Nejat Bloggers

Pictorial-Iraqi tribes sympathize with MKO hostages families

On Monday October 4th, 2010 a number of Iraqi tribal nationals from Salahuddin Province including Doctor Nafe’ and Ms. Dm-i-Ali offered their sympathy to families who are on strike in front of Ashraf gates. Iraqi journalists were also present at the meeting that lasted a few hours.The tribe’s deputies said that they had had no idea of the families strike at Camp Ashraf and MKO had abstained to respect such a reasonable right.They promised to pursue the case in Iraqi judiciary and media. During the visit a few recently defected members of MKO also spoke to the audience by clarifying the current atmosphere ruling the cult. Their descriptions caused extreme wonder among the attendees.

November 11, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Mujahedin Khalq and Western Intelligence

Due to the numerous defections from the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO/MEK/NCRI(the Rajavi cult has entered another historical decline. The first wave of defections followed the collapse of Saddam Hussein, the cult’s former military and financial sponsor. At that time, the first major strike hit the MKO as coalition forces took control of Camp Ashraf, the organization’s ideological container, located in northern Iraq. As Saddam Hussein fell, the group’s leaders immediately cooperated with coalition forces and consequently shifted their policies in order to appease forces as well as maintain their presence at Camp Ashraf.

Cooperation with the coalition forces was one of the more severe policy changes the MKO made. The MKO made a huge effort to become friendly towards the West, ultimately shifting their attitude, and hoping their cooperation would bring them respect, and prosperity. Since the shift in approach, the ringleaders of the MKO (which is considered an anti-Iran terrorist organization) have appealed to both US and Israel security firms to help them bar defectors from escaping the camp, according to Fars News Agency.

The report says that "following several successful escape plans, the MKO leaders inked an agreement with the US Blackwater security firm to block defectors; escape and tighten control over the camp."[1]

The Mujahedin’s reputation and status in Iraq is as complicated as Blackwater’s. Both have committed crimes against Iraqi civilians, and eventually both are hated by Iraqi government officials and civilians alike. A RAND report on the MKO outlines that “much of the Iraqi public believe that the MEK did commit violent acts on Saddam’s behalf against Shias and Kurds." [2] As for Blackwater, the BBC News reported that, “Iraq has begun collecting signatures for a class action lawsuit on behalf of people killed or wounded in incidents involving the US security firm Blackwater. It will seek compensation for a number of such cases, the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said. Incidents include the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad’s Nisoor square.” [3]

According to CNN, the Iraqi government is actively pursuing any former Blackwater personnel still working in the country. "I don’t think the Iraqi government is willing to have any Blackwater member, even if they are working in other companies, we don’t like to see them here working in any company,” said Ali al Dabbagh, Iraqi government spokesman.[4]

Neither Blackwater nor the MKO have a favorable presence in Iraq, and the relationship is unusual and puzzling for locals. As for Blackwater, in order to maintain presence, it’s just a matter of relinquishing their existence for a while and remarketing themselves under a new name. But for the MKO, that’s impossible because the ties to Iraq are deeper and cover a wider spectrum of victims in both Iran and Iran. The leaders of Camp Ashraf are supposed to be brought to trial because of their violent and unforgiveable acts as the mercenaries of the dictator, Saddam Hussein.

But meanwhile, and aside from their relationship with Blackwater, as the MKO displays full cooperation with Western intelligence agencies, it is clear that the MKO is in a desperate state. Without the protection of Saddam Hussein, they lack confidence and power, and they desperately need an umbrella to stand under. The shift in policy has made lower-ranking members uneasy and as a result many have defected and given testimony of the atrocious situation at the camp, causing a crisis for the leaders of the MKO. The Habilian Association, an Iran-based human rights group, reports that "those MKO members who succeeded in fleeing the notorious camp have disclosed that the terrorist group’s ringleaders have created a gruesome atmosphere in the camp, especially for women and have even threatened the female members with rape and other forms of torture."[5]

