger position moving forward. Ultimately, the real leverage behind a sanctions regime is that it stops short of, but still depends on the ability to follow through with the ultimate threat, war. It is, however, now possible to state that if Israel, with or without the backing of the United States, could have launched a pre-emptive air strike to take out Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, then it would have done so by now.”

++ TEHRAN (FNA)- Yuram Abdullah Weiler, a Colorado-based writer and political critic, believes that the broad international coalition against ISIL is a massive media event to justify direct US intervention in Syria, underscoring that last year’s false-flag chemical attacks were not sufficient, but this year’s beheadings of western journalists seem to have sold intervention in Syria to the West.

“The Washington regime has a history of using covert action to attain its geo-political goals. From the Philippines to Latin America to the Middle East, the US has intervened in so many countries that it is difficult to count them. And what some would call covert action, I would call state-sponsored terrorism, so in that sense, the US is the world’s leader in its support of terrorism,” he said in an interview with Fars News Agency.

++ Open Letter of 57 victims of the Iranian Mujahedin-e Khalq Terrorist Cult to Barak Obama, President of the United States of America. “We believe there are a tremendous amount of similarities between the ISIS that was described in your speech, and the Iranian terrorist Mujahidin-e Khalq. Indeed, many experts on Iraq and Iran share the view that the Mujahidin in Iraq provide media and logistics support for ISIS. Some of the common characteristics of the Mujahidin and ISIS are as follows: 1. The Mujahidin hide their anti-western and anti-democratic thinking from the general public. While they believe in religious lifelong leadership and Islamic Caliphate and have been practicing it within their cult for years, they pretend publicly to believe in democracy and free elections…”

++ Expert in cultic abuse and terrorism in the MEK, Anne Khodabandeh, speaks in a London charity meeting. “A lively discussion followed. In particular the issue of Muslim dress code was raised in terms of the adoption of the Niqab by western middle class educated Muslim women. Anne Khodabandeh explained the structure of terrorist organisation by using the ‘onion’ analogy. At the core of the onion are the suicide bombers and beheaders, these are surrounded by financiers, logistics and arms suppliers, but beyond that are layers and layers of people not identified as terrorists but who support and hide the innermost activities. Some do this by creating diversionary issues like provocative dress.”

++ Fars News published a piece by Gareth Porter titled: The False Intelligence Behind the “Manufactured Crisis” over Iran’s Nuclear Activities. Extract: “Someone leaked to David Sanger of the New York Times that those documents had come from the laptop computer of an Iranian scientist involved in the alleged program who later feared that he had been discovered and managed to get the computer out through his wife. US officials told senior IAEA officials that they feared the “third party” that had brought out the documents was now dead, according to former Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei. But that was a crudely constructed cover story to hide the real source of the documents. In fact, the German intelligence agency, BND got those documents from a member of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK, also known as MKO, NCRI and PMOI), the Iranian terrorist organization that had become a client of Israel. The MEK member was a sometime source for the agency, but senior BND officials regarded the source as “doubtful,” according to former senior German official Karsten Voigt, who told me the whole story of his November 2004 conversation with his BND contacts on the record a year ago.”

++ Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya writes for Global Research: The March to War: Fighting ISIL is a Smokescreen for US Mobilization against Syria, Iran. Extract: “Like Syria, Al-Malaki government’s cardinal sins were tied to blocking the pathway to Tehran. Firstly, the Iraqi government evicted the Pentagon from Iraq at the end of 2011, which removed US troops stationed directly on Iran’s western border. Secondly, the Iraqi federal government was working to expel anti-government Iranian militants from Iraq and to close Camp Ashraf, which could be used in a war or regime change operations against Iran. Ashraf was a base for the military wing of the Iraqi-based Mujahidin-e-Khalq (MEK/MOK/MKO). The MEK is an anti-government Iranian organization that is bent on regime change in Tehran. It has even openly endorsed US-led attacks on Iran and Syria.”

September 26, 2014

++ As the UN Human Rights Council meets in Geneva, former MEK members have written to alert officers and attendees to the presence of Behzad Naziri. They say Behzad Naziri has donned a suit and tie and poses as a human rights activist to infiltrate the buildings and meetings of the UN. However, as a commander of Saddam’s Private Army he is a wanted man in Iraq where there are also cases pending accusing him of torture of MEK members. Many individuals have written personal testimonies against him in addition to their objection letters to the UN.

++ On the occasion of the anniversary of September 11, many people have written their personal memories about Massoud Rajavi’s reaction and the celebrations he ordered in support of Al Qaida. Rajavi said, “if they represent Reactionary Islam, we are Revolutionary Islam, and we can do ten times more”. Writers remind us that Rajavi changed his tune when America invaded Iraq and the MEK suddenly acted as if they had been American since birth. Rajavi was able to change sides in a matter of months because he leads a mercenary force.

++ The MEK held a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the organisation. As usual this became a laughing stock. Writers pointed out that whatever the MEK originally was it is irrelevant to what it is now, it is a completely different organisation. Some said this was pitched to hold onto their older members. Even though the MEK rub shoulders with the likes of arch neoconservative John Bolton, they try to pretend to be the original anti-Imperialist MEK. Others say the MEK now have no real identity and their Zionist supporters are tying to buy them one. The irony is that they want to identify themselves as an anti-imperialist force, but to celebrate it they have to invite Zionists and Imperialists. Critics refer to Maryam Rajavi’s speech – her asking in every way possible for the Americans to help them stay in Iraq. The new Iraqi govt has made it impossible for them or ISIS to remain in Iraq since the Iraqi govt is now united as never before. While insisting on staying, in same speech Rajavi claims that the ‘blood of the 52′ has won their place in Iraq. Critics interpret this as wanting to kill the others too. In the celebration one of retired US generals has demanded that the US go and take over Camp Liberty and announce it as a ‘free zone’ protected by air jets and that the UN must be forced to give the mandate to take control of the place. He also said the MEK have the same rights as the Yazidis as residents of Iraq. Critics deride this, saying the MEK have now changed their nationality and are claiming to be Iraqis. While publishing reports about their activities on their own sites the MEK have, as usual, added a few lies of their own. The biggest lie this year was a made up, non-existent announcement by Ayatollah Sistani pronouncing value judgements for or against the new Iraqi politicians.

