Founded in 1965 by a group of leftist Iranian college students, the “Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, a.k.a MEK and NCRI)” was mainly devoted to opposing the rule of the Shah before the Islamic revolution. In its first five years, the group primarily engaged in ideological work, their interpretation of Islam and economic and political ideas. The MKO preached a combination of Marxism and Islamism.
Soon following the Iranian Islamic revolution, the organization started a phase of armed struggle in a bid to destabilize the newly formed regime and have its revenge of failing to assume a share in the power. As a result, MKO’s dedicated terrorist teams launched numerous blind suicide operations, bombings, gun-shot assassinations as well as street gun-battles in which many innocent civilians and key officials were killed. The atrocities and crimes of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization set up one of the bloodiest chapters of Iranian history.
But one of the first times the MKO adopted terrorism as a tool goes back to the era of Shah regime; When the MKO was involved in assassination of American businessmen, military personnel, and even a senior American diplomat in Iran before the 1979 revolution. Some of the attacks on U.S. citizens were reflected in American newspapers back in the 70s. The St. Petersburg independent published an article titled ‘Terrorists Slay Americans in Iran’ in May 21, 1975. It is written in a part of the article: ‘A Woman telephoned the Associated Press office anonymously at noon and said: “The execution of American officers today was a reply to the execution of nine Iranian revolutionaries in prison last month”. Identifying herself as a spokesman for the Iranian People’s Warriors Association, she said Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi is a “stooge of the Americans, therefore we murder Americans.”
Following is a short review on US government’s stance on MKO issue since 1984 until 2013:
In December 1984, the US State Department wrote to Rep. Lee Hamilton, then Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, to clarify its official views on the MKO: “The Iranian Mujahedin remains a highly nationalistic, Islamic, left-wing and anti-western organization…”
On June 14, 1985, the US State Department issued another statement against the MKO. In this statement, the MKO was referred to as “a militantly Islamic, anti-democratic, anti-American, anti-Western collectivist organization.”
On July 24, 1985, 10 years after the MKO assassinated US citizens, Richard W. Murphy, US assistant secretary of state for Middle East affairs, stated to the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East affairs that the MKO was “ militantly Islamic, anti-democratic, anti-American, and continue to employ terrorism and violence as standard instruments of their policies.” He also identified the MKO as having been active in bringing down the former Shah and as being Marxist.
These statements shaped the earliest stances the US had taken on the MKO issue. Some people believe at that time, the US government was trying to persuade Iran to help release American soldiers who were arrested in Lebanon so they pressured the MKO to impress Iran.
About a year later, the US government somehow shifted its policy towards the MKO. The State Department apparently contacted the MKO’s Washington office in November 1986, to arrange a meeting.
At a hearing on April 21, 1987, in line with the change in policy, Mr. Murphy did an about-face when asked about the Department’s MKO statements. He said: “I will very freely admit that there were gaps in our knowledge about the organization,” adding, “We meet, have met with the Mojahedin Organization here in Washington. They are a player in Iran…We are not boycotting them.” This policy shift took place exactly at the time the Iranian forces were achieving big victories in the battle against the Iraqi Ba’ath forces who had started the war on Iran. The MKO was at Saddam’s service at the time and the group needed to be strong enough to help Saddam against Iran.
A couple of years later, the MKO was despised again by the US government. In September 1989, the US State Department replied to a letter from Congressman Mervyn Dymally to Secretary of State James Baker. The congressman had asked the Secretary of State to resume talks with the MKO. The State Department rejected his request and again referred to MKO as an anti-American, anti-Western collectivist organization that continues to employ terrorism and violence as standard instruments of its policies.
In November 1992, The US Secretary of State submitted "a report detailing the structure, current activities, external support, and history of the people’s Mojahedin of Iran”. The report was prepared at the request of US Congress.
Some of the report highlights are as following (all direct quotes):
“The Mojahedin revolutionaries developed and disseminated an eclectic ideology based on their personal interpretation of Shi’a Islamic theology and Marxist tenets. Then as now the Mojahedin advocated a two-pronged strategy of armed struggle and the use of propaganda to gain their political objectives.”