In a more recent revelation, the MKO’s move to consort with Western intelligence agencies also includes Israeli intelligence. In June 2009 Gareth Porter a historian and journalist of IPS wrote of close ties between MKO and Israelis in order to reveal the existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in August 2002. Porter writes that the MKO’s intelligence “apparently came from Israeli Intelligence. The Israeli co-authors of *The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran*, Yossi Melman and Meir Javeanfar, revealed that ‘Western’ intelligence was ‘laundered’ to hide its actual provenance by providing it to Iranian opposition groups, especially NCRI, in order to get it to IAEA,” Porter concluded.[6] Scott Ritter, another reporter and Iran expert, furthers that, “much of the information behind this is being promulgated by Israel, which has a vested interest in seeing Iran neutralized as a potential threat. But Israel is joined by another source, even more puzzling in terms of its broad-based acceptance in the world of American journalism: the Mujahadeen-e Khalk, or MEK, an Iranian opposition group sworn to overthrow the theocracy in Tehran. The CIA today provides material support to the actions of the MEK inside Iran. The recent spate of explosions in Iran, including a particularly devastating ‘accident’ involving a military convoy transporting ammunition in downtown Tehran, appears to be linked to an MEK operation; its agents working inside munitions manufacturing plants deliberately are committing acts of sabotage which lead to such explosions. If CIA money and planning support are behind these actions, the agency’s backing constitutes nothing less than an act of war on the part of the United States against Iran.” [7]

Flynt Leverett, of the New America Foundation asks, “Why is no journalist from a major media outlet in the United States asking why the Obama Administration drove the P-5+1 to push a new sanctions resolution against Iran, when there is such clear disarray, disagreement, and desperation in the U.S. Intelligence Community regarding Iran’s nuclear program?” [8]
Clearly there needs to be more research done on the MKO, their involvement in intelligence gathering, their relationship with Israel, and their ultimate motives. Someone has to question their reliability. I propose, like Leverett, that any journalist from a major media outlet ask some pointed questions: Why is no journalist from a major media outlet asking how a terrorist organization maintains use of a powerful intelligence satellite, unless that satellite is owned and maintained by Israel or the United States? Is the information being fed to the MKO simply because no one would believe Israel?

Regarding the fact that a terrorist designated organization is not able to own an intelligence satellite, it is interesting that the MKO’s recently published so-called revelations on a new Iranian nuclear site near Qazvin signifies something the US feels is worth looking into. Porter has already outlined that the MKO has links with an Israeli spying system on Iran. Maybe everyone is in the dark and the MKO simply googled-earthed it—perhaps they found some suspicious mounds of dirt that could be considered dangerous signs of a nuclear threat. Then they passed that on to the CIA. The whole deal sounds preposterous and needs to be looked into. At least Gareth Porter is on the right track.

For the record, "at the end of April, Israel launched an ImageSat international Eros-B spy satellite to keep watch on Iran’s nuclear progress.

Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, the head of the Israeli space Agency recently said in an interview that the observation of Iran from space would allow Israel to monitor precisely the above ground evidence of nuclear activity even at the deeply-buried and concrete–reinforced facilities at Natanz," according to New York Times bestselling author, Jerome R. Corsi. [9]

Corsi adds that "the Israeli Eros-B spy satellite is very possibly the best optical surveillance technology any country in the world has in orbit, including US, Russia and China."[10] The report suggests that the intelligence satellites are just owned by some few powerful states, not an exiled terrorist designated organization whose members more or less rely on donations obtained by standing around at the airport soliciting a few hundred dollars a day from gullible passersby.

MKO leaders now seem to be wandering among their former enemies as puppets with an agenda; they are collecting various photographs spit from expensive satellites from who knows where, peddling them to high-ranking US warmongers in hope that they will be granted their wish of taking over the country of Iran with the backing of the West, and Israel of course—and this is all too obvious in Iran. Iranians in Iran dearly cling to a dream that Iran will sort itself out in due time—without the help of the unreliable West, and certainly without the help of the treasonous MKO. Sanctions and suffering aside, the Iranians are strong-willed, intelligent, and friendly people.
They are highly educated and curious about the world. They are acutely aware of politics on both a local and global level, and they love and want to preserve their identity as an independent and proud nation which has so much to offer the world in terms of brain power, technology, culture and natural resources.

