{"id":10930,"date":"2020-07-20T14:15:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T09:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/?p=10930"},"modified":"2021-01-21T19:29:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T15:59:37","slug":"paid-guests-at-the-mek-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/posts\/10930","title":{"rendered":"Paid Guests at the MEK Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conference hosted by controversial Iranian opposition group MEK<\/p>\n

An exiled Iranian opposition group held its annual Free Iran conference online on Friday featuring speeches from an array of former US politicians and military officials. The conference was held by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition led by the People\u2019s Mujahedin of Iran, or MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq), a controversial group widely considered to be a cult, and up until 2012, designated as a terrorist organization by the US government.<\/p>\n

The MEK is considered the top Iranian opposition group in Washington, and if Iran hawks had their way, the MEK would replace the current Islamic regime in Tehran. Trump administration officials like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have appeared at events with MEK members. After the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January, it was reported that President Trump sought advice on Iran from MEK-linked allies, like his personal attorney and former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani.<\/p>\n\n

also read:Is Giuliani \u2018comfortable\u2019 with a nation of 81,000,000 people run by terrorists?<\/strong><\/a><\/pre>\n
A frequent guest of the MEK, Giuliani spoke at Friday\u2019s conference, calling for regime change and railing against the mullahs. \u201cTo me, the mullahs are like the people who ran the mafia, the people I prosecuted who ran the mafia and extorted their people,\u201d Giuliani said. The former mayor also praised Maryam Rajavi, the MEK\u2019s leader. \u201cRegime change in Iran is within reach. That\u2019s the goal of NCRI and Maryam Rajavi.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) also spoke at the conference, the only sitting members of Congress to attend. \u201cThank you to Madame Rajavi on everything she\u2019s done. I want to encourage young people to continue your fight, your resistance \u2026 the people of the United States are with you,\u201d Gooden said.<\/p>\n
Other speakers from the US included former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former New Jersey Senator Robert Toricelli, and others.<\/p>\n
The MEK pays well for these short speeches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
President Trump\u2019s Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao collected $50,000 from the MEK<\/strong> for a five-minute speech in 2015<\/a>. Although he was missing from this conference, former National Security Advisor John Bolton is a MEK favorite and has delivered many speeches to the group. Records show the MEK has paid Bolton at least $180,000 for speeches over the years.<\/p>\n
From the MEK\u2019s compound in Albania, in front of hundreds of screens, Rajavi addressed the conference. \u201cOur first commitment is that we, the Iranian people and the Resistance, will overthrow the clerical regime and will reclaim Iran,\u201d Rajavi said. \u201cThe final word is that the mullahs have no solutions and their regime is doomed to fall in its entirety.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MEK is now based out of Albania, but for many years they operated in Iraq after the group was kicked out of Iran in the 1980s. The MEK started as a leftist organization in the 1960s and carried out attacks on the US-backed Shah\u2019s police force throughout the 1970s. The group played a role in the 1979 overthrow of the Shah but ultimately opposed the new Islamic government and carried out major attacks against the mullahs.<\/p>\n
The MEK was welcomed into Iraq by Sadam Hussein, who gave them refuge at a military base, Camp Ashraf. From their base in Iraq, the MEK carried out terrorist attacks inside Iran and took Hussein\u2019s side in the brutal eight-year war between Iran and Iraq war. For these reasons, it is believed the MEK has little or no support inside Iran today. The MEK is also suspected of being involved in assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists that took place in 2012.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US government commissioned a report<\/a> on the MEK from inside their former headquarters at camp Ashraf. The report concluded that the MEK has \u201cmany of the typical characteristics of a cult, such as authoritarian control, confiscation of assets, sexual control (including mandatory divorce and celibacy), emotional isolation, forced labor, sleep deprivation, physical abuse and limited exit options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave DeCamp , Antiwar.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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