“They assassinated at least six American citizens, supported the takeover of the U.S. embassy, and opposed the release of American hostages. In the post-revolutionary political chaos, however, the Mojahedin lost political power to Iran’s Islamic clergy. They then applied their dedication to armed struggle and the use of propaganda against the new Iranian government, launching a violent and polemical cycle of attack and reprisal. In 1981, the Mojahedin leadership fled to France and with other Iranian opposition movements formed the National Council of Resistance (NCR).”
“In 1986, France expelled the leader of the Mojahedin, Masud Rajavi.”
“After his expulsion form France, Rajavi relocated to Baghdad, Iraq, adopting Saddam Hussein as his patron, In 1987.”
“Rajavi announced the formation of the National Liberation Army (NLA), the military wing of the Mojahedin, which conducted raids into Iran during the latter years of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. The NLA’s last major offensive reportedly was conducted against Iraqi Kurds in 1991, when it joined Saddam Hussein’s brutal repression of the Kurdish rebellion. In addition to occasional acts of sabotage, the Mojahedin are responsible for violent attacks in Iran that victimize civilians. They also engage in violence against Iranian government targets in the West.”
“Since their leadership’s expulsion from Iran, the Mojahedin have conducted a public relations campaign among Western press and public officials, seeking political support and financial backing. Exploiting Western opprobrium of the behavior of the current government of Iran, the Mojahedin posit themselves as the alternative. To achieve that goal, they claim they have the support of a majority of Iranians. This claim is much disputed by academics and other specialists on Iran, who assert that in fact the Mojahedin-e Khalq have little support among Iranians. They argue that the Mojahedin’s activities since the group’s leadership fled from Iran in 1981– particularly their alliance with Iraq and the group’s internal oppression — have discredited them among the Iranian polity. “
“Despite Mojahedin assertions that the group has abandoned its revolutionary ideology and now favors a liberal democracy, there is no written or public record of discussion or debate about the dramatic reversals in the Mojahedin’s stated positions. Moreover, the Mojahedin’s 29-year record of behavior does not substantiate its capability or intention to be democratic. Internally, the Mojahedin run their organization autocratically, suppressing dissent and eschewing tolerance of differing viewpoints. Rajavi, who heads the Mojahedin’s political and military wings, has fostered a cult of personality around himself. These characteristics have alienated most Iranian expatriates, who assert they do not want to replace one objectionable regime for another. Given these attributes, it is no coincidence that the only government in the world that supports the Mojahedin politically and financially is the totalitarian regime of Saddam Hussein.”
“The Mojahedin’s actual military efforts have consisted of occasional strikes against border towns, industrial targets (particularly oil installations), and civilian targets. “
“At the border the Mojahedin’s military record is limited. 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. “
United States government’s view on the MKO barely changed until during Clinton presidency, the group was put on the US State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations in 1997. Some believe MKO’s designation as a terrorist organization was a goodwill gesture to the newly elected Iranian government. The MKO was kept on the list for some 15 years in 3 different administrations.
The Bush administration cited Saddam’s support of MKO as a reason to invade Iraq. When the Bush administration sought to justify its attack on Iraq in 2003 by accusing Saddam Hussein of being a sponsor of “international terrorism”, one of its prime examples was Iraq’s “sheltering” of the MKO.
But despite the group was referred to as a terrorist organization and Saddam’s support of it would lead to invasion of Iraq, the MKO enjoyed the support from the US government indirectly and secretly after the US invaded Iraq. The US had planned to use MKO’s terrorist capabilities to confront Iran.
U.S. Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich, The former Ranking Member on the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, gave a speech during House debate HR 282, the Iran Freedom and Support Act in which he criticized the U.S. government’s support of the Mujahedin e-Khalq terrorist group.