For the MKO, in this kind of atmosphere, there is no place. A political future in Iran for them is simply impossible. No one in Iran supports them. No one is willing to buy into their constantly changing ideology. And certainly, no one is ever going to forget the treason and massacres they committed against thousands of their own people during the Iran-Iraq war while they were supported by Saddam Hussein. For Iranians, the MKO expired thirty years ago, and a revival within their own country is highly unlikely, as they are out of touch with the Iranian public’s sentiment towards the way the country has been run, and towards the opinion that the greater population has about them, especially after they took refuge in Iraq. The MKO is plainly not welcome in Iran, not trusted by Iranians, nor should they be trusted by the West. Ultimately the MKO’s relationship with Western intelligence will lead to the cult’s self destruction. And for God’s sake it’s about time.

References:

[1]Fars News Agency, . "MKO Asks for US, Israeli Help to Stop Defection"
*Free Library by Farlex* 09.Oct 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. *Farlex Inc.*. <
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MKO+Asks+for+US,
+Israeli+Help+to+Stop+Defection.-a0239068020>.

[2] Goulka, Jeremiah, Lydia Hansell, Elizabeth Wilke, and Judith Larson.
"Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: A Policy Conundrum." *RAND National Defence
Research Institute* (2009): Web. 3 Nov 2010. <
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG871

[3] BBC NEWS." *US Blackwater lawsuit signatures sought by Iraq *. BBC, 18
Jan 2010. Web. 3 Nov 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8466303.stm.

[4] "Iraq spokesman: Ex-Blackwater employees not wanted in Iraq." *CNN WORLD
03* Jan 2010: Web. 3 Nov 2010. <
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-03/world/
iraq.blackwater_1_dustin-heard-blackwater-guards-iraqi-civilians?_s=PM:WORLD>.

[5] Fars News Agency, . "MKO Asks for US, Israeli Help to Stop Defection"
*Free Library by Farlex* 09.Oct 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. *Farlex Inc.*. <
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MKO+Asks+for+US,
+Israeli+Help+to+Stop+Defection.-a0239068020>.

[6] Porter, Gareth. "Report Ties Dubious Iran Nuclear Docs to Israel." *Inter
Press Service* 3 June 2009: Web. 3 Nov 2010. <
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47081>.

[7] Ritter, Scott. "America Is Already Committing Acts of War Against Iran."
*Alternet* (30 Jul 2008): Web. 4 Nov 2010. <
http://www.alternet.org/world/93239/
america_is_already_committing_acts_of_war_against_iran

[8] Leverett, Flynt. "Desperately Seeking "Defectors" to Make a Case for an
Iran War." *New Amerrica Foundation* (19 July 2010): Web. 4 Nov 2010. <
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/articles/2010/
desperately_seeking_defectors_to_make_a_case_for_an_iran_war_34523
Flynt Leverett is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, and global energy issues. From 1992 to 2003, he had a distinguished career in the U.S. government, serving as Senior Director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council, Middle East Expert on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, and Senior Analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. He left the Bush administration and government service in the spring of 2003 because of disagreements about Middle East policy and the conduct of the war on terror more generally. He is a consultant to the World Economic Forum’s “Gulf Cooperation Council and the World 2025” scenarios project and to the Club of Madrid on global energy issues. He is a peer reviewer for the International Energy Agency’s *World Energy Outlook*

[9] Corsi, Jerome. "Nuclear Crisis With Iran Intensifies." *Human Events –
Leading conservative Media Since 1944* 03 May 2006: Web. 4 Nov 2010. <
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=14517>.

[10] Ibid

By: Mazda Parsi

November 9, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

MKO Has No Base Amongst Iranians

As President Ahmadinejad addressed the UN’s General Assembly in September, New York witnessed a bizarre atmosphere of MKO protestors. The protestors ran a high budget rally, and were addressed by some right wing political figures including Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York, and John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN and a promoter of a second war project against Iran. [1] The protest also included a fresh faced 22-year old speaker, Sahand Khoshbaten, who calls himself a “human rights activist,” and “Iranian freedom fighter.” No Iranian would agree with the MKO’s motto

Khoshbaten organizes the “No to Ahmadinejad Committee,” a group which sends protestors to push for human rights when the President of Iran appears at the UN. But during the protest speeches it is clear that Khoshbaten is really a messenger from the terrorist cult, Mujahedin eh Khalq Organization. What many Americans don’t know is that the MKO, has no base among Iranians. And it should have no base among the few Americans supporting them anyway because the MKO committed murderous acts of terror against Americans, and are currently listed on the US Department of State Foreign Terrorist Organization List, a fact that most Americans don’t know. This rally was using human rights as a guise to target sentimental Americans—Iranian-born or not.

