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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Destroy safe havens for terrorists

An Iranian lawmaker has urged the government to step up diplomatic efforts to deter terrorists in neighboring countries from hurting Iranian nationals.

"Officials should hold talks with neighboring countries in a bid to destroy anti-Iranian terrorist cells who have found safe havens over the border," IRNA quoted a member of the Majlis’ Foreign Policy Commission, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, as saying on Friday.

A pair of gunmen on Thursday opened fire on a police patrol in Iran’s western city of Sanandaj, killing four officers and a bystander.
The attack, which happened in the city’s main square, also wounded five other policemen and four civilians, one who remains in critical condition.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A ceremony commemorating the victims of the terrorist attack is scheduled to be held in Sanandaj on Saturday.

In September, a bomb explosion near a military parade in West Azarbaijan Province claimed 12 lives and injured at least 80 people.

Shortly afterwards, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said it had identified and killed all terrorists associated with the attack in an operation.

Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorists, the banned group PJAK — an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (also known as PKK) — as well as the Iraq-based Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) have all carried out deadly attacks against Iranian officials and civilians in the past years.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Letter to the families of victims of September 11

The letter of Iran’s families of terrorist victims to the families of victims of September 11

Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 marked a painful beginning for the millennium of the The letter of Iran's families of terrorist victims to the families of victims of September 11human civilization history. This event was the evidence of the obvious savageries of groups which do not consider any respect for human lives and do not hesitate in committing any crime for achieving their goals.

Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 marked a painful beginning for the millennium of the human civilization history. This event was the evidence of the obvious savageries of groups which do not consider any respect for human lives and do not hesitate in committing any crime for achieving their goals.

We, the members of Justice Supporters Association, compromising the families of 16000 terrorism victims of Iran, once more condemning the September 11 attacks and expressing our sympathy with the victims’ families, believe that terrorism is an ominous phenomenon which revealed its cruel nature more than ever in 2001 attacks.

The happiness of terrorist organizations across the globe following this heart-breaking event showed that the global community is encountering interacted and dangerous organizations which do not follow any role in murder and violence, these organizations kill innocent people throughout the world from the biggest cities of the United States to the small villages of the Middle East.

One of these organizations is the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization which celebrated after the September 11 attacks due to its Marxist-Leninist ideologies. Now the question is that, why the leaders of terrorist organizations like MKO and Al-Qaeda which have bee designated as cult-like terrorist organizations, are not arrested and tried.

Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist organization, which has murdered more than 12000 civilians in Iran and cooperated in the suppression of Kurds and Shiites in Iraq, has perpetrated various crimes including kidnapping, highjacking, armed robbery, however, not any step has been taken by international societies for its eradication.

We, the families of terror victims and members of the Justice Supporters Association who have lost our dearest ones by MKO attack, call for the arrest and trial of the leaders of this terrorist organization. We would like to witness a day in which no one grieves for his beloved ones. This is not possible unless an international effort and cooperation of non-governmental organizations comprised of terror victims’ families of the world.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Court Order Doesn’t Mean MKOs Removal from U.S. FTO List

The Mujahedin-eh Kalq Organization (MKO/MEK) since 1997 has been listed by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The designation was reaffirmed in January 2009 by then-secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The MKO has had a long history of Court Order Doesn’t Mean MKOs Removal from U.S. FTO Listterror and violence and has recently and eagerly tried to clean up its image—hoping the effort will help remove them from the FTO list. The MKO believes that if they are removed from the FTO list, they will have more credibility as an organization, and therefore gain more support from Western nations. The MKO currently argues that it had ceased its military campaign against the Iranian government in 2001, voluntarily handed over its arms to U.S. forces in 2003 and provided a flood of information to U.S. intelligence about Iran’s nuclear programs. [1] The MKO’s ultimate goal in this plan is to replace the Iranian government with their own, and they are seeking support from Western nations, never mind the fact that neither of the MKO leaders nor many members of this cult have stepped foot inside Iran for more than three decades. The MKO is out of touch with the pulse of the nation and the more they press for being removed from the FTO list, the more wary regular Iranians become—as it signifies that the MKO is becoming tighter with the very nations which impeded Iran’s natural political progress; Iranian citizens do not want a U.S. supported MKO—they simply see it as treacherous liaison, which if nurtured, will make an already tense relationship with Iran even worse.

The MKO believes they have made an advancement because now, by way of a heavy handed legal battle, they are celebrating a federal appeals court decision—argued January 12, 2010 and recently decided July 16, 2010—which orders the State Department to review its FTO designation of the MKO on the grounds that the MKO was not privy to classified information, and therefore could not establish an argument and rebuttal which they believe would generate a stronger case to get them removed from the list. The final order was not about lifting the MKO off the Foreign Terrorist Organization list, but about due process for the group. The court stated that the purpose of the remand was to afford the MKO “an opportunity to review and rebut the unclassified portions of the record.” [2] The court also stated in the order that the Secretary of State’s “denial of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran’s petition for revocation of its 2003 designation as a foreign terrorist organization is remanded to the Secretary for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” [3] What this means, is that the petition will end up back on the Secretary’s desk and the Secretary will look at it again. The judge who preceded over the case made a note in the order which states that “none of the AEDPA (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996) cases decides whether an administrative decision relying critically on undisclosed classified material would comport with due process because in none was the classified record essential to uphold an FTO designation.[4] This is an unfavorable comment—although the Secretary is obligated to reconsider, she is unlikely to lift the MKO from the FTO list.