++ A third article from Ebrahim Khodabandeh in Tehran has been published in which he talks about the contact he has from both current members and former members of the Mojahedin Khalq. He relates what these various people say to him along with his own opinion about their issues. Khodabandeh says the people in Auvers sur Oise are very confused. The MEK claims to be secular, but when members ask about continued gender apartheid and enforced hijab, the commanders give no answer. According to the article, there are three major issues troubling the cult. One is the issue of religious identity and secularism. Another is about the continued ‘Presidency’ of Maryam Rajavi after two decades. One member had asked about this and was told that Maryam is “President of the Resistance”, to which he innocently replied that “we all know that by ‘Resistance’ you mean ‘Massoud Rajavi’, so does that mean he has appointed her as his President?” Apparently the man was severely punished for this. The third contentious issue is circulating in Camp Liberty. People are asking why, when high up members like Massoud Khodabandeh, Masoud Banisadr or Mesdaghi left the MEK, Rajavi didn’t start attacking them as ‘agents of the Iranian regime’ until they started speaking out against him and the MEK, yet when his Arabic translator Ghorban Ali Hossein Nejat left, Rajavi immediately denounced him as a homosexual. The members in Camp Liberty say they have no problem with his sexuality even if it were true, but they cannot understand Rajavi’s sensitivity toward him and this uncharacteristic response. One of the groups who were undergoing an indoctrination session with Abbas Davari (a veteran member of 40+ years), asked him about this. When pressed, Davari himself discovered that he had the same question, and he too had no answer. Finding this out, the MEK forced Davari to write against Nejat Association to be published on MEK websites. However, Davari is semi-literate (he was recruited as a railway worker before the 1979 revolution), yet in other cases, he has apparently written a book in English denouncing former MEK members and was named as the author of the ‘Pentagon Report’.

In English:

++ Mazda Parsi of Nejat Bloggers writes about ‘Modern Slavery in the Cult under Rajavi’s Program for Women’. Stating that the treatment of women is an indicator in understanding a civilized country, the article identifies the example of the Rajavi cult “which is governed by kind of modern slavery system [that] deprives female members from their fundamental freedoms and rights. Nevertheless, the MKO propaganda tries to demonstrate a modern democratic portrait of a viable alternative for the Iranian Government while in reality it practices discrimination and violence against its female members. The new documentary published by Press TV proves just the opposite of what their propaganda claims. “Comrades in Arms” unfolds the story of those women who fell for deceptive slogans of the MKO. Looking for a brighter future these women ended up in Camp Ashraf, where they faced a gloomy fate.”

++ Setaregan Association in Switzerland have written an Open letter to Pandeli Majko ( Albanian Prime Minister 1999 – 2002). The letter warns him of the deceptive methods the MEK uses to trap people like himself into giving their support. “The Rajavi cult (Massoud and Maryam Rajavi) has two completely different faces. In the EU and US they are behaving like a chameleon and hide their true nature. For example, Mrs Rajavi pretends that she is leading a struggle against dictatorship. In reality, we have experienced ourselves that Massoud and Maryam Rajavi are nothing other than brutal dictators themselves. Someone who does not allow the smallest basic freedoms inside their organisation cannot claim to be struggling for freedom, can they?”

++ Tehran Times reported remarks made by Ayatollah Rafsanjani, head of Iran’s Expediency Council, in a meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard in Tehran. “The condition for serious and effective fight against the ‘virus of terror and terrorism’ is sincerity, bravery, and avoidance from double standard policy,” Rafsanjani noted. Rafsanjani, a veteran politician, also said how one can believe the claims by Westerners, especially Americans, that they are fighting against terrorism while they still support some terrorist groups like the Mojahedin Khalq Organization. For example, Rafsanjani said, the U.S. is fighting ISIL terrorists in Iraq while it supported the terrorist group in Syria.”

++ The Financial Times exposed a financial corruption allegation involving Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq. Khalilzad, who now runs his own consultancy firm in Washington, has lobbied for the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq in the past and also represented foreign businesses in Iraq. He has also lobbied for the MEK.

++ Justin Raimondo’s article for Anti-War ‘Hoaxes, Hype, and Hysteria – The War Party never takes a holiday’, says “While Americans were barbecuing over the Labor Day weekend, the Usual Suspects were busy cooking up new wars, from Iraq to Ukraine. While this is nothing new – after all, evil never sleeps – one thing I did notice: the stunning lack of imagination on their part. It was, in effect, the equivalent of a bunch of summer reruns: tired formulaic retreads that weren’t all that convincing in the first place… the neocons came up with a not-so-new one [threat]: they claim a laptop computer ostensibly captured from ISIS by the “good” jihadists – the so-called Free Syrian Army, which is armed and trained by the US – contains plans for constructing “weapons of mass destruction,” i.e. biological weapons. They’re even calling it the “laptop of death” – a phrase that ought to ring a bell for those who follow these sorts of things. That’s the same phrase used to describe yet another purloined laptop, this one supplied by the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, an Iranian terrorist group that, for years, has been feeding the War Party bogus “intelligence” about Tehran’s nonexistent nuclear weapons program. That tall tale was debunked in 2011 – yet another case of MEK cobbling together old outdated data, adding a dash of forgery, and shaking well enough to fool the credulous.”

++ Iranian Pen Association writes an Open Letter to Dr Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, warning him of the lies fed to him by agents of the MEK. The letter reminds Dr Shaheed of the cult nature of the MEK and details some of the MEK’s abuses of human rights inside the organisation.

12 September 2014

++ This week, Sahar Family Foundation has reported on yet another internal message from Massoud Rajavi to the residents of Camp Liberty and other MEK members, clearly stating that “I am not responsible for the overthrow of the Iranian regime, and as an ideological leader I am only responsible for your sins and your next life”. This has prompted many questions in Farsi sites, particularly ‘why did so many people get killed and why has three decades of war ended in this?’ The other issue raised is about the mental state of Massoud Rajavi himself; has he given up, is he engineering an exit, is he just mad?