Cyrus Safdari of *Iran Affairs* suggests the irony that comes out of such American support for a terrorist designated organization like the MKO. He reminds us of a controversial fact that "of various bullshit reasons given for the US invasion of Iraq, the US accused Saddam of aiding foreign terrorist organizations. But the only organization they could tie him to was …..wait for it ….the MEK!"[2]. In another article published by *Newsweek *which highlights Safdari’s punch line, former Clinton administration official Martin Indyk, who served as assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs in 1997, said that “one of the reasons the group was put on the terrorism list in the first place was part of a ‘two-pronged’ strategy that included ratcheting up pressure on Saddam. Like the Bush White House, the Clinton administration was eager to highlight Iraqi ties to terrorism and had collected extensive evidence of Saddam providing logistical support to the MKO in the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War. (The MKO’s headquarters are located on a heavily guarded street in central Baghdad.) But the United States could find no other hard evidence linking Saddam to terror groups, Indyk said. ‘That was about all we had on [Saddam] when it came to terrorism,’ Indyk told *Newsweek*.” [3]

Even with some American support and Iranian-American support, the MKO is simply not a viable alternative to the current regime. No Iranian would agree with the MKO’s motto that they are “The Voice of Change for a New Iran.” Which Iran is the MKO referring to? The one that has few, if any, supporters? The one full of MKO defectors? One MKO defector, Mr. Dashtestani, who now lives back in his home country of Iran, recently escaped Camp Ashraf, the MKO headquarters, which members operated out of in the war against their home country. Dashtestani explained about the control the MKO cult group has over its members. He recalls, "During the past six months I travelled through half of Iranian territory, [and] I was never asked a question, but in Camp Ashraf if you want to go outside you have to ask at least three people."[4]

The US State Department report on the MKO in 1994 is a clear guideline to those who hesitate about the legitimacy of the group in both Iran and the United States:

"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." [5]

Patrick Disney of *Foreign Policy* pushes a more sensational description of the MKO—a description that might hit home with Americans who seek to understand just who the MKO are. Disney asserts that "the MEK organization has literally zero support among the Iranian people.

The closest thing to how Iranians feel about the MEK is how Americans feel about Al-Qaeda. It’s not even a subject of debate. Which is why it’s bizarre that members of congress would want to lend US credibility to such an organization."[6]

Mahan Abedin, Director of Research at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism, believes that "both sides in the US debate readily admit the Mojahedin’s isolation both in Iran and amongst the Iranian Diaspora in the West is not fully appreciated.” Abedin contends that this isolation is originated from two reasons, the group’s alliance with Saddam Hussein and its communist philosophy. He writes that, "The organization’s radical and near-communist origins have always alienated large swathes of Iran’s modern middle and upper classes. The MKO’s alliance with Iraq’s former Baathist regime during the Iran-Iraq war was a huge strategic blunder from which they could never hope to recover. The sight of MKO forces aiding the Iraqi turned them into perennial traitors in the eyes of Iranians. This perception of the Mujahedin still persists, more than 15 years after the ending of the war". [7] It seems ridiculous to count on an opposition group with unsubstantiated support among Iranians living in Iran. Western sponsors such as John Bolton, and Rudi Giuliani are on the wrong track by supporting the MKO—who because of their terrorist label, and because they know they have almost no support amongst Iranians—consistently hide behind front organizations such as Khoshbaten’s “No to Ahmadinejad Committee.”