Standard procedure for the MKO in a situation like this is to celebrate as if it was a huge victory. The celebration is meant to bolster morale among members and augment interest from anyone from the media who will listen and report on the MKO’s plight. In essence they have used this ruling to exaggerate the issue and create a positive hype. In celebrating, they also hope to reinforce support from agenda-pushing neoconservative politicians who believe that Iran cannot handle its own domestic affairs. In France, in Auver Sur d-Oise where Maryam Rajavi, the self-imposed leader of the MKO, who feels entitled to speak on behalf of Iranian citizens despite, as previously mentioned, not having set foot in Iran for more than three decades, spoke to her sympathizers after the ruling; her response to the court order was that "sanctions against this regime are necessary and very important, but not enough. A regime change materializes in the resistance of a nation. International peace and security can only be guaranteed when ruling religious fascism is gone. So barriers to change must be removed. The chains tying the hands of the organized resistance of people must be removed." [5]. The chains she speaks of is the designation of the MKO as an FTO, and the bottom line here is that the MKO has not been de-listed from the Foreign Terrorist List—a statement she wishes to twirl into a bondage metaphor.

Rajavi claims that the FTO designation of her cult is a barrier to gain international peace and security. This is fine to claim, but the logic is fuzzy because the information gleaned from the court proceedings suggests nothing about moving Iran towards peace and security. According to Glen Kessler’s report from the Washington Post, “During the court proceedings, some of that information was declassified. State asserted that the group has not ended its military operations, still intends to use violence to achieve its political goals, has trained females to be suicide bombers and that much of the information it has provided on Iran’s nuclear program has been wrong. But the court cast doubt on some of these assertions and said the group now must be given the opportunity to rebut these charges.” [6] Kessler asserts that the State Department said it would study the opinion ‘carefully’ and noted it continues to view the group as a terrorist organization.” [7] It’s clear that promptly, the court cast doubt not because they thought the MKO was really a peaceful and non-violent group, but because the MKO was denied access to classified information and therefore could not rebut.

It is important for Iranians to know that the people in the West are aware of the use of violence by the MKO against Iranian authorities and civilians. In fact, MKO terrorist activities are always mentioned in the United States’ description of the group. The following excerpt regarding the MKO’s activities is from the State Department’s “Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003”:

The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism. During the 1970s, the MEK killed U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. In 1981, the MEK detonated bombs in the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Premier’s office, killing some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Premier Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. Near the end of the 1980-1988 war with Iran, Baghdad armed the MEK with military equipment and sent it into action against Iranian forces. In 1991, the MEK reportedly assisted the Government of Iraq in suppressing the Shia uprisings in southern Iraq and the Kurdish uprisings in the north. In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and installations in 13 countries, demonstrating the group’s ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. In April 1999, the MEK targeted key military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff. In April 2000, the MEK attempted to assassinate the commander of the Nasr Headquarters, Tehran’s interagency board responsible for coordinating policies on Iraq. The normal pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during "Operation Great Bahman" in February 2000, when the group launched a dozen attacks against Iran. One of those attacks included a mortar attack against the leadership complex in Tehran that housed the offices of the Supreme Leader and the President. In 2000 and 2001, the MEK was involved regularly in mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids on Iranian military and law enforcement units and government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border, although MEK terrorism in Iran declined toward the end of 2001. The MEK leadership ordered its members not to resist Coalition forces at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and they surrendered their arms to Coalition forces in May 2003. [8]

In May 2005, Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball wrote an article about the hullabaloo of the MKO. They state that the MKO has long been controversial because of its history of violent attacks in Iran, its relationship with Saddam’s regime and its background as a quasi-religious, quasi-Marxist radical resistance group founded in the era of the late Iranian shah. They mention that in 1997, the Clinton administration put MKO on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist groups. They also put forward that the MKOs U.S. supporters, among whom at one point numbered dozens of members of Congress, charged that the Clinton administration only labeled MKO as a terrorist group as part of an ill-conceived attempt to improve relations with the ayatollahs who currently run Iran. They relate that the Bush administration added two alleged MKO front organizations to the State Department’s terrorist list in 2003. [9] Isikoff and Hosenball state that “despite the group’s notoriety, Bush himself cited purported intelligence gathered by [MKO] as evidence of the Iranian regime’s rapidly accelerating nuclear ambitions. At a March 16 press conference, Bush said Iran’s hidden nuclear program had been discovered not because of international inspections but ‘because a dissident group pointed it out to the world.’ White House aides acknowledged later that the dissident group cited by the president is the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), one of the [MKO] front groups added to the State Department list two years ago.”[10] Finally the Newsweek article reveals that “in an appearance before a House International Relations Subcommittee a year ago, John Bolton, the controversial State Department undersecretary who Bush has nominated to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was questioned by a Congressman sympathetic to [MKO] about whether it was appropriate for the U.S. government to pay attention to allegations about Iran supplied by the group. Bolton said he believed that [MKO] ‘qualifies as a terrorist organization according to our criteria.’ But he added that he did not think the official label had ‘prohibited us from getting information from them. And I certainly don’t have any inhibition about getting information about what’s going on in Iran from whatever source we can find that we deem reliable.’” [11]