“HR 282 supports anti-government advocates in Iran promoting regime change. This is highly problematic. While an important amendment offered by Congressman Blumenauer was adopted into this bill during markup, to prohibit U.S. assistance to groups that are on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations, or have been on that list for the last 4 years, there are ways around this. For example, according to a Newsweek article from February 14, 2005, the US has been recruiting individuals from the MKO, a group currently labeled as “terrorist” by the State Department, who have agreed to form a new group with the same mission of the MKO: regime change in Iran. These individuals have been conducting military activity in Iran with the United States’ support. I just want to remind everyone that the MKO was the group responsible for the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran in 1979. The MKO also had a camp in Iraq where Osama bin Laden’s first fighters were reportedly trained. The MKO also trained and supported Taliban fighters. Now we’re recruiting help from members of the MKO, which makes a total mockery of this so-called War on Terror.” Kucinich said.
The renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh also revealed striking details of his findings on the aim of the $400 million budgeted US covert operations inside Iran in an article published in New Yorker in July 2008, titled ‘Preparing the battlefield’. He provided valuable information on US military preparations to strike Iran, on the total expansion of the Bush Administration’s executive power, about the US recognition of Iran’s overall positive role in Iraq and on the US support for the anti-Iran terrorist organizations Jondollah, PJAK and MKO. He explained how the Bush Administration’s policy of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” has led the US to support the Baluchi organisation Jondollah and the MKO (Mujahideen-e-Khalq a.k.a PMOI), both of which have clear track records of terrorist activities including against the US. He reiterated that the US has been giving arms and cash to the terrorists in the MKO for years and reveals that “most of the [MKO] leaders have been taking our money and cashing it in an awful lot of bank accounts in London.” He also revealed for the first time that the US has trained MKO teams in the state of Nevada and that “they do a lot of crazy stuff inside Iran”.
As reported by Seymour Hersh, Illegal military and financial support of MKO was not limited to the Bush administration. In April 2012, Seymour Hersh reported at the New Yorker that the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) of the US military gave members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) training in signals intelligence at a facility in Nevada during the Bush era. The MEK was then on the US State Department’s terrorism watch list, so the Pentagon’s deployment of this group was quite illegal.
Hersh revealed a trail of blatant hypocrisy on the part of the US government. The U.S. favorite terrorists are not terrorists even if they have blown up non-combatants, but national liberation groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon are designated terrorists. The U.S. Government officials have even brandished the word “terrorism” to describe perfectly peaceful protesters and dissidents inside the US, while JSOC was flying dyed-in-the-wool terrorists to Nevada for training.
Finally, after the United States played all those games with its favorite terrorists, the Obama administration started a new game and removed MKO’s name from the list of foreign terrorist organizations. They also allowed the former terrorists to open an office in Washington. Again what didn’t matter here at all was the MKO itself. It was about politics and a leverage to pressure Iran.
With a brief review on US-MKO relations, it can be seen the MKO has always been perceived by various US governments as a tool to be used against Iran. In fact, what doesn’t really matter is the terrorist group. It is all about the United States and Iran. MKO is just a terrorist group with a black record that could only serve its Master’s wishes without any independency. The only reason the MKO continues to exist today, is that its masters believe they can still use it to pressure Iran.
Iran poses no threat to the United States: Ex-US Air Force Lt. Col.
Karen Kwiatkowski is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who spent some 4 years working at the Pentagon. Since her retirement, she has become an outspoken critic on the U.S. foreign policy. Holding a PhD degree in World Politics from the Catholic University of America, Kwiatkowski is a prolific writer at the LewRockWell.com and the American Conservative.
Colonel Kwiatkowski is primarily noted for openly and publicly denouncing what she sees as a corrupting political influence on the course of military intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Her most comprehensive writings on this subject appeared in a series of articles in The American Conservative magazine in December 2003 and in a March 2004 article on Salon.com.
Dr. Kwiatkowski joined Habilian Association in an exclusive interview, and shared her ideas on a number of issues. What follows is excerpt of the interview selected by Nejat Society:
[…]
Habilian: The US considers itself to be at the forefront of the war on terrorism and censures other countries for their alleged sponsorship of terrorist groups. But, it took Mujahedin-e Khalq off its list of terrorist organizations, and there are credible evidence showing that Washington has been supporting MEK in its terror ops, both militarily and financially. Isn’t it a hypocritical approach in dealing with the issue of terrorism?