Who are these American supporters who think they know what is best for Iran? By allowing and supporting a known terrorist group (and its front groups) to protest in front of the UN, the Americans are simply perpetuating hypocrisy and bad relations between the two countries. Perhaps the Americans have forgotten the last time they went against the hearts and minds of Iranians when the CIA carried out a coup d’état in 1953 and placed the unpopular Shah in power, only to have it blow back with hatred and distrust towards American foreign policy in the region. Iranians have not forgotten, and Iranians don’t want the MKO. Americans need to know that.

References:

[1] Anti-Ahmadinejad demonstration in New York addressed by dignitaries." *CNN
ireport* 27 September 2010: Web. 1 Nov 2010. <
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-496415?ref=feeds%2Flatest>.
[2] Disney, Patrick. "Disney on the MEK-MKO-PMOI-NCRI-whatever." *Iran
Affairs* (24 September 2010): Web. 1 Nov 2010. <
http://www.iranaffairs.com/iran_affairs/2010/09/
disney-on-the-mek-mko-pmoi-ncri-whatever-.html>.
[3] Iskoff, Michael. "Ashcroft’s Baghdad Connection." *Newsweek* 26
September 2002:. Web. 1 Nov 2010. <
http://www.newsweek.com/2002/09/25/ashcroft-s-baghdad-connection.html>.
[4] Dashtestani, Mahmoud. *Nejat Society*. Interview by Habilian
Association. 09 October 2010. Web. 1 Nov 2010. <
https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/3309>.
[5]Katzman, Kenneth. US State Department Report, Library of Congress.
Congressional Research Service. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
Washington, Nov 1992. Doc. call no.: M-U 42953-1 no.92-824F as posted on the
Iran-interlink.org website:
http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/child%20pages/USstatedept.htm
See also: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
website: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4ac9c2c52.pdf.
See also: CORI (Country of Origin Research and Information) website:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4ac9c2c52.pdf
[6] Disney, Patrick. "The Middle East Channel." *Foreign Policy*. The Slate
Group, 22 September 2010. Web. 1 Nov 2010. <
http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/09/22/
congressional_backers_look_to_exiled_iranian_group_for_regime_change
[7] Abedin, Mahan. “Mojahedin-e-Khalq: Saddam’s Iranian Allies”
Terrorism Monitor. The Jamestown Foundation, 05 May 2005. Web. 1 Nov 2010. <
http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=433>.

By Mazda Parsi

November 4, 2010 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Pictorial- Mr. Dashtestani seperated MKO Cult and joined his family

Dashtestani was a 16-year old teenager when he was captured by Iraqi forces in his way from Abadan to Mahshahr [two towns in SouthWestern part of Iran where Iraq invaded in 1979].in 1988 after ten years of imprisonment in Iraqi prisons when Mujahedin offered him help return to Iran ,he admitted their offer.

He was deceived by MKO due to two reasons .First because he was not informed enough and second was MKO’s dirty recruitment tactics and the mind control system that enhanced and abused that lack of information.

Mr. Mahmoud Dashtestani succeeded to release himself from the bars of Rajavis’ Cult and returned to his homeland and joined his family.

On Monday, January 18, 2010, Nejat Society Shiraz Branch proudly received another defector of Rajavi’s destructive cult.

November 1, 2010 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Pictorial – MKO former members meet with authorities of Amnesty International

A delegation of MKO former members met with authorities of Amnesty International. During the meeting they described and clarified the situation of picketing families of Rajavis’ Cult hostages at Camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf ) as well as the condition and situation of captive members of the MKO Cult. They also declared the families’ rightful demands of visiting with their loved ones. They asked the Amnesty international to intervene and force the MKO aka PMOI/MEK/MKO leadership to allow those families to see and meet their loved ones.

A letter also presented to the Amnesty International

November 1, 2010 0 comments

Nejat Publications

Pars Brief – Issue No.55

1. Black Plague – Photos expose the MEK organized crime in Diyala

2. Mr. Einakian;another MKO Cult defector escaped Camp Ashraf

3. U.S. Official Casts Doubt On Iran Opposition Group’s Nuclear Claim

4. Mojahedin Khalq holds penitent members hostage

5. State Department amused by MKO so called Revelations

6. Ashraf Resident Escape from the Cult

7. Iraq ‘urged to fire MKO members’

8. MKO Remains in US Blacklist

9. Israel’s Secret Relationship with MKO

Download Pars Brief – Issue No.55
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.55