++ This week Maryam Rajavi travelled to Geneva, as a publicity stunt, where she talked about everything under the sun, posing simultaneously as both a humanitarian personality and the leader of an opposition group. This prompted many victims of the MEK to write against what she said, naming her as ‘at the top of the list of human rights abusers and war criminals in the world’. On the political side she became a laughing stock because she claimed to have been instrumental in the “overthrow” of Nouri al-Maliki. Rajavi claimed that the Iraqis only achieved his overthrow by getting closer to the MEK ideology and understanding more what Massoud Rajavi is about. Massoud Khodabandeh commented on his Facebook : ‘Firstly, Maryam Rajavi apparently doesn’t know that Prime Ministers – especially those who have served twice – can be changed; unlike her own pseudo- presidency. Secondly, I don’t give it more than a month before she starts to claim that the new Prime Minister of Iraq is “an agent of the Iranian regime”, alongside UNAMI, UNHCR, ICRC, etc.’ Rajavi’s claim was so ridiculous that even many MEK supporters have been questioning the sanity of their leader. Al-Abadi is from the Badr faction and is much more hardline against Saddamists and the MEK, and has been at the forefront of efforts to get rid of them. An al-Dawa Party spokesman today said that al-Abadi is “determined to work toward the expulsion of the terrorist MEK from Iraq”.

++ This week the Iran Ghalam (Pen) website in Germany was hacked; the usual thing that Rajavi does when she runs out of other projects to spend Israel’s money; such as fancy clothes, plastic surgery and trips. Iran Ghalam sorted out the site and issued a short note to Rajavi titled ‘the disgusting face of terrorism’. The note reminds us of all Rajavi’s war crimes and crimes against humanity – including the recent support for ISIS and Jaish al-Adl, up to petty crimes like hacking sites. Iran Ghalam says that “by separating from this group we are vaccinated from hate and hatred, and if this is supposed to make us hate you, be assured, it doesn’t; we are neither provoked nor intimidated. The face of it is disgusting but we will calmly continue to educate and inform.”

++ Mojtabah Rashidi in Paris has reacted to Maryam Rajavi’s visit to Geneva. He reminds her of the hundreds of allegations of abuse from inside her organisation. He challenges Rajavi to answer just one question from the many hundreds which have been asked by hundreds of people, including insider Iraj Mesdaghi. “You don’t even dare answer one question”, says Rashidi. “To me, as someone who knows you, this sudden presentation of yourself as a humanitarian person is not a bold, but is rather a defensive action aimed at whitewashing the evidence that has come out against you.”

++ Irandidban published article about the MEK in Iraq saying, “you [Massoud Rajavi] announce things to people in Camp Liberty who are under your control and can’t even question it. It is clear that the MEK knows their problem has got worse now that al-Maliki has gone and al-Abadi from the Badr faction has arrived. The MEK hope has been to get support from the Pentagon and others to keep them in Iraq because they are collapsing, or to be given a place to be allowed to continue the cult culture, but now with the new PM that hope has disappeared as well.”

In English:

++ Daniel Larson in The American Conservative, tears apart those Americans who ‘shill’ for the MEK, stating that “Despite being a bizarre authoritarian cult with Marxist and quasi-Islamist views, it now pretends to be exactly what Westerners want an Iranian exile group to be. It doesn’t matter to the MEK’s American fans that it is lying about its political views, and they are obviously not worried about reciting those lies for Western audiences. Indeed, it has so completely hoodwinked them that they think it should be rewarded with American support.” He concludes: “Naturally, any exile group would like foreign governments to believe that it is the “main opposition” to the regime in its home country, but in order for this deception to work the foreigners have to be thoroughly oblivious and/or indifferent to the internal political realities of the country in question. If there is ever to be a “viable alternative” to the current Iranian regime, it will come from inside Iran and won’t have anything to do with a group that is best-known for its service to one of Iran’s worst enemies during the Iran-Iraq war. The shilling for this group by many prominent American former officials and politicians is one of the more disgraceful displays of the last decade, and as long as it continues it should be held up for derision.”

++ Ekatarina Kudashkina writes for Rianovosti, “We’re continuing to explore the US-led Global War on terror and try to understand why it has actually resulted in an increased terrorist threat around the globe.” Citing the MEK as one example of many, the article challenges the notion of America’s war on terrorism, asking has this “actually reduced the level of terrorism or has it increased the hatred and the radicalization of various groups or any of the individuals around the world…?”

++ Press TV produced an excellent documentary on sexual abuse inside the Mojahedin Khalq. ‘Comrades in Arms, Cases of sexual abuse by MEK Leader Massoud Rajavi in Camp Ashraf’

Synopsis:

People’s Mujahedin of Iran or the MEK is a terror entity responsible for thousands of civilian death in post revolution Iran. See how this group has been more of a dark CULT fraught with corruption and harassment. Comrades in Arms unfolds the story of those women who fell for the deceptive slogans of the MEK. Looking for a brighter future these women ended up in Camp Ashraf, where a fate worse than death awaited them. Masoud Rajavi, the leader of the organization had come up with a new idea about marital life; it was detrimental to the future of the organization. For him, marital love was a shackle that could impede the progress of his plan.

Therefore, Rajavi called for a compulsory divorce according to which all MEK members had to get divorced. But that was not the end of the story. While he forbade his men from having sexual relations with their wives, he decided to take their place. As a result, he turned Camp Ashraf into a big harem where he could have his female comrades in arms night and day. Risking their lives, however, some of the sexual victims managed to escape from the camp to show the true colors of Rajavi, once their spiritual leader and now the most lecherous man in the world they know.

++ Mazda Parsi writing for Nejat Bloggers revisits the Villepinte show in June, asking whether the short term gains of the paid speakers will outweigh the long term detriment to them. Pointing out that the gathering of Iranians consisted of all non-Iranians, Parsi questions “why this large number of non-Iranians – especially Americans – who speak in favor of the MKO despite the numerous reports and documents that confirm cult-like undemocratic substance of the group?” The various answers given by these speakers are strangely more damning than supportive of the MEK as they depict the MEK as a mercenary force to be used for American interests.

++ The UNHCR published a report ‘Update No. 11 – Conflict in Iraq continues to affect residents of the Hurriya Temporary Transit Location’. Anne Khodabandeh wrote in her Facebook, “This is an important document issued by the UNHCR concerning the plight of individuals held hostage by the Rajavi cult (Mojahedin Khalq) in Iraq. The current figure of 2,700 differs from the 3,280 who were transferred from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty in 2012. It would be helpful if the UNHCR would give a break down as to where the 580 ‘missing’ people are. Who has died, who has escaped and who has been moved to third countries.”