Kwiatkowski: I am personally disgusted by the many years of political support for the MEK by neoconservative elements among the US political class. It is beyond hypocritical, and the history and shifts regarding the MEK– in many ways a western proxy organization from the beginning — is simply one more means of war and provocation against another country, that like drone warfare, is a mechanism that provides the United State government with deniability, ambiguity, a lack of accountability, and ultimately hurts US credibility and interests.
Habilian: Would you please touch on Canada’s dropping MEK from its official list of terrorists?
Kwiatkowski: I don’t follow Canadian politics, but I’m sure Canadian politicians are as venal as the ones we have in the United States. There is a strong and growing tendency for both Canada and Mexican government to fall in line with Washington — I do celebrate when I see Mexican and Canadian leaders expressing their national sovereignty by distancing themselves from US decisions and actions. I don’t see this often, though.
Habilian: And finally, speaking at the French National Assembly on December 5, 2012, MEK leader Maryam Rajavi asked France and the western countries to recognize them as an opposition group as they recognized the Syrian coalition against Assad. What’s your take on this issue? Do you think this group can bring democracy?
Kwiatkowski: I’m not overly familiar with Maryam Rajavi — however, I remember reading about her and the MEK in my days at the Pentagon. My sense was, and remains, that this group is dependent on outside money, serves interests that may have nothing to do with their published propaganda. I left the Pentagon in 2003, nearly a decade ago. Maryam has led the MEK since 1993, and it appears she inherited the position from her husband. That doesn’t sound very democratic, and I suspect that Rajavi knows little about, and cares little about, democracy. The very fact that her organization is favored by a powerful sector in Washington should undermine it as some sort of people’s movement for Iranians dissatisfied with the mullahs and/or Ahmedinejad. Beyond that, Iran already has democracy. Ahmedinejad is an elected leader, much as Obama is. I frankly don’t see democracy as a solution to much of anything. Small, limited and lawful governments — whether they be led by kings or parliaments — deliver far more peace and prosperity than do large, unlimited and unlawful governments, even if those large, unlimited and unlawful governments were “democratically” elected.
With regard to Syria — the war supporters in Washington DC and allies in Europe who are involved in Syrian national politics have been working overtime, without the benefit of public scrutiny, comment or awareness. To wish to be "recognized" by such corrupt governments is revealing, and little good for the people of Syria or the people of Iran respectively, will come of it.
In an interview with Javan daily, Persian language Iran-based newspaper, Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad reiterated that the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, also known as MKO and NCRI) has been limited and the US and the European countries are interacting with the terrorist group and providing them with unsparing supports.
What follows is a rough translation of the interview:
Javan: After MKO’s relocation to Camp Liberty and the way the group was treated during the transfer procedure, 
it seems the United States government has somehow agreed with more limitation of the group. On the other side we see the MKO is delisted in the United States and practically, provided with a series of new services! So a contradictory behavior is witnessed here. Recently, countries like Albania have received a number of the MKO members and this is also in contrast with the initial signs of the terrorist group’s limitation. What’s your evaluation of the situation?
Hasheminejad: We should consider many facts here. The MKO was first listed in 1997, but we know that the group’s social activities were never limited by the US or the European countries. For example, while the MKO was still on the list of terrorist organizations, the leaders of the group used to gather some poor and helpless people who were desperate for some money, and organized meetings and gatherings in the Paris suburbs on the anniversary of their armed conflict with the Islamic republic by paying huge amounts of money. There were also some American and European figures who used to participate in those meetings and supported the very same group they had placed on the list of terrorist organizations! They also used to provide the MKO with a lot of financial resources.
This is a fact that has been confirmed by many American and European jurists. The MKO has faced no limits since 1997 whether during or after the Saddam era. I have personally witnessed their activities in some European countries. Their activities are well coordinated in the United States and Europe. Such a situation has been continued from the day they escaped the country, up to right no without any changes.
Javan: What was the reason of MKO’s listing?
