{"id":10562,"date":"2020-04-02T09:04:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T04:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/?p=10562"},"modified":"2021-01-21T19:29:06","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T15:59:06","slug":"pompeo-and-mek-isolated-by-response-to-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/posts\/10562","title":{"rendered":"Pompeo and MEK isolated by response to pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Mike Pompeo \u2013 now dubbed \u2018Secretary of Hate\u2019 by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif \u2013 ramps up his daily rants against Iran in spite of universal pleas for the U.S. to lift sanctions in order to help Iran fight the spread of COVID-19, attention has again focused on the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), the so-called Iranian opposition group based in Albania. The MEK has, of course, become a favourite of anti-Iran hawks in the U.S. and Europe who see it as a weapon against the government in Tehran. But what is the significance of the MEK in Western powers\u2019 anti-Iran campaign? And what impact has the group had on its host country, Albania?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The exiled Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq organization (MEK) was relocated from Iraq to Albania in 2016, making the country a hub for anti-Iran activities. The move came as a result of efforts by the Obama administration to comply with a longstanding demand by Iraq to remove the MEK from their country. After it was found that no normal country was willing to take on this terrorist entity \u2013 EU member state Romania refused to host them \u2013 it fell upon Albania to accept the U.S. dollars and fulfil American demands. The UNHCR transferred the MEK as an entity rather than as individuals; the individual members were rendered undocumented and stateless as a result.
\nThis state of affairs suited the new Trump administration, which revelled in the MEK\u2019s regime change rhetoric. In 2017, U.S. support enabled the MEK to regroup and build an extraterritorial enclave inaccessible to the Albanian authorities into which the hapless members were placed. As expected, the MEK aggressively imposed its anti-Iran stance on the country\u2019s political, security and media landscape through corruption, intimidation and propaganda, perverting the country\u2019s foreign policy decisions to favour U.S. and Israeli demands. The same maverick and dangerous behaviour led the EU countries and the European Parliament to ban most MEK activities last year. The leader Maryam Rajavi left France and set up her new headquarters in Albania \u2013 MEK leadership cadre occupy an entire floor of the International Hotel in Skanderbeg Square in Tirana.<\/p>\n\n

This shift to Albania came at a time when the EU Council has endorsed the opening of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia. Unlike North Macedonia, Albania will have to show progress in a number of areas before negotiations start. The primary concerns raised in the Council\u2019s decision are implementation of justice and electoral reforms, fight against crime and corruption, Albanian asylum seekers in the EU, amendment of media laws in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission. There can be no doubt that when a country\u2019s system is rotten, scavengers will move in. The MEK are like rats chewing on tasty nuggets supplied by crime and corruption.<\/p>\n

The situation of Gjergji Thanasi is a case in point. Thanasi, an award-winning investigative journalist, sued MEK member Behzad Safari for defamation, after Safari made scurrilous allegations against him. The case is dragging on because of corruption in the judicial system. Judges are removed, replaced, they don\u2019t turn up, the public prosecutor does not turn up, the defendant does not turn up, the defence lawyers don\u2019t turn up, the English language translator does not turn up. With such a broken system, a respected Albanian citizen cannot obtain justice against the defamatory statements made by a stateless member of a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

But, as destructive as the MEK presence has been in Albania, the group has inevitably played a greater role in the West\u2019s confrontation against Iran. In June 2019, Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept revealed that an internet troll farm was operating from the MEK\u2019s closed camp in Manez. The enslaved members, sitting behind banks of outdated computerware, were being used to manipulate social media messaging on Iran on a global scale. Hussain revealed that \u2018Heshmat Alavi\u2019, a self-proclaimed Iranian activist, \u201cappears not to exist\u201d and is \u201ca persona run by a team of people from the political wing of the MEK\u201d.<\/p>\n