++ A report in Arabic today, translated by Iran-Interlink says, “A member of the political bureau of the Islamic Al- Dawa Party, Salah Abdul Razzaq, said today that Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, is determined to work toward the expulsion of the terrorist MEK from Iraq. Salah Abdul Razzaq, the former governor of the province of Baghdad, stressed that the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi would work to end the presence of the terrorist MEK in Iraq. Abdul Razzaq said that international bodies will work seriously with the new government to expel the MEK terrorist members and prosecute the criminal elements and restore the rights of the oppressed Iraqis.”

15 August 2014

++ As the situation in Gaza has escalated there has been a lot of condemnation of the MEK which has remained mum about the situation of the Palestinians and only expressed sympathy for the illegal settlers.

++ A picket was held in The Hague in the Netherlands to protest the situation of Behzad Alishahi a former member of the MEK who has been held in detention for several months. Various organisations sent representatives; some Iranian and some Dutch. Participants asked the Netherlands not to distinguish between good and bad terrorists and to treat MEK, Al Qaida and ISIS all the same. They stated that ample evidence has been found that the MEK created a case against Alishahi because he is a vocal critic and could not be silenced by their usual intimidation methods. According to this evidence, the MEK had collected signatures from their own supporters against fabricated allegations and then published articles boasting their power, saying if anyone criticises us we will do the same to you. The protestors read a message from Alishahi which thanked the participants and continued, “it is clear this action is targeting me individually, but is aimed at their internal critics to make them back off and keep quiet. As far as I am concerned it is only to be expected that your enemy will do these things against you. I hold my head high because so many friends are on my side.”

++ Ariya Iran Association in Paris has published documents and videos from Peace Association showing some of the participants in Villepinte making objections and heckling during the meeting. Peace Association has published the video showing tens of people standing up and trying to object before being escorted from the building by the hired security.

++ The website Mojahadin.com in Tehran posted a short piece titled, ‘When the Mojahedin Khalq override their masters’. After a spokesman for the Pentagon announced, “As far as we know Iran has no military presence in Iraq”, the MEK published a different version. A screenshot of the MEK website declares: ‘Pentagon spokesman says Iranian military is present in Iraq”.

++ In Iraq, Karim al-Nouri, spokesman for the ministry of transport was asked in an interview about the situation of the MEK. He said “it is public knowledge and we have clear evidence that the only reason the MEK are still in Iraq is because every time we increase the pressure on them to leave, the Americans intervene to keep them here. Our decision that they leave Iraq is irreversible, but we have now added the Judicial ruling that some will not be allowed to leave because they must face prosecution.”

++ Nejat Association (Eastern Azerbaijan branch) made an appeal based on an item the MEK have published. The MEK have claimed that 3100 tribal leaders have asked the US president to ask the UN to send blue helmets to protect Camp Liberty. In this statement the MEK claim that, “not allowing us to bring things into the camp that we want to has left us short of medicine and medics and has resulted in 21 deaths”. Nejat and the families are now appealing to UNAMI officials to force the MEK and its backers to make public the names of these 21 who have died so their families can be informed.

++ Nejat Association has published a new book titled, ‘A tune for death’. The book examines the words and behaviour of the MEK and Rajavi against the writings and knowledge of Margaret Singer, author of Cults in our Midst (1995).

++ Edalaat Association in Iran held a meeting in Tehran this week to address the issues of how the victims of the MEK can recover mentally and how they can move forward legally from their experiences. Various experts were invited to speak. Among the speakers was Mansoureh Karami widow of Massoud Alimohammadi, the first assassinated nuclear scientist.

++ Hanif Heydarnejad, an internal MEK critic, posted a piece on his own website titled, ‘The Heroic People of Iran’. He describes how, in his youth he got to know the MEK and its anti-imperialist struggle and examines the MEK position up to the recent event at Villepinte. He concludes that although the ‘People’s Mojahedin’ have always claimed to be the ‘Vanguard of the Heroic People of Iran’, there is no sign of these people any more. He now asks, “Where are these heroic people? We certainly didn’t see any of them in Villepinte. The people who left the MEK did so because they changed so much from what they started as.”

In English:

++ In an article titled, The Great Iranian Nuclear Swindle, Arron Merat unpicks the politically motivated false narrative about Iran’s nuclear programme which has been “wilfully adopted by much of the press”. The author identifies the role of the MEK in manufacturing false information about the Iranian programme and concludes: “The Gulf of Tonkin incident, which misleadingly sold the US on a full-scale war in Vietnam, and the claim of “mobile biological weapons labs” by the “Curveball” informant that helped selling the world on the Iraq War, are but two examples of falsehoods wilfully interpreted as truth by a supine press and a public conditioned to believe the worst. The West cannot allow a similar travesty to unfold in Iran. Its leaders should accept that the case against Iran is political, not technical, and work to end this long and burdensome affair.”

++ Hamid Babaei, counselor for the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, wrote an opinion column in USA Today, ‘Why are Newt Gingrich, Joe Lieberman and Patrick Kennedy hanging with members of a terrorist cult?’ Babaei’s scathing criticism of well-known American political figures who attended the MEK’s Paris rally declares, “Their appearance and their support for the People’s Mujahedin Organization (MEK) as an Iranian “opposition group” demonstrates their cluelessness about Iran. Considering the group’s history, its popularity in Iran is comparable to an American-led affiliate of Al-Qaeda.” After detailing the MEK’s “violent history, cultic nature and oppression of its own members spanning close to four decades”, the piece reveals that “in 2009, the State Department submitted information in court stating the MEK had trained individuals “to perform suicide attacks” and a declassified FBI report from 2004 similarly found that MEK cells around the world were “actively … planning and executing acts of terrorism. Most importantly, none of the members of the organization have ever been brought to justice by the Western governments who give them shelter.” Babaei’s powerfully argued case concludes, “The principle of the prevention of impunity dictates that acts of terror must not remain without legal consequence and those responsible must be brought to justice. The many victims of the MEK, those who have been killed or maimed and their family members deserve justice and the principles that Western nations claim to be unflinchingly dedicated to in the context of the so-called war on terror are trampled on every day that they accommodate terrorists, rather than contribute to their prosecution.”

++ Jim Lobe in Lobelog warns that Iran Hawks (who he identifies as the Israel lobby and its many allies in Congress), are launching a new effort to sabotage any agreement in the P5+1 nuclear negotiations with Iran. The piece identifies several of the politically motivated actors in this scheme, including some linked to the MEK, and says, “hawks here appear to be taking their cue more from Netanyahu than the professionals, as this week saw clear evidence of their gearing up for a major fight both within and outside of Congress.”

++ An article by Iran Interlink titled, ‘Mixed messages from Mojahedin Khalq signal collapse of internal unity’, says that the MEK were disappointed when ISIS – which the MEK had initially supported – had not overrun Diyali province and restored Camp Ashraf to them, and were now claiming to be against ISIS so as to lay the ground for a massacre of the residents of Camp Liberty which could subsequently be blamed on Iran no matter which group carried out such an act. The article identified the growing divisions between Massoud and Maryam Rajavi in how they see the cult operating, each view based on their different perceptions of where their true allegiances and interests lie.

++ Mazda Parsi in Nejat bloggers, like many Farsi articles, questions why the Mojahedin are so reluctant to cover the news of Gaza. He writes, “The MKO’s lack of enthusiasm and sympathy for the slaughter of Palestinians stems from the decade-long alliance of the group with Israeli Intelligence agencies. The notorious alliance includes financial, military, operational and spying cooperation that aims to demonize the Iranian Government. Their purpose is to curtail the nuclear program by any possible means.”

++ In a moving piece published by Christian Science Monitor, Scott Peterson reports on his interview with Mansoureh Karami, the wife of assassinated Iranian nuclear scientist Massoud Alimohammadi. The article describes Karami’s meeting with her husband’s killer.”Before the meeting, Karami had vowed that, as many pellets as had entered her husband’s head, she would “hammer that many nails in that person’s head.” But when she met Fashi she found a broken man pleading for forgiveness, sobbing so much that he used up an entire box of tissues.

“When I saw him, I saw him being so powerless and small. I said it’s a waste for my hands to expend all this energy [hammering nails],” recalls Karami. She has two grown children, a degree in psychology, and is now pursuing a master’s degree in women’s studies.

“I will never forgive him – there is no place for forgiveness. Because I don’t think he only affected my family, but the whole country,” says Karami, focusing her determined dark brown eyes. “All the people of the world – no matter their beliefs – they still respect their country, and he betrayed his country.”

++ This week, right minded Iranians all over the world have given their attention to the atrocities being inflicted on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Predictably, only the MEK – out of fear of their Israeli owners – have remained silent on this issue in particular.

++ The mother of a resident in Camp Liberty held hostage by Rajavi has died after her desperate appeal for Rajavi to allow a last phone call with her son was denied. Ironically, although Rajavi did not allow this contact, the MEK announced her death in a statement which refers to her as a Mojahedin Martyr and claiming she was one of their supporters. This nasty ploy of Maryam Rajavi provoked many reactions in Farsi sites about the way she behaves. Hamed Sarafpour sent his condolences to the family and reminds us that it was only a week ago the family had made a last desperate attempt to arrange a phone call. This, he says, is how shameless Rajavi is.

++ Sahar Family Foundation reporting from Tirana during the last week has detailed the situation of ex members there who, although they are freed from MEK control, still face many problems. They live in an apartment block paid for by UNHCR but have been told that at end of a year this funding will be withdrawn and they will have to fend for themselves. This UN support includes a small stipend for food and fuel which already doesn’t cover their basic needs. On top of that they are being harassed daily by MEK operatives who obviously have unlimited financial backing. The MEK threatens them to be silent, but even if they agree to be silent they are then pushed to come back and work for the MEK. The pressure can be triggered by anything such as contacting their families, or a random accusation of being ‘agents of the Iranian regime’. The latest ploy is for the MEK to tell them their picture or name is on Iran-Interlink or Nejat Association websites and if they refuse to write swearing at these sites they will be beaten up because they are “obviously” agents of Iranian Intelligence and the MEK will therefore deal with them as “the enemy”.

++ This week has seen a spate of savage verbal attacks on Mrs Zahra Moini in Cologne, Germany from a variety of MEK sources trying to stop her talking after she became vocal about her experiences with the cult. The MEK threatened to publish information they have about her if she doesn’t cooperate. The MEK also claims she has never been with them and was an agent of the regime when she came to Iraq and they threw her out when they discovered this, and afterwards she was sent to Germany by Iran. Moini has been a resident and citizen of Germany for many years and it is only now that she has become a vocal critic that the MEK are attacking her. Today, a collectively signed open letter has been sent to her by ex members in Albania, reassuring her that many of them knew her in Iraq and witnessed the many difficulties she underwent there at the hands of the Rajavi cult. They have promised to bear witness wherever needed that she and her husband Babak Nik Tale’an were forced to hand-write dictated texts falsely confessing to be agents of the Iranian regime, and that was the condition that they would transfer them back to Germany from Iraq. They remind her that each one of them also has written such false confessions as the MEK forces everyone to do. Iran Interlink has also published photographs of Moini standing with Maryam Rajavi.

In English:

++ Global Research published an analytical article by Eric Draitser titled ‘The Strange Case of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against the Backdrop of the “War” against the Islamic State (IS)’. Draitser identifies a clear shift that has taken place in the rhetoric against, and analysis of, Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki and his government recently. The article states, “It should come as no surprise to anyone who is even moderately aware of how US foreign policy and propaganda has historically operated, that the demonization of Maliki is directly linked to the inability of Washington to control him or, to put it another way, his refusal to accept US diktats… it was Maliki’s refusal to grant the US request to maintain US military bases in the country after the withdrawal which prompted the first round of attacks on him and his government… Maliki also took the absolutely monumental step of closing down Camp Ashraf and killing or expelling its inhabitants. Far from being a camp for “Iranian political exiles” as Western media have attempted to portray, Ashraf was the base of the Iranian terrorist organization Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), an organization supported wholeheartedly by neocons (as well as most “liberals”) in its continued terror war against Iran. Of course, because Maliki dared to cleanse Iraq of these US-sponsored terrorist thugs, he was immediately convicted in the court of US public opinion which described the operation as an assault on Iranian “freedom fighters.” We know all too well what the US means when it describes terrorists as freedom fighters.”

++ A. Sepinoud and Mazda Parsi on Nejat Bloggers write about the MEK’s seemingly desperate attempts to link itself to ISIS and other terrorist groups in the region apparently as a perverse way of proving that it still exists.

++ Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Ali Ashraf Rashidi, Head of Iran’s Evin prison, dismissed as a “lie” the recent media reports that a fire had erupted in one of the jail’s wards last week. MEK media outlets among others reported a fire on July 1 in one of the Evin prison wards. Rashidi explained the incident as “like how two electricity wires may have contact in any house resulting in short circuit and puff of smoke, the same incident happened in the clerics ward”, noting that anti-Iran groups are not expected to provide authentic reports anyway.”

++ Iraq’s Al-Raie International News Agency reported that “Awad Al Awadi, member of the Sadrist Al Ahrar Bloc of the Iraqi Parliament, called on the Iraqi attorney general to request that Interpol issue international arrest warrants for the leaders of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO), in particular Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.” He said, “some of the elements of the MKO who had come from Europe Entered Iraqi territory crossing Turkey borders in order to join ISIS forces in Mosul. Al Awadi stated, ”This is considered a threat to Iraqi national security and the Iraqi Government has the right to pursue the issue via international bodies.”

11 July 2014

++ Iraqi news agencies Al-Moragheb and Kol al-Akhbar reported sightings of 120 MEK working alongside ISIS in Mosul dressed in their own uniforms. Previously there had been reports of ISIS using MEK equipment moved from Camp Ashraf and that the MEK openly supported ISIS on its official website.

++ An article by Ebrahim Khodabandeh drew a fierce reaction from the MEK, including death threats. The article reveals that some members and internal critics of the MEK are in contact with him in Tehran by telephone and email and they like to nag about what is happening inside the MEK. Some also travel to Tehran and have met with him there. This includes several members of the NCRI. One who visits regularly says the MEK don’t have a problem about this activity as long as it is kept secret from others. The MEK threaten to expose such people and denounce them as traitors if their visits become known. Khodabandeh categorises the problematic questions circulating inside the MEK which include: working for Saddam Hussein, the insistence on staying in Iraq now, the continuation of the cultic indoctrination sessions and where Massoud Rajavi is. Anyone raising any of these issues inside the MEK is sworn at and accused of treachery. One NCRI member who travels regularly to Tehran told the MEK he was finished with them and no longer believes in anything they do or say. The MEK only threatened to expose and destroy him and even had the audacity to ask for money as part of this blackmailing stance. Khodabandeh concludes his article by addressing these MEK members and saying, it’s alright to rescue yourself, but you have a humanitarian duty to help rescue others, not leave them behind still trapped.

++ Representatives of Iran Setaregan Association had a meeting at the Iraqi embassy in Bern, Switzerland, briefing officials and offering cooperation to help rescue the MEK victims in Camp Liberty in Iraq.

++ Reactions to Villepinte continued, mainly putting the humanitarian aspect first. Writers criticised the MEK for paying millions of euros for speakers and audience which could have been better used to help the people trapped in Iraq. Several question why the MEK and NCRI add “of Iran” to the name while they have no Iranian speakers on the platform and the paid US speakers only talk about the MEK in Iraq. Why are all the speakers Western? Why not bring Iraqi or Iranian speakers? they ask.

++ Nobody except the MEK themselves has mentioned Villepinte without describing it as a PR disaster. Many commentators ridiculed the speeches of various speakers, and said the likes of Giuliani and Bolton calling for freedom and regime change ‘on behalf of the people of Iran’ is a joke for people.

++ In Iraq various people welcomed the fact that France referred to the MEK a terrorist cult, but a few articles point out that words and actions do not match. France says one thing, but does another. If you really mean what you say, they point out, why don’t you do something about it.

++ Videos of the participants in a meeting of ex members on Saturday 21st June in Paris was released this week by Iran Ghalam (Pen) Association, showing both speakers and parts of a small demonstration in the city afterwards.

++ In Paris, four members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly issued a statement warning parliamentary colleagues and government officials to be cautious about the deceptions of the MEK and not to fall into their trap. They advise colleagues and others to keep away from them.

++ Among articles by Bahar Irani on Mojahedin.ws, one predicts the fate of the MEK after the defeat of ISIS. Another compares Abu Baghdadi with Massoud Rajavi after Baghdadi claimed he is leader of all the Moslems in world, just as Rajavi did.

++ The final part of a series of articles by Milad Ariyai titled ‘Quarter of a Century After Eternal Light’ has been published. In this last part Ariyai talks about his own experience of the operation, before during and after.

++ Nejat Association published a demand from Mrs Babai in Iran, who has begged Rajavi and his gang to let her see her son once more before she dies from her terminal illness. At same time, in an open letter to the MEK leader from the Netherlands, Reza Azmudeh has a similar issue with his mother who is in hospital and her last wish is to see her son Morteza or at least speak over the phone with him.

++ Last week in Karbala the authorities accused a man called Mahmoud al-Serkhi and his gang of killing several people. A bomb factory was discovered and several gang members arrested. The man was known as a gangster under the Saddam regime whose accusations of rape and killing were dropped due to Hussein’s protection. After 2003 he put on mullah’s clothes and now calls himself ‘Grand Ayatollah’. Ironically the Saudi papers (which are anti-shia and don’t believe in shiite religious terminology) all refer to him as Grand Ayatollah. This was exposed in both Iraqi and Iranian papers in an effort to contain him. But the MEK were quick to jump on the bandwagon and praised him when he declared his intention to kill Grand Ayatollah Sistani and Prime Minister Maliki.