Hasheminejad: Listing of the MKO in a specific period of time, was mentioned as a good will gesture towards Iran by the U.S. politicians, which was practically useless. So the MKO was delisted in a similar procedure. Nothing especial took place neither when the group was listed nor when it was delisted. A review on the reports published by FBI, the U.S intelligence agencies and also the French Police, could prove the MKO’s record is filled with various violations of law in the European countries, while not even a single member of the MKO was arrested. I mean the European countries and the United States had provided the MKO exactly the same social freedom that Saddam had provided them to let them continue their criminal acts. The MKO members would easily go into the European Parliament and recruited people to lobby for them. As it was mentioned in the RAND report, I think the US government tried to keep the MKO in Iraq for specific situations and also for acts of sabotage in the country. Even the US Defense Department had released a report before the MKO was delisted, in which the group’s horrible crimes were listed. These documents reveal that MKO has been listed or delisted just to benefit the US interests. The US government doesn’t want to receive the MKO for two reasons: first one is to be able to use the MKO’s terrorist potential in Iraq and the second is that the Americans are well aware that the MKO members are dangerous.
Javan: What is the reason behind the fact that some western governments suddenly changed their minds and started to receive the MKO members in their countries?
Hasheminejad: The United States and the West had no other ways but to act legally following the Iraqi government’s legal pressures during a several year long procedure. So the United Nations was forced to sign an agreement with the Iraqi government and the Europeans let the MKO members in their countries. The informal relocation of MKO members to the European countries had started since their announcement of armed conflict and they have offices in most of those countries. FBI has even announced the MKO has 36 specific places for its activities in the United States. But for being formally relocated, the group needed a legal procedure to be delisted. From one point of view, this is a good thing but from other points of view it is a negative measure. If the plan is to disintegrate the MKO, it should not be delisted. The relocation has got a special legal process. The UN Commissioner for Refugees has defined the relocation process: the terrorist person or organization should be delisted with enough guarantees and the Red Crescent must also guarantee that they won’t return to their terrorist activities and after that, a third country is negotiated to receive them. It is not even necessary to completely delist the whole terrorist group. It is a positive measure since it leads to the MKO’s disintegration but we also condemn their illegal works.
Javan: Don’t you think the MKO was delisted in order to be spread all over the world and have more freedom to do their works?
Hasheminejad:The MKO is free to do anything even right now and this decision is not going to have much impact. Mrs. Clinton cleared this point out in her recent announcement and practically showed how much freedom the MKO has got. She said: From now on, the MKO can transfer their money freely! This show that the MKO was limited only regarding to its money transferring. Of course the MKO used to transfer its money before, too. But it was mainly under money laundering efforts.
Javan: At the moment, how unified do you think the MKO is?
Hasheminejad: It seems they are disintegrating. Some 100 persons have escaped the MKO since 2 or 3 years ago. These defections are moving from the body of the MKO to its leadership level. Out of the 70 women who were members of the MKO’s leadership council and Rajavi deeply trusted them, 3 have defected. Massoud Rajavi’s main translator has also escaped. All of these show that the MKO is on the verge of collapse and its disintegration has accelerated. It was clear from the beginning that this would be their end.
Habilian Association’s Secretary General has said that the departure of 14 MKO members for Albania is the beginning of the terrorist group’s collapse.
Seyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, Habilian Association’s Secretary General, referred to the Albanian government’s asylum offer to MKO members and said, “MKO’s ringleaders tried so hard to postpone their expulsion from Iraq using their Zionist lobbyists and advocates.”
“But the collapse of this terrorist group is inevitable due to the Iraqi laws and also the international laws, so their efforts have led to nowhere,” he added.
Hasheminejad reiterated, “it can be seen now that despite all MKO leaders’ efforts, they have not been able to achieve their desired results and the terrorist group’s collapse has started.”
Habilian SG continued, “Albania, as well as some other states, has agreed to receive 14 members of the terrorist group and they are now being relocated.”
He said the Albanian government’s agreement to receive these MKO members is based on international laws and agreements between the United Nations and Iraq.”