Regardless of John Bolton’s—or any other official’s ambition for Iran, and regardless of the MKOs position or non-position on the FTO list, the MKO simply can not and should not be a trusted device. Following the 2005 report of Human Rights Watch on MKO atrocities against its own members titled "No Exit," various cases of human rights violations by the MKO was revealed through testimonies made by the group’s former members. Joe Stork, a Human Rights Watch expert on the Middle East, in a UN Refugee Agency report stated that “it would be a mistake to promote an opposition group that is responsible for serious human rights abuses". [12]

U.S. officials, especially those of the State Department should research and reflect deeply before making any decision about a group that owns all the criteria of a destructive terrorist cult. Western politicians should realize that their support for the MKO will never improve their standing among Iranians inside or outside the country and the reason why is articulated by Trita Parsi, an author who founded the National Iranian American Council (NIAC):

[The MKOs] involvement in terrorism is undisputed. It assassinated several Americans in Iran in the 1970s. It supported the taking of the U.S. Embassy in Iran and blasted Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini for releasing the American diplomats in 1981, arguing instead that the hostages should have been executed. It made a pact with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and fought alongside his army against their Iranian countrymen. Later in the 1990s, they became Saddam’s most trusted henchmen, tasked with quelling Kurdish and Shiite uprisings against the Iraqi dictator.

According to defectors, Mujahedin members in Camp Ashraf celebrated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In 2003, French authorities descended upon the Mujahedin headquarters in France, arresting the leader of the cult, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. Immediately, zealous Mojahedin members staged hunger strikes and several set themselves ablaze. Hardly the behavior of a democratically oriented opposition group. [13]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose reputation would be tarnished should she allow a change of status for the MKO after the current court ordered remand, would be making an insouciant error. The removal of the MKO from the FTO list is a Pandora’s Box and both the U.S. and Iran would face a political nightmare over the next several years. In order to be fair, the U.S. should afford the MKO the right to a democratic process in which they can review the charges against them, but they should also be acutely conscious as to why they are on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list in the first place, and why they need to remain there.

References:
[1] United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. Argued January 12, 2010. Decided July 16, 2010 No. 09-1059. PMOI v. Hillary Clinton. http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/201007/09-1059-1255582.pdf
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] Policy prevents this author from citing this source, which is readily available on the web.
[6]Kessler, Glenn. "Court tells State Dept. to reconsider terrorist label for Iran opposition group." Washington Post 17 July 2010, Print.
[7] Ibid
[8] http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm
[9] Isikoff Michael & Hosenball Mark. "Consider the Source: The State Department says MEK is a terror group. Human Rights Watch says it’s a cult. For the White House,
MEK is a source of intelligence on Iran.
”MSNBC.com 20 May 2005: Web. 10 Aug 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7902719/site/newsweek/>.
[10] Ibid
[11] Ibid
[12] Human Rights Watch, No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camps, 18 May 2005. Web. 10 August 2010 http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/45d085002.html
[13] Parsi, Trita. "Deciding the Fate of the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation." Iran Press Service 10 October 2008: Web. 10 Aug 2010.
<http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2008/october-2008/
deciding-the-fate-of-the-mojahedin-khalq-organisat.shtml>.

By Mazda Parsi

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Pictorial-Thousands of Iranian Families of MKO victims ask Europe to ban the group

A large number of Iranians gathered in front of France embassy in Tehran to show protest against Paris support for Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group.

Representatives of Iranian Families of terror victims called for the European Parliament not to permit terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) to carry out any action in Europe.
The representatives also expressed their readiness to provide evidence showing the MKO crimes.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Anniversary of crushing defeat of Mojahedin Khalq

Mersad was God’s ambush for MKO

Masood Rajavi left France on a private plane for Iraq on June 7th, 1986. An Iraqi delegation headed by "Taha Yasin Ramadan" the vice prime minister welcomed Rajavi at the airport on behalf of the Iraqi president. Mujahedin-e Khalq believed in this move as follow: in a situation where different imperialism conspiracies are taking place against the armed resistance of the people of Iran, and fears of the shaken and dying regime of Iran is reaching at its climax of Masood Rajavi and his new revolution, moving from France to the borders of Iran which is the last step for Rajavi to take before entering the country, is congratulated to all his followers. A day before his flight, Rajavi stated on a video tape:

If I don’t go tomorrow, the day after tomorrow might be too late. Not only for myself but for the people resistance, people in chain and incarcerated in the country.

After settling where he was supposed to be staying, he started meeting Iraqi officials. 8 days later on June 15, 1986 he met Saddam Hossei. At this time terrorist activities of MKO continued in border cities of Iran.

The Liberation Army
On July 8th, 1987, Rajavi met the Iraqi dictator again; at this meeting Saddam congratulated Rajavi the foundation of the national liberation army. Reciprocally Rajavi congratulated Sadaam the national day of Iraq and celebrations of the July 30th day.
At this time once a while we heard a meeting taking place between Rajavi and Saddam.
The liberation army was founded on June 20th, 1987 after receiving huge support either in form of cash or military assistants from the Iraqi government. In a short time the alleged army started attacking Iranian border cities in large scale.