October 28, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

No Aid from the West for MKO Cult

The MKO has launched a new barrage of propaganda to both impress those who support the group, and solicit pity from those who don’t know about their scheme. The MKO’s spokesman in the US, Alireza Jafarzadeh, who specializes in systematically swaying the West’s opinion with his numerous positive articles about the group he works for, told reporters that the people’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, MKO MEK, NCRI) has evidence that Tehran is building a uranium enrichment plant. [1]

Jafarzadeh has declared that the so-called site is certainly part of the Iran’s “secret nuclear weapons program" but a US government official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the US has known about the facility for years but has no reason to think it is nuclear. [2]

On September 9th, Jafarzadeh published his allegedly precise report about the nuclear site that his organization, the PMOI has supposedly detected.
His three-page report on the Behjatabad-Abayek site in Iran presents no hard evidence to support the assertion that the site includes a network of underground chambers designed to hold centrifuges to enrich nuclear material in violation of United Nations sanctions. [3]

It is not the first time that the MKO propaganda machine has tried to deceive public opinion with false allegations. In fact, the claims of MKO agents are taken for granted by US officials because "the NCRI had made similar claims in the past." [4]

Although the US government has always been suspicious about the nuclear program in the Islamic Republic of Iran, at least they think that people should be cautious about reaching conclusions. *Newsweek* reported that the “group’s announcement drew attention<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/
world/middleeast/10nuke.html>from a wide
range<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/09/
iran-watchdog-group-announce-findings-alleged-nuclear-site/>of media outlets, with reports noting that the group had released satellite photos showing what appeared to be an extensive tunneling operation in a hilly area. But nuclear-nonproliferation officials inside the U.S. government and independent experts on the subject say substantiation is lacking for claims that the tunnel project is nuclear-related. A leading private nuclear-weapons study group has also raised questions about the track record of the MEK, which in the past has claimed to be first with major public revelations about the Iranian nuclear program but has been accused of exaggerating the exclusivity and value of its information. "[5]

Iran’s top nuclear official, Ali Akbar Salehi responded to the MKO’s claim at a press conference, by saying, "No such nuclear installation with a specific definition exists in Iran which has not been declared…[but if the MKO is] really are aware of such an installation, perhaps they would like to tell us about it so that we can thank them." [6]

It’s difficult to believe that the MKO’s spying system is really more reliable than those of the most powerful and technologically advanced nations in the world. Alireza Jafarzadeh bases his recurring allegations on satellite photos that he presents. How can the MKO, a designated terrorist organization own a spying satellite and the US or other nations not know about it? Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell told Agence France Presse, "I don’t know if this site is one that they have discovered that our intelligence experts have not seen." He adds, “I find that hard to believe but we shall see."[7]

The MKO amplifies the idea that Iran harbors a nuclear facility. David Albright, head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security told Reuters that the NCRI’s previous assertions have sometimes turned out to be "unsubstantiated, exaggerated, or wrong."[8] The allegations are simply a flop because the MKO-perpetuated news of Iran’s building a new nuclear site is not only dubious but ineffective as a tactic to achieve their goal of increasing the West’s meager support. According to Yossi Melman of haaretz.com, the MKO "clearly has a vested interest."[9]

This "vested interest" is mainly presented in Jafarzadeh’s report on the so-called new nuclear site. He suggests that "to effectively thwart Tehran’s nuclear drive, a two-pronged policy is imperative. The first is to impose comprehensive sanctions on the regime. The second is removing the barriers placed on the path of the opposition, particularly the main opposition, the PMOI. The terrorist label against the group has acted as a major impediment to democratic change in Iran."[10] The main barrier on the path of MKO is its foreign terrorist designation by the US State Department which limits the MKO’s activities in the West as well as Iraq and Iran.

The MKO has already committed treason against the nation of Iran and with the nuclear smear campaign they bear the responsibility of fear mongering in their effort to destabilize Iran’s credibility as a way to substantiate their own. In his so-called revealing report on the Iranian secret nuclear site, Jafarzadeh claims that “the disclosure of the site will irreparably undermine the regime’s international standing and would have unimaginable repercussions."[11] The West’s reaction to the MKO’s report was a disappointment for the cult’s pitiful leaders because their cheap shot means aid is no longer a possibility.