At the end, Hasheminejad referred to this relocation as the starting point of the terrorist group’s disintegration which would finally lead to the destruction of the festering tumor.
Albanian Prime minister had made an announcement that he would offer asylum to 210 member of the MKO, currently living at a former U.S. military base near Baghdad. He had said the offer was made for “humanitarian reasons”.
Undoubtedly, one of the most prominent examples of double standards adopted by the United States and some other western countries towards the terrorism issue, is their attitude towards the terrorist Mujahedin e-Khalq 
Organization.
In an obvious contrast with international laws, MKO members were granted asylum while the group was still on the list of terrorist organizations. Despite they witnessed the terrorist group’s crimes, MKOs’ headquarters were protected by the Police in France.
While the group was formally recognized as a terrorist organization, they were allowed to hold meetings and gatherings in many European countries. As though western entities revealed MKO’s violation of human rights inside the cult, no efforts were made to rescue the trapped members. While it was once a crime to support the MKO (one of the reasons announced by the Bush administration to attack Iraq was Saddam’s support of the MKO), immediately after invasion of Iraq, the terrorist group was under the U.S. protection.
Even though many informed technical and diplomatic experts evaluated MKO’s claims against Iranian nuclear activities as untrue and false, MKO’s propaganda was widely used against Iran. Whenever western diplomats needed a leverage to pressure Iran, they used to line up the terrorist group’s members in London, Washington, Paris, Geneva … to protest against Islamic Republic.
Despite all their supports for the terrorist MKO, western countries have not been able to ignore some facts about the group. There are some international reports that reveal MKO’s real nature.
These documents show there is a global consensus on the fact that the MKO is a group with a criminal record.
A review on the documents could be useful for many politicians and researchers. Documents show that western countries counted on the MKO to be able to influence Iranian internal issues after the terrorist group started its armed conflict against the people and when the cult leaders escaped to France. They used to believe the MKO enjoyed popular support in Iran. But just a few years after MKO’s presence in Europe, the US Department of State destroyed all the hallucinations on MKO in a detailed report, describing the terrorist group as a mosquito against Iranian military forces. The report explained MKO’s undemocratic and cultic characteristics. The cult’s cooperation with Saddam’s intelligence was revealed in the report and at the end Iranian people’s hatred of the group was emphasized. Public disgust of the terrorist MKO is reviewed in many other documents.
Another important document on the MKO, was the Human Rights Watch report about the cult’s inner relations. The report revealed MKO’s mistreatment of own members. Those who were once deceived by the group’s leaders and were at full service of the terrorist organization, were detained in Abu-Qoraib or the cult’s own prisons, being tortured by their former comrades. The report revealed some inhuman approaches adopted in the cult including mandatory divorces and separation of children from their parents. The report also described how the MKO was held under tight control of the husband and wife team of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi and has a history of cult-like practices that include engaging in extended self-criticism sessions.
More dramatically, the report states that former MKO members told Human Rights Watch of being arrested, in some cases violently abused and in other instances imprisoned, when they protested MKO policies or tried to leave the organization. They were held in solitary confinement for years in a camp operated by MKO in Iraq under the protection of Saddam Hussein.
In mid 2009, the Rand Corporation also published a report about the MKO titled ‘Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: A Policy Conundrum’. This report was written by a team of four who worked for 15 months in the US and Iraq to produce the most thorough analysis to date of the group’s cultish aspects. MKO is referred to as a cult 88 times in this report. It is stated in the report ‘an examination of MKO activities establishes its cultic practices and its deceptive recruitment and public relations strategies.’ Elsewhere in the same document it is stated: ‘Rajavi instituted what he termed an “ideological revolution” in 1985, which, over time, imbued the MKO with many 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.’
There are lots of more internationally known documents that reveal the terrorist nature of MKO group.
At the end, all these documents help to figure out how unpopular and isolated the terrorist Mujahedin e-Khalq organization is in the eye of Iranian people and all the people around the world. It doesn’t matter whether they are removed from the list of terrorist organizations, it doesn’t even matter whether the United States and some other western countries fully support the cult, the nature of this terrorist organization has not changed.
Iraq is a member of the resistance movement and that’s impossible for the terrorist MKO to exist in such a country.
“Despite there are numerous documents that prove Mujahedin e-khalq organization’s crimes against the people of Iraq, the Iraqi government has only agreed with expulsion of the group.” Said a member of Iraqi national alliance in a meeting with Seyyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, Habilian Association’s Secretary General.
Jomeh Al-Otvani, a member of Iraqi national alliance pointed out MKO’s crimes against the Iranian and Iraqi nations and reiterated: “The MKO has just united the two Iranian and Iraqi nations by conducting these crimes. Thousands of Iraqi people have also been martyred by the MKO just like a lot of Iranians.”
Al-Otvani referred to Iraqi people’s view on the government’s measures against the terrorist group and said: “According to the constitution, the government tried to expel the group from the country. But people believe the government has had too much flexibility towards the cult’s members and that’s because it is satisfied with their expulsion only, despite there are many documents showing their crimes against people.
He also pointed out the USA’s ongoing pressures to keep the MKO in Iraq and said: “the government has tolerated a lot of pressures from the US regarding to the MKO’s expulsion. The United States aims to tense relations between the two Iraqi and Iranian nations by doing that.”
At the end of the meeting he predicted that the terrorist cult will be disintegrated by being expelled to the western countries and said: “Iraq is a member of the resistance movement and that’s impossible for the terrorist group to exist in such a country.”
An Iraqi Sadrist MP has urged the Iraq’s government to speed up the expulsion of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, 
a.k.a. MKO and PMOI) members from the Arab country.
Reiterating the impossibility of further presence of MKO terrorists in Iraq, the Iraqi parliamentarian said the return of the MKO members to Camp Ashraf is impossible, Habilian Association reported.
Al-Mansouri was quoted by Ashraf News as saying that the MKO terrorist group constitutes a threat to the Iraq’s security, adding, the only option for the group is their immediate expulsion from Iraq.
Hussein al-Mansouri also pointed out that some members of the MKO group are wanted by the police in connection with their crimes under Saddam Hussein.
The Iraqi officials have repeatedly emphasized that the members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization, armed and supported by the Iraqi executed dictator Saddam Hussein, pose a real threat to Iraq’s territorial integrity. Hence, the Iraqi government has signed an agreement with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Martin Kobler to relocate the residents of Camp Ashraf to a temporary transit location where the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will start a process of refugee status determination, a necessary first step for their expulsion outside Iraq.
The issue of weird and cult-like conduct of the leaders of Mujahedin e-Khalq organization (MKO, a.k.a MEK and NCRI) and their bizarre treatment of other members has been an acknowledged issue.
The MKO authorizes use of violence against its own members. MKO leaders further use acts of violence as a tool for inner-cultish elimination of members who have somehow distanced from the group’s ideology.
Some major and most prominent methods adopted by leaders of terrorist groups such as MKO to keep and extend their dominance include: Removal of opposition, discrediting the disaffected members and naming them as betrayers before and after their removal, slandering the critics and the opposition by false and shameful accusations, surprising inversion of the political or ideological stance, and encouragement of members to humiliate themselves when facing any feelings of obligation, questions or doubts. In this case, the member will turn into a devotee and inculcates himself that he doesn’t have the ability to think and differentiate between things. And that’s just his leader who forms his life and thoughts.
Such occurrences that have taken place in the terrorist MKO are discussed below briefly.
Assassination of Javad Saeidi in autumn 1973 by the so called Muslim leadership of the MKO and assassination of Sharif Vaqefi in spring 1975 by the Marxist leadership of the cult are no different in their natures. Both of these assassinations have taken place as a result of the cult’s belief in Stalinism and physical removal. From the MKO’s point of view, not only such assassinations can’t be blamed, but also they are done to protect the governing principals in the organization. In a cult with such a view, any opposition to the leadership will lead to death and physical removal. Javad Saeidi’s only sin was that he was bold enough to leave the organization. Sharif Vaqefi’s crime was somehow the same and he was assassinated with the excuse of not obeying the organizational orders. It wasn’t just about the fact that they didn’t convert to Marxism.
Some of the members, who didn’t accept the new ideology of the organization, were forced to criticize and somehow humiliate themselves. Some others were forced to go laboring in the southern regions of the city in order to think twice on their ideologies. Some religious members were banned from having weapons and cyanide capsules. As a result of this punishment, the punished member would be easily arrested by the Police if spotted. The members who stood against changing ideology were eliminated if they were too inflexible.
Javad Saeidi was sentenced to death by the organization’s leadership because of his opposition to the organization. He hid in Qom city for a few months but finally he was kidnapped and killed while he was blindfolded.
Some other MKO members assassinated by the order of the cult leaders include: Mahdi Amir Shah Karami, Majid Sharif Vaghefi, Morteza Samadieh Labaf, Rafat Afraz, Mahboubeh afraz, Abdoreza Moniri Javid, Morteza Houdashtian, Hossein Kermanshahi Asl, Mohammad Hasan Abrari Jahromi, Ali Mirza Jafar, Hosein Ahmadi Rohani, Ali Mohebbi, Ahmad Ahmad, Fatemeh Fartouk Zadeh, and Ali Khodaei Sefat and Mohammad Gharzi.
A recent survey of Iranian Americans found that only 5 percent support the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq organization (MKO, a.k.a. MEK and NCRI).
According to Habilian Association, the survey released late last week by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), reveals that only 5 percent of a total of 15 percent of Iranian Americans who support opposition groups or figures in Iran support MKO.
The results of this survey truly represent the lack of support for the terrorist MKO group among Iranian patriots who are aware of the MKO’s treasonable acts against the Iranian people and the government of Islamic Republic, including siding with the invader of Iran, Saddam Hussein, during the 1980s and killing and injuring thousands of Iranian innocent civilians.
The extremely long list of MKO’s treasons did not finish in the past decades, but they are actively engaged in anti-Iran struggles.
As Paul Sheldon Foote, Professor at California state university, put it in an interview with Habilian Association, terrorist MKO group is a useful tool for the Israelis “by promoting hatred of Iran, by telling lies about Iran, and by conducting terrorist operations in Iran.”
Mujahedin e-Khalq organization(MKO, a.k.a MEK and NCRI) has got a long list of crimes recorded in its history including torture, murder and assassination of innocent people. Iranians are not their only victims, Iraqi nation has also suffered from MKO’s atrocities during the Intifada of Iraq in 1991.
Assassination of Am
erican citizens is another one of MKO’s crimes when they were still in Iran. Despite MKO has formally taken responsibility for these assassinations, not only the Unites States government has not taken proper measures to confront the terrorist group, the Obama administration has also been openly supporting the MKO first by removing its name from the list of foreign terrorist organizations and then in a recent action, MKO’s office has been reopened in Washington D.C just a couple of blocks away from the White House. The United States government has failed to protect its citizens’ rights at least not as good as it claims. Forgetting the fact that MKO has assassinated a number of American citizens in Iran back in the 1970s, is a good proof for this claim.
There are exclusive documents that show the MKO has formally taken the responsibility of assassination of an American citizen named colonel Louis Lee Hawkins in its magazine called “the Mujahed”.
On June 2, 1976, an American colonel was assassinated and two days after that, the MKO took full responsibility of the attack on the issue No. 16 of “the Mujahed”. MKO republished the announcement in which it had taken the responsibility of the attack, on June 4, 1980.
Is the United States government unaware of these assassinations? Certainly the answer is negative. So now the question is how can the people of the United States be assured that these terrorist occurrences won’t take place again? Should the Americans feel safer with assassins of their compatriots living freely next to them?
Regardless of MKO’s status these days, it is clear that neither the basic American citizens’ rights nor the fight against terrorism which has been used by the U.S. government to justify killing thousands of innocent people, matters to Washington.
At the end it should be pointed out that the nature of terrorist organizations won’t be changed by delisting them or by providing them an office just a few blocks away from the White House. American people should always be careful about them.