On Monday July 18th, 1988 at 2 p.m. the radio of the Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasted news as follows:

The Islamic Republic of Iran has officially accepted the resolution # 598 in a message delivered to the general secretary of the United Nations in order to establish peace and security in the region.

Two days after this news, Imam Khomeini (peace be upon him) in a detailed statement on the anniversary day of the massacre of the Iranian pilgrims in Mecca appreciated all those who fought to defend this country. He continued his remarks by saying that at this time, I see accepting the resolution in the interest of the revolution and the country.

Accepting the resolution, had wide spread reactions, domestically and internationally. Some countries, like Iraq regarded this event as a new tactic. When the cease fire was accepted by Iran, a very serious situation was created for MKO. They had a very good understanding of Saddam, they knew that Saddam might make a deal on them any moment and turn them in to the government of Iran; in other hand, MKO had planned all their politic and their existence upon the continuation of the war, and they never anticipated a cease fire.

Therefore they did not see any other way except to intensify the war or at least keep the war going on. After our Islamic country was attacked by the Iraqis and temporary withdrawal of our fighters, MKOs thought that accepting the U.N resolution was due to the separation of the government and people. They were trying to take advantage of the situation to achieve their ugly goals.

By gathering some people from the counter revolutionary groups in different parts of Europe, and by all military equipments that they received as gift from Saddam, the MKO put a force of 15000 people together. They started their attacks from strait of Patagh in the west of the country against the Islamic Republic if Iran.

Members of this group, who up to now had a comfortable life in the west, were drawn into the war because of the MKO propaganda and excessive financial aids from the U.S. and Iraqi government and in the hope of conquering Tehran in 3 days. Saddam ordered the Iraqi army to provide the most modern military equipments which were recently purchased, at their disposal. Therefore, they attacked Iran by using new and the most modern equipments.

The Iraqi air force, by providing preliminary supports encouraged them to enter deep into Iran and ultimately conquer Tehran. By this doom alliance, a wide section of our Islamic country was attacked.

MKO were able to conquer the city of krend in early stages of their advancement. So happy of this victory, they tried to reach city of Islam Abad, they faced little resistance and finally conquered Islam Abad as well. 4 days after accepting the United Resolution # 598 by Iran, on Friday July 23rd, 1988, Iraqis started wide spread attacks against Iranian positions in the south and advanced to a point, 30 km away from Khoramshahr. Their intention was to capture more territory and prisoners from Iran so they could use them as a bargaining tool with Iran in future.
Khoramshahr was about to fall again, because in light of accepting the U.N resolution, all forces were evacuated and the city was in fact defenseless. At this time Imam Khomeini (PBU) sent a message to all military commanders, asking them to prevent the enemy from taking over the city at any price.

Following the broadcast of the message, a huge number of volunteer militias, who were dismayed by accepting the Resolution, made themselves available at Khoramshahr and forced the enemy to withdraw back to the border lines.

On July 25th, 1988 at 2:30 pm, few members of the MKO who had fled to Iraq and with the supports that they received from Saddam and heavy & light equipments that they received from the United States started invading Kermanshah in the west. This happened when the army was busy in the south and neglected the west. In a short time they passed strait of Patagh and entered into Iranian territory.

They conquered the cities of "Sare Pole Zahab" and west Karand.
They stayed in Islam Shahr for the first night and killed a lot of inhabitants of that city. They even killed people who were injured in hospitals, it is interesting to know that they killed even their own relatives, Masood Rajavi, while riding in a Bulett Proof car, accompanied the group which consisted of 15000 men, women and children.

MKO commanders believed that Iran’s military is disintegrated and is very vulnerable, and only one shock will topple the Islamic Republic. MKO prepared their military plan in 24 hours, unveiled their plan in a meeting on July 22nd, 1988 and called their operation "Forough – E – Javidan" which means an immortal light. Masood Rajavi concluded in that meeting that the internal situation of the country was very fragile and will have his next meeting in the Azadi square in Tehran.

MKO were very happy of their preliminary victories and in a hurried decision they decided to move toward Kermanshah In form of a column from Islamshahr. They thought that people would join them on the way towards Tehran. They thought that they could form new regiments of people and each of their members could lead the regiment. They thought that they could prepare the foundation for the regime to topple. Radio MKO started sending messages to the people of Kermanshah, asking them to join them and prepare the city for their arrival.

In the morning of July 27th, 1988, the Iranian army started the operation of Mersad with the code name of "Ya Ali – Ebne – Abitaleb" (AS).

MKO, who were happy of not facing any resistance on their way, suddenly faced themselves in an Inferno of bombs which were falling on them from air and land. It did not take a long time to see the Kermanshah – Islamabad road piled up by burned equipments which were given to the MKO by the west as gift. Few people who succeeded to save their lives, escaped to the villages nearby, some other decided to take their lives by taking cyanide tablets. When the operation ended, both sides of the road were piled up with bodies of thousands of men and women whom their hands were stained with the blood of their own countrymen.

The Islamic fighters suddenly closed the road 34 km away from Islam Abad. A heavy fighting took place on that artery.

The anti tank division of the military in an outrageous action, destroyed many tanks of the MKO. The Islam Abad, Kermanshah artery was filled with many burned equipments at early stages.

The actions of the Islamic fighters shattered all dreams of MKOs. MKOs had no choice but to withdraw and pull back to Islamshahr. The city was surrounded by following the enemy.

MKO had no choice but to escape the city in order to save their lives. The Islamic fighters, by using air force and helicopter, blocked the roads on MKOs on Karand and strait of Pathgh and cut their communications. On July 28th, 1988 the Islamic fighters advanced towards predetermined targets. The air force sharp flyers and heavy bombardment left no opportunity for the Iraqi air force to get engaged… As the result, in the same afternoon, the city of Islam Abad was cleared of the MKO.

One of the particular characteristic of this operation was that, not only the Iranian people didn’t welcome MKO, but also resisted against their invasion as well. In addition, all political parties, groups, figures who are in opposition to the government of Iran and are based outside Iran, condemned the action of Masood Rajavi and other leaders of MKO in sending thousands of people to be killed in Forough Javidan Operation.

London Kayhan, an opposition News paper in London in an article from a reader wrote;
I watched the BBC news, I am so angry, my message is this that we should not keep quiet in dealing with traitors like MKOs, and MKO in collaboration with Iraqis invaded our country. We are sitting and watching.

Summary of the Operation
What was destroyed from the enemy?

Over 120 tanks
400 transporters
90 cannons 80 mm
150 cannons 60 mm
30 cannons 106 mm

Regiments of the Enemy

Over 20 units of joint cooperation of Iraqis and MKO

Spoils of War

1000 RPG
700 Kalashnikov
Tens of Tanks and Transporter
Tens of Automobile
Advanced communication equipments
Electronic Equipments and Internal documents

MKO listed 1274 people killed in the Forough Javidan Operation. Among them were 5 members of executive group who each led one military regiment, and 11 members of the executive group of the organization.
According to these findings, 1100, of MKO got injured in the operation as well.

The damage sustained by the MKO based on their own assertion was as follow:

72 tanks
612 different types of vehicles
21 cannons 122 mm
51 rifles 106 mm

52 U.S. senators, few days before this operation, wrote a letter to the U.S. secretary of state, at the time, George Schultz, telling him that the United States must support MKO who are based in Iraq and use them at maximum to overthrow the government in Tehran.
Senator Mervin Daimly who strongly insisted on overthrowing the Islamic Republic government took part in MKO meetings and took a very heated position in favor of them on June 27th, 1988, senator Daimly took part in the MKO demonstration in Washington D.C. as well.

He told the audience that “We should not give up, we will be marching from Mehran to Tehran very soon if we try a little harder”
In this operation, Rajavi ordered to kill Ali Zarkash one of the persons in charge in the organization who recently had disobeyed his orders.
He was killed from behind by one of the officers of Rajavi. It was portrayed as he was killed by government army. They even arranged special seven day traditional mourning services for him.

MKO lost quite a few of those good members in that operation. Among people who got killed in the MKO side, were few foreign nationals – mostly because they married Iranians and accompanied their spouse in the operation.
After Imam Khomeini (PBU), passed away, Rajavi performed few combat maneuvers in Iraq. He tried to keep his members busy. He wanted to get permission from Saddam to attack Tehran.

Few Iraqi generals, who were always present during those military maneuvers, said that those maneuvers did not have enough military values to topple the government of Iran. Some fake scenes of those shows made them to laugh.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Brushing the Dust off a Court Ruling

As already predicted, triumphalism was the order of MKO media and propaganda machine for nearly two weeks since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the State Department review designation of Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO, MEK, PMOI, NCR, NLA)the State Department’s response in all the last threes has been nothing but to re-designate it, as it will be probably with this last one. as a foreign terrorist organization. This was not MKO displaying itself as the winner of a petition but a terrorist organization shaking its fist at the world. However, now the cloud of the triumph subsided and anything returning to normal, it is time to have a review of the ruling to dig out the facts MKO were trying to bury under the heavy cloud of disturbing the usual pattern of events. Although improbable to be removed from the terror list, as the ruling has nothing to do with the issue, there are points in the ruling indicating that the State Department insists on the accuracy of its decision makings.

It has to be pointed out that the case in the question is not the first but the fourth through which MKO is challenging its designation as a FTO and bringing it before the court. And the State Department’s response in all the last threes has been nothing but to re-designate it, as it will be probably with this last one. Let’s see what remarkable points the organization has noticed specified in the ruling that may signify a triumph for it.

1. Stated in per curiam, it affirms that “This case is the fifth in a series of related actions challenging the United States Secretary of State’s designation of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) and its aliases as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The MEK, also called the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), has challenged its FTO status before this court three times”. Accordingly, the organizations attempts so far has proved unproductive against the State Department’s reasonable evidences.

2. MKO’s provided evidences to defend itself against the charges have been piles of letters of recommendations from its lobby in the Congress and other European parliamentarians. Asserted in the ruling, the State Department’s decision to keep MKO on the list as a FTO relies on sound classified and unclassified information. “The PMOI also thrice supplemented its petition with additional information and letters in support from members of the U.S. Congress, members of the UK and European parliaments and retired members of the U.S. military, among others. After reviewing an administrative record consisting of both classified and unclassified information, the Secretary denied the PMOI’s petition and published its denial in the Federal Register on January 12, 2009. She also provided the PMOI with a heavily redacted 20-page administrative summary of State’s review of the record, which summary referred to 33 exhibits, many of which were also heavily or entirely redacted.”

3. The court upholds that the Secretary resolved to designate MKO based on sound records and evidences. “We are to uphold the Secretary’s determination unless it “lack[s] substantial support in the administrative record taken as a whole or in classified information submitted to the court.”
4. The court asserts that in all his/her previous responses, the Secretary has shown no satisfaction that the organization has permanently renounced terrorism and that, it might resume such activities in future. “In my view, (Karen LeCraft Henderson, Circuit Judge) the classified portion of the administrative record provides “substantial support” for her determination that the PMOI either continues to engage in terrorism or terrorist activity or retains the capability and intent to do so and, consequently, for her denial of the PMOI’s revocation petition.”

5. The State Department in its explanations for keeping MKO on the list argues that there is no evidence to confirm that the organization has permanently renounced terrorism since its present circumstances are the same as the previous. The State Department relies on sound facts rather than claims. “To seek revocation, an FTO “must provide evidence in that petition that the relevant circumstances . . . are sufficiently different from the circumstances that were the basis for the designation such that a revocation with respect to the organization is warranted.”

It adds that “While the Secretary may revoke a designation at any time, the statute directs that she shall revoke a designation if she finds that either “the circumstances that were the basis for the designation have changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation,” or “the national security of the United States warrants a revocation,” She wrote that “in considering the evidence as a whole, the MEK has not shown that the relevant circumstances are sufficiently different from the circumstances that were the basis for the 2003re-designation,” and that “[a]s a consequence, the MEK continues to be a foreign organization that engages in terrorist activity . . . or terrorism . . . or retains the capability and intent to” do so.

Accordingly, America has concluded that in spite of the cease of open military operations and the voluntary surrender of arsenal and weapons to the occupying forces in Iraq, MKO does not seem to have adopted a total non-aggressive attitude. The militarism potentiality submits that the continued proscription of MKO has not been unjustified.

6. The ruling admits that “although the Secretary must give the PMOI an opportunity to rebut the unclassified material on which she relies, AEDPA does not allow access to the classified record as it makes clear that classified material “shall not be subject to disclosure for such time as it remains classified, except that such information may be disclosed to a court ex parte and in camera for purposes of judicial review.”

It indicates that the US has a comprehensive understanding of MKO compared to other designated organizations. Naturally, classified information include sensitive compartmented information and special access data and are to be used by government departments and agencies if deemed necessary. Disclosure of these information in the presence of an ineligible terrorist organization increases the risk of an unauthorized disclosure of classified information that puts terrorists in full alert.

However, the court requires that MKO be notified of only unclassified information: “In short, we have held due process requires that the PMOI be notified of the unclassified material on which the Secretary proposes to rely and an opportunity to respond to that material before its redesignation; nothing in the amended statute suggests that this protection is any less necessary in the revocation context.”

MKO is well aware that the only probable, granted chance before it is to refute unclassified information or to ask for further opportunity to provide justifications to prolong the process. “And even though the PMOI was given the opportunity to include in the record its own evidence supporting delisting, it had no opportunity to rebut the unclassified portion of the record the Secretary was compiling—an omission, the PMOI argues, that deprived it of the due process protections detailed in our previous decisions.”

The ruling concludes that because of the foreign policy and national security concerns it leaves the designation in place: “As we noted in NCRI I, “[w]e recognize that a strict and immediate application of the principles of law which we have set forth herein could be taken to require a revocation of the designation[] before us[, but] . . . we also recognize the realities of the foreign policy and national security concerns asserted by the Secretary in support of th[e] designation.” 251 F.3d at 209. We thus leave the designation in place but remand with instructions to the Secretary to provide the PMOI the opportunity to review and rebut the unclassified portions of the record on which she relied.”

Consequently, what MKO is trumpeting as a ruling of being removed from the terrorist list is nothing but an urge by the court requiring the State Department to grant MKO an opportunity to defend itself against unclassified information, an opportunity already granted. The court has judicial responsibilities to fulfill, as it will be also held accountable for the consequences of unleashing a terrorist organization. It is complying with all regulations that struggle to diminish the nightmare of terrorist threats that has jeopardized the national security since 9/11.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO’s disastrous military venture

On 25 July 1988, only days after Iran-Iraq governments accepted the UN Security Council Resolution 598 that called for a cease fire in the eight-year long war, Mojahedin Khalq On 25 July 1988, only days after Iran-Iraq governments accepted the UN Security Council Resolution Mojahedin Khalq Organization launched its major military invasion onto the Iranian bordersOrganization (MKO, MEK, PMOI, NCR, NLA) launched its major military invasion onto the Iranian borders. Supported by Iraqi army and its air cover, Rajavi dispatched his estimated 7000 forces National Liberation Army (NLA) to demonstrate his organization’s military potentiality in a four-day lasted operation, the great ”Operation Eternal Light” as the organization called it and the organization’s irreversible suicide operation as many critics referred to it. Although presumed to be a part of Iran-Iraq war, the operation was the most disastrous venture by an organization whose strategy of struggle was mainly built on militarism and terrorism.

In its unclassified 1992 report on the organization, the State Department refers to the operation as an explicit evidence of MKO’s armed struggle and close collaboration with Saddam’s regime.

The group launched its most significant incursion in June and July 1988, when they coordinated an advance into Iran with Iraqi forces. During the same offensive, Iraqi units in other sectors of the front used chemical weapons against Iran. NLA units briefly seized the Iranian border towns of Mehran, Karand, and Islamabad-e Gharb. The Mojahedin claimed to have killed 40,000 Iranians, but other military observers said the, NLA "just got wiped out" when Iranian reinforcements arrived.

MKO’s Eternal Light withstood nothing more than a short, four-day lasted spark. The operation on which MKO had heavily invested turned to be a total military failure and a proven suicide operation that led 1304 forces, according to the organization’s own report, to their sacrifice. In fact, MKO hurried to take advantage of a no-war no-peace situation created after the ceasefire in limbo, a golden opportunity for Rajavi to take his last chance totally disregarding the high cost it would impose. Of course, Rajavi knew beforehand what the result could be when he decided to pass over the borders of a country that had survived eight years a war that had wore out Saddam’s army. But he was desperately in need of and search for an outlet out of an inevitable cul-de-sac rather than to accomplish a strategic necessity. An analysis of the operation from the political and tactical point of view and Rajavi’s rationalization of the operation indicates that the move was the outcome of a desperate situation that had completely immobilized Mojahedin both in political and military fronts.
It was a fact many of group’s sympathizers, advocates and even critics and other opposition were well aware, but they were all shocked to see that a group that had once concentrated all its campaign marrow in a form of militia warfare and had already suffered great loss, suddenly and unbelievably had shifted to a classic military tack to start a big cross-border operation.

The failure of the operation Eternal Light initiated challenges against Rajavi’s egocentric decision-making that had led hundreds of recruits, many of them arrived in Iraq only a few days prior to the operation with the list military training, to their death. Most of his critics believe that the operation was in no way correspondent with the organization’s line of strategy and that, Rajavi’s uncertain analysis of the post cease-fire situation compelled him to make a hasty decision to create a ‘turning point’ to attract the attention of those in the West to be relied as a potential tool to be utilized against the Iranian regime. As stated in its later analyses, MKO claimed that “What distinguishes the Eternal Light Operation, making it a "turning point," is not its unique military achievements alone, but more importantly, its strategic political and historic significance”.

In spite of MKO’s widespread terrorist operations of bombing and assassination inside Iran and its later out-of-the-border organized hit and run operations perpetrated in the last three decades as well as its broadly launched military operation like that of the Eternal Light, it seems that the organization has never been considered a serious threat for the Iranian regime. But the consequence of such irrefutable charges of militarism and terrorist atrocities for MKO was to be globally recognized as a terrorist group. However, the good part is that the history and the recorded facts can never be distorted. But some Western countries tried to when they made a sudden U-turn and decided to declare that MKO was no more a terrorist organization; they still continue their negligence and unclear position takings toward Mojahedin due to political considerations. People have eyes to see and minds to think even if some so-called court of justice proceeds inexpertly to discolor the spots of a leopard.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

No Court’s Ruling Helps MKO Evade Terrorist Charges

Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington ruled that the U.S. State Department should review designation of Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO, MEK, PMOI, NCR, NLA) as a foreign terrorist organization. The ruling is the last of a quintuple series of petitions by MKO, out of which only two have been ruled by the U.S. Court of Appeals to remand the case for further proceedings.No Court’s Ruling Helps MKO Evade Terrorist Charges

In the first of the two, decided on June 8, 2001, the ruling stated: “While we determine that the designation was in compliance with the statute, we further determine that the designation does violate the due process rights of the petitioners under the Fifth Amendment, and we therefore remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion”. In the other three cases, however, the court denied the petitions for review.

MKO claims that the decision represents a victory for it and it may give them enough time to convince the Secretary of State that it has long since 2001 abandoned any commitment to violence. But the State Department has since designation of MKO as a foreign terrorist organization been relying on its own classified and unclassified data and has absolutely ignored the organization’s assertions of abandoning terrorism. To know the State Department’s reasoning, as the case required that the Secretary provide a meaningful opportunity for MKO to review the unclassified record on which she relied, one does not need to look for classified information; there are periodically published reports and researches that release up to date information on MKO.

In a research analysis, commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Status Determination and Protection Information Section, mainly prepared on the basis of publicly available information, you can easily fathom the structure and the true nature of MKO regardless of its claims. The CORI research published on 21 September 2009 publicized Information on the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) based on the fact that “Every effort has been taken to ensure accuracy and comprehensive coverage of the research issue”. Far from any propaganda, the research delves into the group’s past and current activities covered and made available by the media and authentic sources of information. Interestingly, the bulk of information released in the report concerns the military operations of the organization under NLA alias.

On re-designation of MKO as a FTO, the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in itsApril 30, 2009 report once more asserted MKO’s terrorist activities done against America: “The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian government uses propaganda and terrorism to achieve its objectives and has been supported by reprehensible regimes, including that of Saddam Hussein. During the 1970s, the MEK assassinated several U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the violent takeover in 1979 of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran”.