++ Jamshid Salvar wrote an interesting article on his blog ‘the footprints of the wolves’ – which is dedicated to analysing Rajavi and MEK activity. The article is, ‘a glance at the childish dreams of Maryam Rajavi versus this week’s clear stance by the French government toward the cult’. He writes that just as Iraq is throwing them out and the Americans don’t want them, now the French may expel the MEK. At this time, Maryam Rajavi, who is past 60 still acts like a child, surrounding herself with her paid audience and speakers. Salvar points out what rubbish she speaks, having promised regime change ‘in six months’ for two decades. In the latest meeting she refrained from saying six months leading Salvar to speculate whether her timetable has expanded into the 22nd Century. Yet Rajavi has paid all her speakers to say exactly the same thing, “Iraq has been handed to Iran on a silver plate”. Maryam Rajavi is on overdrive to support ISIS, calling them revolutionaries and then connects this situation to Camp Liberty to ask the Americans to liberate the retired MEK members so they can join ISIS. She has also not forgotten to repeat every word of Netanyahu on the 5+1 negotiations with Iran, and even exceeds him in lying about everything. Rajavi blames everybody else under the sun – the US, the West, the UN – for her failure to deliver over the past three decades. Salvar writes that ironically Maryam claims that the fact ex MEK members talk and write and expose her means she has power over them and Iran and Iraq are afraid of her. In effect she believes ‘they swear at me therefore I am’. Maryam is fond of lecturing everyone else but falls short of what she and Massoud should do themselves; the Americans should stop the Iraqi government from being against the MEK, they should find the missing 7 from Camp Ashraf, they should leave the area surrounding Camp Liberty and allow them to do what they want, the MEK should be given political asylum as a group and the UN should send blue helmets for their security – presumably Rajavi will tell them what to do when they get there. Salvar says Maryam Rajavi is like a child. They are about to throw her out of France and she’s still talking about these things. The reason she asks the US to help is clear, there are 75 people in Camp Liberty who are wanted for war crimes and she is asking for a way to smuggle them out of the camp because if they go on trial they will talk about her as well. Maryam Rajavi says ‘if we are allowed to have a demonstration in Tehran the regime will be toppled in 35 days’. Salvar asks, ‘where did you get 35 days from?’ But says the idea of having a demonstration is rubbish because the MEK can’t even fill the salons in the West and has to pay for the audience. He says that everyone describes Villepinte as a PR disaster because this bubble of pretence suddenly burst with just one sentence from the French government, especially that the MEK is illegal – France won’t keep them there. We know that is why people inside the MEK are already panicking he concludes, especially because Maryam Rajavi’s court case is still not closed.

In English:

++ Several articles looked at the stance taken by France, including a Press TV interview with Dr. Webster Griffin Tarpley, an author and historian from Washington, to discuss why the French Foreign Ministry has recently condemned the anti-Iran terrorist MEK for its acts of violence. He identifies sensitivity toward the growing threat of ISIS. Although Tarpley doesn’t directly say the MEK support ISIS he says, “obviously there is a feeling in the MEK I would guess that they have got to get involved, that they have got to contribute, they have got to make themselves heard or they are not going to get the funding that they are accustomed to getting.” Asked if the French would expel the MEK Tarpley said that it’s up to them but there is “in the Western intelligence community a kind of frisson – a shudder of alarm – about the terrorists that are being minted in the ISIS but also in the Nusra Front inside Syria and in this entire situation.”

++ Massoud Khodabandeh’s article in Iranian.com says everyone is a loser for allowing the MEK to promote ISIS in Paris.

++ Habilian Association in Iran highlights Guy Taylor’s report in the Washington Times which says that each of the former U.S. officials who spoke to the paper acknowledged that some of their respect for the MKO “stems from the group’s history of having shared intelligence with Washington” about Iran’s nuclear program and the Iranian military activity inside Iraq. The MKO has provided U.S. military officials and successive U.S. administrations with “all types of good intelligence,” said Gen. Shelton. [Ironically, ‘spying for the MEK’ is the reason the IRI gave for the execution of Gholamreza Khosravi] The report quoted an MEK spokesman saying “…the organization’s reach and popularity inside Iran are deep and were instrumental in bringing about the 2009 uprising against the government in Tehran!” [Ironically the very excuse given by the IRI for its severe crackdown on people’s peaceful protests.]

++ Sahar Family Foundation wrote a letter to Jane Hol Lute on behalf of several hundred families of residents in Camp Liberty. Now the situation has become so tense and dangerous the families want to know what plans and progress has been made to rescue their loved ones: “It is now about 6 months since you were appointed as the UN Secretary-General’s special adviser to relocate the residents of Camp Liberty to other countries. We are aware that you have always been successful in your previous tasks and no one doubts your capabilities. We wish kindly to ask you to let us know what efforts you have made to transfer these people to a safe place, and what obstacles you have faced during fulfilling your mission and what programs you have for the future.”

++ Fars News (Iran) reported that “the Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council, Mohammad Javad Larijani, blasted the European states for sheltering members of the terrorist groups, including PJAK (the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan) and Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, PMOI and NCRI), adding that they have turned into a safe haven for the terrorists.”

++ Voltairenet described the MEK’s Villepinte meeting as an ‘International meeting for ISIL in France’. “While the main objective of the meeting was to support the Mujahidin military base in Iraq, Camp Asharaf and their fight against Iran, MEK president Maryam Rajavi seized the opportunity to violently lash out against Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and rejoice over the progress achieved by the Islamic Emirate in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)… French politics nowadays are profoundly schizophrenic: on one hand France (as the U.S.) officially condemns the destabilization of a State by a terrorist organization, while on the other hand, the Élysée participates alongside the U.S. in the secret war in the Middle East and details Foreign Legion officers to oversee the ISIL in Syria and Iraq.”

 04 July 2014

++Last week rumours circulated that while he was in Paris, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani had met with Maryam Rajavi. This week Nazim Dabbagh, the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Tehran announced that “no such meeting has ever taken place and our position toward this group has always been clear. Over the past few years we have repeatedly said that the MEK have massacred many Kurdish villagers and we can’t ignore that”.

++ A report from Albania states that the number of former Camp Liberty residents who have separated from the MEK after arriving in Tirana is now greater than those remaining loyal. Out of 210 individuals, more than half have now officially separated from the cult.

++ The majority of writing about the MEK in Farsi this week has concentrated on the MEK’s overt support for ISIS. This comes from as wide a spectrum as could be imagined; ex members, internal critics, various Iranian opposition inside and outside the country, people and groups from every direction, all have articles which express disgust for the MEK.

++ Many people, including the families of those in Camp Liberty have deep concerns about the MEK position in relation to ISIS. They believe Massoud Rajavi is trying to render the MEK residents of Camp Liberty legitimate targets by supporting ISIS and fuelling hatred among various Iraqi factions. His aim is to get rid of them as witnesses to his crimes. Some writers criticise those Americans and Israelis who support this group. They point out that the MEK can’t be trusted and this support will backfire at some point. The MEK are now openly supporting ISIS rather than being covert about it. Of course, these writers argue, the MEK may be at the end of their line and this kind of thing is to be expected, but surely the US and Israel cannot be so desperate.