By Mazda Parsi

References:

[1] Burns, Robert. "Dissidents Claim Iran Has Secret Nuclear Facility."
boston.com (online *Boston Globe*) 09 September 2010.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/
2010/09/09/dissidents_claim_iran_has_secret_nuclear_facility/
[2] ibid
[3] Quinn, Andrew. "Dissidents Claim New Iran Nuclear Site but U.S.
Skeptical." *Reuters* Online 09 September 2010.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6884VK20100909
[4]ibid
[5] Hosenball, Mark. "Is There Really Another Secret Iranian
Uranium-Enrichment Facility?" *Newsweek* 13 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct
2010. <
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/2010/09/13
/another-secret-iranian-uranium-enrichment-facility.html>.
[6] Melman, Yossi. "Iran Denies Having Third Enrichment Facility." *
Haaretz.com* 12 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
iran-denies-having-third-enrichment-facility-1.313284>.
[7] Daragahi, borzou. "IRAN: Nuclear Chief Rejects Allegations of Secret
Enrichment Site." *Los Angeles Times* 10 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/
2010/09/iran-nuclear-salehi-secret-enrichment-iaea-.html>.
[8] Quinn, Andrew. "Dissidents Claim New Iran Nuclear Site but U.S.
Skeptical." *Reuters* 09 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6884VK20100909
[9] Melman, Yossi. "Analysis / Who Should We Believe? Is Iran Building a New
Nuclear Site?" *Haaretz.com* 12 September 2010: Web. 10 Oct 2010. <
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
analysis-who-should-we-believe-is-iran-building-a-new-nuclear-site-1.313291
>.
[10] Jafarzedeh, Alireza and Soona Samsam, "Weapons of Mass Destruction."
globalsecurity.org. *globalsecurity.org*, 09 September 2010. Web. 10 Oct
2010. <
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/
iran/2010/iran-100909-spc01.htm>.
[11] Ibid

October 11, 2010 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

On the return of Mr. Amiri and Mr. Rafiee

Mr. Mehrdad Amiri and Mr. Hojat Rafiee residents of Camp Ashraf escaped the cult on Saturday October2, 2010 at 2 O’clock am.
Mr. Mehrdad amiri, 35, and Mr. Hojat Rafiee, 42 were captured in Camp Ashraf of MKO for more than ten years. They told the families that they decided to runaway although they were seriously terrified by MKO leaders of being arrested by Iraqi forces or Iranian Intelligence.”the situation created by the Camp leaders is terribly chocking so members are under too much mental pressure. The women in the group are frightened of being raped so they fear to escape more than their male comrades,”they said.

Mr. Amiri and Mr. Rafiee were recruited by MKO recruiters when they were in Turkey looking for job. The two newly escapees who were still afraid of being executed, were calmed down by families residing at Ashraf Gates.

On the return of Mr. Mehrdad Amiri

On the return of Mr.Hojjat Rafiee

October 7, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

Impact on the MKO: US Withdrawal from Iraq

As the Iraqi government proceeds with gaining sovereignty after President Barack Obama officially announced the withdrawal of US forces from Iraqi territory [1], the Iraqi people will face consequences. Also facing consequences, but less publicized is the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO, MEK PMOI, NCRI), a group which has housed its members there for a number of decades in Camp Ashraf. For the Iraqi people, the withdrawal creates a frightening state of affairs despite Nouri Al Maleki’s announcement that Iraq is now independent and stands equal to the US. [2]

For the MKO however, the impact of US withdrawal will be even more crucial since the US may shirk guardianship over Camp Ashraf and let go of support as they hand over the country to Iraqi leaders. Prior to the US invasion, the MKO members housed in Camp Ashraf were protected by Saddam Hussein and his notorious Ba’ath regime. Now almost seven years after the MKO’s catastrophic loss of Saddam Hussein, the MKO leaders find themselves orphans. Soon the MKO will be stuck in the hands of Iraqi authorities who are determined to expel them from Iraq because of the group’s violent acts against Iraqi Kurds and Shiite civilians.