And there is the latest one published by Congressional Research Service dated June 11, 2010 entitledIran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses in which the reason for the designation of the group is referred to. It has a reference to MKO’s made petition against its designation in 2008 and the State Department determination to keep it on the list: “The FTO designation was up for formal review in October 2008, and, in July 2008, the PMOI formally petitioned to the State Department that its designation be revoked, on the grounds that it renounced any use of terrorism in 2001. However, the State Department announced in mid-January 2009 that the group would remain listed. The group remained on the FTO list when the list was reviewed and reissued in October 2009”.

And there are lot more evidences to corroborate the group’s unchanged terrorist disposition regardless of any court’s judgment. How can an organization with proven notorious, bloody history claim that it has been designated unjustifiably and in the absence of due process of law? Being removed from any list or not, however, is a test for the countries on whose lists it was labeled to prove their seriousness in war against terrorism. For Iranian people, it remains a terrorist group as terrorism and militarism is innate in its ideology.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

US court urges MKO blacklisting review

The MKO insists that the US should delist it as a terrorist organization, a demand which has been rejected so far by Washington.

An appeals court in the US has ruled that the State Department should review the terror status of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO).

The MKO had filed a petition against the US blacklisting in 2008.

The Bush administration, however, rejected the request in its final days in 2009, after examining material submitted by the group and US intelligence community, including classified information.
Reuters reported on Friday that a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Washington said in a 22-page decision on Friday that the US government failed to give the group a fair chance to rebut unclassified information that claimed the group supported terrorist activities.

The government was obligated under a 1996 antiterrorism law and 2004 revisions to give the group the chance to rebut unclassified information, the appeals court said, adding that the group was "permitted access to the unclassified portion of the record only after the decision was final."
In a statement, the State Department said it would study the decision, but added that the US government continues to view the group as a terrorist organization.

The European Union (EU) took MKO off its blacklist in January, 2009.

Following EU’s move to delist the MKO, Washington announced that labeling the outlawed group as a terrorist group was an appropriate act and that the MKO had to remain on the US blacklist.
The Iraq-based group is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and is responsible for numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

The MKO is also known to have cooperated with Iraq’s notorious dictator Saddam Hussein in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO had a role in the assassination of Iraqi Judge

According to Fars news, the Mojahedin Khalq organisation could have had a hand in the murder of ‘Hassan Ali’ a Judge of the Supreme Criminal Court of Iraq. Judge Hassan Ali had earlier the murder of the Judge of the Supreme Criminal Court was carried out only a week after he issued the arrest warrants against the leaders of MKO..given the order for the arrest of the gang leaders and some other members of this organisation.
In early July, Hassan Ali had issued the order for the arrest of Massoud Rajavi the gang leader of the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (aka MKO, MEK, NCRI, PMOI, Rajavi cult, Saddam’s private army), and about 40 other members. He had asked Interpol to place Rajavi on the international list of wanted criminals.

Maryam Rajavi and Amir Kazemi who are believed to be the political and military heads of the organisation are among the list of people with international arrest warrants. According to unverified information, Rajavi, his wife and his deputy Kazemi are now living in France.

According to the report, Hassan Ali was killed in front of his house in Baghdad in a terrorist operation carried out last Wednesday.

Hossein Ali, a member of Iraqi parliament and expert in terrorist organisations operating in the region said the murder of the Judge of the Supreme Criminal Court was carried out only a week after he issued the arrest warrants against the leaders of this group. The organisation should be investigated and some of the individuals have to be interrogated.

It is worth mentioning that the Mojahedin Khalq started in 1965 as a group opposing the regime of the Shah. Their aim was to create a Socialist Islamic Republic in Iran. The Mojahedin Khalq welcomed the Islamic revolution in 1979 but soon moved into opposition and moved back to the same terrorist activities they had started in the early 70s.

Facing the effective security forces in Iran, the leaders of the Mojahedin Khalq were forced to go to France and from there in 1986 to Iraq. In Iraq, the Mojahedin Khalq organised an armed group, well equipped with armoured vehicle and helicopters. They frequently attacked Iran from Iraq.
After the defeat of Iraq in the war, Iran became the only remaining enemy of the Americans and British in the region. This is when the Mojahedin were used. The Americans did not dismantle their camp in Iraq even though it managed to disarm them.

It was an obvious calculation. In the case that the situation would deteriorate, the Americans were planning to use the Mojahedin Khalq in their fight against Tehran. From the other side, they had officially (ostensibly) placed the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation on their terrorism list for their cooperation with Saddam Hussein. European countries had also followed the same line.

In this way, America and its European partners kept the Mojahedin Khalq for a rainy day and made sure that they have an open hand. It would be the case that either they would be used against Iran or would be handed over to Iran (for a price).

With the passage of time it became clear that the first choice has been taken (by Americans). Until 2005 Neo conservatives in America and some British politicians who were following American Neo conservatives for regime change in Iran supported the Mojahedin Khalq. Then in 2006 a European court decided that keeping the Mojahedin in the list of terrorist organisations and freezing their bank accounts was not right. In 2007 Britain was the first country which, according to a court ruling, took the MKO off its list of terrorist organisations. The European Union followed Britain shortly and in 2008 a European court ruled that keeping MKO on the list was not just.

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