++ Still in the context of MEK support for ISIS, other writers link it with the MEK rally in Paris on 27 June which celebrates armed struggle. The articles touch on the MEK’s history of violence and terrorism. They conclude that although the MEK was removed from the terrorist lists of several countries, the group has always remained a terrorist entity and have never given up this role. For anyone who claims otherwise, like the MEK’s Western supporters, this shows exactly where they stand in relation to terrorism. Ali Jahani from Germany wrote a detailed article titled ‘Rajavi’s cult 33 years after 30 Khordad 1360′. He examines the historical episodes and events which reveal the MEK as violent murderers and terrorists.

++ There has been much complaint among the MEK’s critics about the support for ISIS. Ali Behrouz (writing as Ali Nazer) sums it up in one sentence, “Rajavi, don’t be mistaken, this is not the smell of kebab, it is the smell of branding donkeys!” He points out that Rajavi claims to be Shia. Of course neither ISIS nor the Saddamists ever accept him. Nothing will come out of it for Rajavi in the end.

++ Massoud Rajavi gave a message to the residents of Camp Liberty. He told them, “We [sic] must face giving the final sacrifice, we either win [he means ISIS wins] or we are all going to die”. Internal critic Ismael Vafa Yaghmai wrote an article in response titled ‘Long Live the Crevice’. He goes through the whole history of the MEK identifying how they have always found a crack or a division or a fight to push themselves into and exist there for a while. And if that crack closes, they go and find a new one and live there – a bit like a parasite. Because the MEK have nothing from themselves to live on, they have ended in the parasitical position they have now of taking the side of ISIS. In one part he asks “have you ever thought, as I think, that the leader of this group knows more than anyone else what he is up to and what cards he plays on the table. I think he is running out of cards and these are among the last ones he is putting down. If Camp Liberty had been moved he would have been playing a different hand, but since that didn’t happen he is now placating ISIS and Iraqi tribal leaders with his last speech when he said ‘we have given hundreds of thousands of martyrs, we won’t hesitate to give these three thousand either’”.

++ Some articles and posts were written about the anniversary of the MEK self-immolations in 2003 and how the participants – two of whom died – were ordered to do this. Habilian Association in Iran has an article in English about this.

++ A press conference in Brussels on June 11 provoked many reactions in Farsi and an important article in English by Eldar Mamedov published in Lobelog. Mamedov identifies a handful of now former MEPs who have created the ‘European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA), a “new NGO with the mission of improving the political and human rights situation in Iraq.”’ While the world looked on in horror at the actions of jihadist extremists from ISIS, the MEPs downplayed this by claiming “these actions were not carried out by ISIS, but were “part of a popular uprising” against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.” The root of this stance appears to be their support for the MEK: “After years of unchecked lobbying efforts, the MEK has convinced some MEPs to advocate in its favor. In addition to the leftist groups who uncritically support the MEK because it claims to have Marxist beliefs (along with Islamic ones!), right-wing MEPs seem taken in by its fervent anti-Iranian government stance. It is therefore not surprising that the individuals endorsing the EIFA have also endorsed the MEK.” Straun Stevenson, Alejo Vidal Quadras and Paulo Casaca have all been fervent supporters of the terrorist MEK. None will continue as MEPs in the new session of the European Parliament. Mamedov says that the MEK will try to recruit among new MEPs whom he warns against “associating with an organization that attempts to minimize the acts of a group so murderous and fanatical that even al-Qaeda has declared it too extreme”.

++ Farsi articles about the same event in Brussels say it is clear that those who back ISIS, Saddamists and the MEK are the same people, and they have influence in London, Washington and Brussels. As much as they claim to oppose terrorism, it is Westerners like these in Brussels who give it their full support.

In English:

Mazda Parsi writing in Nejat Bloggers examines the links between ISIS and the MEK. “This devil alliance between Baathists, extremists and cultists is not accidental. It actually originates in the cult-like violence which exists in the substance of such groups. Definitely, the cult of Rajavi and ISIS resort to violence and terror as their only solution to the world’s problems. The most crucial factor in the rule of both which is based in violence is that dissident voice must be silenced by killing and bloodshed… The MKO leaders also deal out harsh treatment against their own members in their camps. Members including hundreds of women are isolated from the outside world just like the so-called Islamic state of ISIS in Mosul under which women are banned from getting out of house or being uncovered.”

++ According to Fars News, an entreaty by Kazzem Jalali (Head of the Majlis’s Friendship Group with the European Parliament), in Tehran on Sunday, prompted Elmar Brok (Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs) to stress that “that the new European Parliament lays emphasis on the importance of the relations with Iran, and said, “The majority of the European Parliament do not like cooperation with groups such as MKO and only a minority group in the Parliament support the MKO.” Jalali had expressed surprise at the presence of a “shameless” group like the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization in the European Parliament, and said, “Even the critics of Iran’s political system do not recognize the MKO and the European Parliament had better try to listen to the Iranian nation, statesmen and people’s true representatives.”

++ Henriette Johansen in Middle East Monitor writes: ‘Mossad used Mojahedin Khalq for years – Global fear of Iran’s ‘controversial’ nuclear programme is a ‘US-Israeli construct’. One interviewee, Ellie Geranmayeh, Iran expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) insisted, “In the same way that any potential military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme needs to be explained to the United Nations, the West also needs to explain the basis of its accusations and suspicions.”

++ Nejat Society Gilan office celebrated the reunion of Mr. Rajabzadeh and his beloved children who were barely 5 years old when their father left home as a an Iranian soldier to fight Iraqi Baa’th regime. Mr. Rajabzadeh was a war prisoner when the MKO recruiters deceived him to join their cult. Under the mind control system of the cult, he lost his youth and family. While hugging his father, the son of Mr. Rajabzadeh, Mehran cried , “Shame on Rajavi who separated me and my sister from our father for 27 years! He made us live in grief and suffering.” Rajabzadeh’s daughter, Razieh hugged and kissed her father. She appreciated the efforts of Nejat Society for the return of her father. Reza Rajabzadeh who could hardly ever control his tears said:” I’m sorry… I love my children… Shame on Rajavi who broke down a lot of families! I will not stop denouncing him and his cult unless all prisoners of Camp liberty are released.” Reza Rajabzadeh left the MKO about two years ago. After his release, he stayed in a hotel in Baghdad as he wanted. He was one of the active ex-members of the group who revealed the notorious safe house of Masoud Rajavi, Base 49.

20 June 2014