Recently, an Iraqi court order issued arrest warrants for some high ranking members of the MKO. These members are supposed to be brought into trial for atrocities committed during the last three decades. And their fate doesn’t look good because they don’t qualify as refugees able to be relocated in the US. Rachel Schneller, a Western journalist and contributor to Chatham House notes that the MKO—including some of its present members, participated in the 1979 takeover of US embassy in Tehran and "as designated terrorists" they "are not eligible for resettlement in the US." Schneller believes that "MEK members who took part in acts of terror should face justice, possibly through an ad hoc united Nations tribunal that would ensure a fair trial."[3]

This withdrawal is just bad timing for the Mujahedin as the families of Ashraf residents also maintain their now nine-month long strike at the gates of Camp Ashraf. And their strike is not a symbolic one—a number of elderly whose children are being kept in the camp are bearing a difficult time in Iraq’s hot desert near Ashraf, especially during Ramadan, which is a month of fasting. The MKO has not allowed them to visit their children in the camp. And the MKO’s response to the strikers is not a new tactic. MKO leaders have determined that the strikers—because of their stance against the MKO, and despite their ages and physical abilities—are either Iranian spies or Quds Forces. In addition to these ridiculous allegations, the MKO broadcasts propaganda that demonizes Nouri Al Maleki—plainly because of both his determination to expel the MKO from Iraq and his proceedings towards having friendly relations with Iran. If the MKO would have given up their violent and non-diplomatic tactics—tactics which they feel prepare them to take over the Iranian government (and replace it with their own cult) they might have been able to negotiate a getting-out-of-Iraq plan. The MKO could have quietly disassembled and asked the Iraqi government to agree to let MKO members choose their own fates—for one, allowing many of the members visiting rights to their families standing outside the gates of the camp.

But the truth is that MKO leaders have never been engaged in discretionary politics. Because they are a cult, they fear denunciation of the true and bizarre substance of their very tightly controlled organization—of which almost every day one defector or another records another strange testimony. (Recently Ms. Batoul Soltani revealed sexual abuse that was occurring in the group [4].) For the MKO, the preservation of their cult is the condition of their existence, and as time goes by the chances for them to play a part in their own fate diminishes.

Their period of spying, treason and cooperation with Ba’athists, Al Qaida, or Jondullah has run out. Their hope for achievement of power in Iran is diminished, and all that seems to be left is denial of reality coupled with an unfulfilled fantasy of ruling and revolution.

References:

[1] Obama, Barack. "Obama’s Full Speech: ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom is Over’.”
White House on msnbc.com (2010): Web. 30 Sep 2010. <
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38944049/ns/politics-white_house/>.
President Barack Obama on August 31st, 2010 ended the U.S. combat mission in
Iraq, declaring no victory after seven years of bloodshed, and telling those
divided over the war that “It is time to turn the page,"
Also see: US State Department Website. "Iraq Profile." (2010): Web. 30 Sep
2010. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/6804.htm>. The State Department
specifies that “on August 31, 2010, President Barack Obama announced the end
of major combat operations, the completion of the withdrawal of all U.S.
combat brigades, and the transition of the role of the remaining U.S.
military force of 50,000 troops to advising and assisting Iraqi security
forces. By December 31, 2011, all U.S. military forces will withdraw from
the country.”

[2] Author Unknown. "Maliki: Iraq Independent as US Troops Withdraw."
Euronews (2010): Web. 30 Sep 2010. <
http://www.euronews.net/2010/08/31/
maliki-iraq-independent-as-us-troops-withdraw>.
Many Iraqis are apprehensive at the troop withdrawal, especially amid
political deadlock six months after an inconclusive election. Others are
skeptical, doubting much will change.

[3] Schneller, Rachel. "Iraq and the American Pullout: Separate We Must."
World Today 66.8/9 (2010): Web. 30 Sep 2010. <
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/twt/archive/view/-/id/2055/>.

[4]The Nejat Bloggers "PMOI Leadership Council’s women SALVATION DANCE ."
Nejat Society August 19, 2010: Web. 30 Sep 2010. <
https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/3261>

By Mazda Parsi

October 3, 2010 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts