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The cult of Rajavi

IRAN. Behind the protests of the veil, the terrorism of the Mojahedin-e Khalq

The death of the young Kurdish girl Mahsa Amini, after being arrested for not wearing the veil correctly, sparked protests, demonstrations and exploitation. I do not want to discuss the legitimacy of these protests but I am struck by the news of October 1: The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has presented a report according to which terrorist groups have incited the protests. According to news agency reports, 49 members of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq group, considered terrorist by Tehran and other states, were arrested, spreading propaganda to incite riots and providing incendiary material to demonstrators, following orders from members of the group in Albania.

the Italian newspaper Marx21

The Italian Website Marx21: IRAN. Behind the protests of the veil, the terrorism of the Mojahedin-e Khalq

The Mojahedin-e Khalq (or Mojahedin of the Iranian People or Iranian National Liberation Army – PMOI, MEK, MKO) is accused of murdering about 12,000 Iranians in the last 40 years. The organization, founded in the 1960s by a group of radical students who profess Marxism and Islam, waged the first armed struggle against Shah Reza Pahlavi. After the Khomeinist revolution of 1979, the leader of the MEK, Masoud Rajavi, fights the fledgling Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1981, an attack by the MEK wipes out the leaders of the Islamic Republic: 70 officers killed, including President Mohammad-Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and Chief Justice Hossein Beheshti. The Supreme Guide, Ali Khamenei, is seriously injured and loses the use of his right arm.

Later, the MEK summits took refuge in Paris, where they found their “political umbrella”, the National Council of Iranian Resistance (NCRI). In 1986, when President Mitterrand initiated a dialogue with Iran to release the French hostages held in Beirut, France expelled Masoud Rajavi. Meanwhile, the group – already deployed alongside the Iraqi army during the War against Iran (1980-1988) – flees to Iraq, supporting Saddam Hussein in suppressing the country’s Shiite and Kurdish communities.

MEK women

Women at the MEK Camp Ashraf

Elizabeth Rubin of the New York Times in 2003 visits Camp Ashraf in Iraq (Diyala province) and is able to offer a description of the military base, organization and sectarian characteristics of the group. Rubin says she has seen “an artificial world of worker bees” – about half of the Mojahedin are women – and all, dressed in khaki uniforms and scarlet veils, practice the use of weapons, drive pick-ups and military vehicles. Since the 1980s, MEK adherents have had to take a vow of eternal celibacy, those who are married must divorce, those who are not must swear not to and cannot have children. Over the years the organization, although born from a Marxist-Islamist ideology, assumes the characteristics of a sect centered on the female role and the cult of the personality of the leader Maryam Rajavi (wife of Masoud): girls are taught that joining the sect is “A journey towards self-empowerment and the enlightenment of martyrdom inspired by the light and wisdom of Maryam Rajavi”. Thinking about the Ismaili sect of the Assassins is not really a coincidence!.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the US neo-conservative-backed MEK has received training from the Joint Special Operation Command (JSOC) in the Nevada desert (communication techniques, cryptography, assault and guerrilla techniques, etc.). In 2012, testimony from two Obama administration officials denounced that the murders of five Iranian nuclear scientists (in 2007) were allegedly committed by the MEK in collaboration with Mossad and US intelligence support.

The US in September 2012 removed the MEK from the list of terrorist organizations – a list in which they were registered in 1997 by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as an opening towards the reformist Iranian president Khatami -. The removal from the terrorist list is supported by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who sends Congress a confidential communication on the matter, allowing the group to do business and activities under US jurisdiction. Since September 2012, the Mojahedin have left Camp Ashraf, their training and training center in Iraq, and are routed to Albania and Europe.

With the Trump administration and the appointment of senior officials such as Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, a new attempt is being made to destabilize Iran. This strategy envisages accreditation in Washington of the MEK group as a “legitimate opposition” to the Islamic Republic of Iran. There are several US political figures who seem “won over” to the cause of the MEK: the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani during the annual MEK conference in Paris (June 2018) openly calls for regime change in Tehran; National Security Advisor John Bolton regularly attends their conventions. Moreover, lobbying efforts are well known in US politics.

Today the MEK publicly profess values of secularism and democracy in Iran, cheerfully exhibit a pro-free-market philosophy, preach women’s emancipation. However, within them they hide a contradictory truth, considering that the members of the group do not have access to newspapers, radio or television and that no one can criticize the leader. They also intend to overthrow the Iranian regime and create a government headed by Maryam Rajavi, already appointed by them as future president. Members are periodically subjected to self-criticism sessions in which they are filmed admitting to having behaved contrary to the laws of the group (the films can later be used against them).

Human Rights organizations have extensively documented abuses within the group, and the Iranian population itself does not recognize any legitimacy, indeed there is a profound hostility towards the MEK for the support provided to Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war.

Veil or not, it is difficult for Iranians and Iranians to forget the trail of blood left by the MEK.

By Marco Pondrelli, Marx21 – Translated by Nejat Society

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Cyber Attack
Albania

Albania Caught in the crossfire of cyber conflict

The recent cyberattack on Albania by Iran highlights the intensification of conflict within cyberspace.

Earlier this month the “strongest public response to a cyberattack” was witnessed when Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran over its role in the devastating cyberattacks against Albania’s government infrastructure. This cascading incident highlights the vast differences in nation-state capabilities and defences within cyberspace, and how offensive cyber operations can devastate those nations caught in the middle.

On 17 July 2022, Albania was hit by a series of cyberattacks that targeted public services and government websites. The attack, claimed by ‘HomeLand Justice’ employed new family ransomware malware, ROADSWEEP, and a new variant of a wiper malware, ZEROCLEAR. Since Albania is a NATO member, and these attacks are happening during Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the local media speculated that Russia was the culprit.

This speculation faded quickly after a US cyber threat intelligence firm, Mandiant, attributed the cyberattack and the ‘HomeLand Justice’ group to Iran. Their analysis was aided by the imagery used on the ‘HomeLand Justice’ group’s Telegram channel. Iran had posted a banner image which depicted an eagle swooping down on a smaller bird within the Star of David.

ORF online on Albaia Cyber attack

Source: Mandiant

The smaller bird—a character from the Angry Bird franchise—seemed innocuous but provided analysts a clear link to Iran. John Hultquist, Vice President, Mandiant Threat Intelligence, explained that the smaller bird had been claimed by ‘Predatory Sparrow’, a threat actor that has conducted offensive cyber operations against Iran.

ORF online on Albaia Cyber attack

Source: Mandiant

In fact, since July 2021, the ‘Predatory Sparrow’ threat actor has been conducting measured, destructive, and disruptive cyber operations against Iran. Their offensive cyber operations disrupted rail services, cut off fuel distribution, and even destroyed a steel plant affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

There’s no clear evidence to suggest that Albania’s government had a role in ‘Predatory Sparrow’s operations, yet Iran deemed them a fair target in responding against ‘Predatory Sparrow’s actions. The prevailing theory, supported by a new report from Microsoft, suggests that ‘Predatory Sparrow’ is linked to the exiled Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) which operates out of Albania and Israel. This is further supported by terrorist threats that cancelled a planned MeK conference in Albania.

Given ‘Predatory Sparrow’s year-long destructive cybercampaign, Iran was justifiably itching to respond. Albania, regarded by Iran as a “safe haven” for the MeK, is more of an ‘unwitting conspirator’ than a knowing participant in this ongoing cyber conflict. Albania is considered to be the “fifth largest source of cybercrime in Europe”, which only recently took steps to develop a cybercrime centre, and received 18 million euros in November 2021 to establish a cyber military force. After a massive leak of citizen data in December 2021, Albania brought in US firms to bolster its cyber defences.

Even though Albania lacked proper cyber defences, it is a member of NATO. The military alliance has been reinvigorated, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and in February 2022, it reaffirmed that a cyberattack on a NATO member state could trigger Article 5—the alliance’s collective defence clause, last activated by the US after the 9/11 terror attacks. However, NATO has since declined to clarify what threshold a significant cyberattack (or “an accumulation of smaller ones”) would need to cross for an Article 5 decision.

Albania, regarded by Iran as a “safe haven” for the MeK, is more of an ‘unwitting conspirator’ than a knowing participant in this ongoing cyber conflict.

Declaring Article 5, is a political decision, much like a declaration of war. One is inclined to speculate whether Albania’s fellow NATO members, actively engrossed with the Russian invasion, sought to avoid sparking a ‘second front’ in the Middle East. Albania, opted against Article 5, despite the disruption and destruction of its government services and systems, and chose to cut diplomatic ties with Iran. This move did little to deter Iran from conducting yet another offensive cyber operations against Albania’s border system.

What has been unfolding is a perfect case of a comprehensive conflict within cyberspace. The most noteworthy observation is the difference in the playing field between sophisticated cyber actors and other countries.

Those countries that have been on the receiving end of cyber action or cyber-enabled espionage, have gone on to develop both their offensive and defensive capabilities. Often taking a traditional military posture that favours strengthening offensive capabilities over defensive capabilities, Iran is a prime example of this.

On the defensive side, the US has been dealing with offensive cyber action and cyber-enabled espionage from Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia for more than 15 years. NATO members such as the United Kingdom (UK), France, Canada, and Germany have grown to deal with similar threats—albeit within a smaller timeframe. To defend their economies and societies, these nations have spent billions in growing a cybersecurity industry and building defenses against offensive cyber operations.

Escalation in cyber conflict
Ironically, this conditioning: building capacity, developing resilience, and strengthening response times, has likely contributed to the intensification of cyber events that this author and Jason Healey, a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia SIPA, alluded to in December 2021.

ORF online on Albaia Cyber attack

Source: CCDCOE

Cyber events are now routinely crossing thresholds that would have been viewed as increasingly risky 20 years ago. The result is that offensive cyber operations are now manageable for countries such as the US but are now catastrophic for smaller countries that are thrust into the cyber conflict space. The potential scale of this effect likely makes smaller countries ideal targets for sophisticated actors looking to demonstrate their capabilities. Iran appears to have stronger evidence on Israel’s role in the ‘Predatory Sparrow’ campaign (the two countries have been exchanging attacks for years) but opted to attack Albania’s government for harbouring the MeK—using the disruptive incident to send a message to Iran’s enemies.

This incident is chilling because it shows the spread of sophisticated cyber capabilities, and the growing intent to conduct such operations. Most theories around cyber conflict have kept the US as a key player in such conflicts—‘Predatory Sparrow’ and Iran’s response have shown that this is outdated.

The result is that offensive cyber operations are now manageable for countries such as the US but are now catastrophic for smaller countries that are thrust into the cyber conflict space.

The US does continue to play a tremendous role in how cyberspace is shaped. Over several years, it has taken great strides in developing its cyber policy and responses, both domestically and internationally. The US government was first to support Albania’s diplomatic decision against Iran, was quick to sanction Iranian officials over the incident, and US firms and law enforcement have been involved in the initial incident response and capacity development. However, the US continues to make cyberspace an increasingly ‘quintuply dangerous’ area of conflict with its 2018 National Cyber Strategy.

The US’ military has an inherently offence-oriented posture with its ‘Persistent Engagement’ strategy and ‘Hunt Forward’ operations continuing to escalate tensions within cyberspace. These actions are achieved by infiltrating and confronting adversaries within their own networks. These operations can be conducted using networks belonging to the US’ allies (with and without consent) which could mislead counter-cyber operations.

Whether intentional or not, the US’ policies serve as a benchmark which are subsequently modified for individual countries. For adversaries, these policies are intended to confuse and confound any hope of attribution. This pushes adversaries to look for smaller, less cyber-capable countries that can be made an example of. Such efforts are only making cyberspace more dangerous.

VIRPRATAP VIKRAM SINGH – orfonline

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Cyber attack on Albania
Albania

Albania– Iran: broken relations and cyberwarfare

Following a cyberattack on its IT system, Albania accused Iran and cut all diplomatic ties. In the background, the conflict over the hosting of anti-ayatollah Iranian movement MEK

On September 7, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced in a video message his government’s decision to cut off, effective immediately, the diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, accusing Tehran of being the author of a massive cyberattack which hit the digital infrastructure of the Balkan country on July 15.

Cyber attack on Albania

Albania– Iran: broken relations and cyberwarfare

According to the head of the government the breach was carried out by four Iran-affiliated groups and was unsuccessful. Its objectives were to paralyse Albania’s digital public services, steal data, and take possession of governmental communications. Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhaçka declared that Tirana decided to sever diplomatic relations after consultations with US and EU allies. Iranian diplomats left the country in the following hours.

To conduct the investigation on the breach, Albania hired American cybersecurity company Mandiant and Microsoft, which found out that the hackers undermined around 10% of Albania’s governmental digital network and have had access to the system since May 2021. NATO, USA, EU, and Great Britain officially supported Tirana after the strike, which was followed by another cyber-attack on the customs border patrol’s computer system on September 10, always to be blamed on Tehran according to Albania’s government. The Balkan country has entered in a climate of hybrid warfare (as happened with Estonia in 2007), paying the price for being a NATO member and a main ally of America’s foreign policy and its interests.

Officially denying any responsibility for this wave of cyber-violations, Tehran pins the breakdown of relations with Albania on a Washington-designed “plot”, mentioning the hosting by Tirana of the exiled Iranian organisation Mujahedeen El-Khalq (Mek ), counting 3,000 members and at the core of the tensions between Tirana and Tehran.

Mek

The organisation’s mission is to overthrow Teheran’s theocratic government. Founded in Iran in 1965 to oppose the policies of the Pahlavi dynasty’s last emperor and operating in an internal political context defined by Islamist-Marxist ideology, anti-capitalism, and anti-Americanism, MEK took part in the insurrection that brought to power the ayatollah Khomeini (1979). Advocating for the separation between state and church, the group clashed with the theological republic installed in Tehran, becoming the target of violence, judicial persecutions, and execution of its members. The repression forced the group’s leaders to take refuge in Paris and accept relocation to Iraq in return for militarily supporting Baghdad’s war against Iran (1980–1988). MEK took the shape of a secret organisation, which obliged its members to practice celibacy, while its unsuccessful anti-Iranian military struggle continued even after the Baghdad–Tehran armistice. In 1991, the organisation contributed to Saddam Hussein’s successful effort to crush the Kurdish rebellion that had broken out at the end of the Gulf War in Northern Iraq. Identified by the US Department of State as the author of the assassination of 6 American citizens in Iran in the 70’s, MEK was designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) by Washington. EU, Canada, Japan, and Great Britain followed suit and added the group into their list of terrorists. The US disarmed the group after the outbreak of the Iraq War in 2003 and listed its members as “protected persons” under the 1949 Geneva Convention, later having the movement removed from the FTO list. MEK’s internal “restyling” in this period included its official abandonment of the use of violence. Iran’s rising influence in Baghdad, after the formation of a Shia-led filo-Tehran government, forced the US to search a sanctuary outside the Middle East for the group that had become the target of armed attacks. After Romania’s refusal to give them shelter – as asked by the UN on humanitarian grounds, Albania stepped up – a new NATO member at the time and very close US ally since the 1990s – to heed America’s request. In 2006, Albania had already taken in the Chinese Uighurs that had been detained in Guantanamo and again last year it accepted to host Afghan civilians (many of which were US collaborators) fleeing Kabul after the Taliban’s return to power.

The USA expressed gratitude for this UN coordinated accommodation. However giving shelter to a group posing as a future government-in-exile and promoting cyber-propaganda and annual rallies calling for the overthrow of the ayatollahs automatically placed Tirana in a diplomatic conflict with Iran. The expulsion of Middle Eastern diplomats, detection of anti-MEK planned attacks, and exchanges of accusations between both countries’ highest authorities have preceded the current escalation.

Trump, Iran, and Albania

After the relaxation of relations between Iran and the West in the late stage of Obama’s presidency and the resumption of economic activities on oil trade, Tehran and the USA clashed again during Trump’s term. The tycoon unilaterally withdrew Washington from the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) designed to limit Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, resumed the sanctions policy against Tehran and ordered the execution of Qasem Soleimani, leader of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In this context, Trump’s administration saw MEK as a leverage to exert pressure on the ayatollahs’ regime to weaken it, inducing Tehran to renounce plans of regional hegemony in the Middle East and activities against US allies Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Albania, all major political forces consider it fruitful accommodating MEK, well aware that the USA is the only reliable ally on overall security. Apart from verbally condemning the cyberwarfare against Albania, Washington has recently sanctioned Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and its minister Esmail Khatib for “malign cyber activities”, while National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called Edi Rama to express America’s solidarity after the cyberattack.

Sanctions on MOIS and Khatib will remain symbolic due to the fact that the ministry and its responsible person do not possess assets in the USA liable to be seized, but their consequences on attempts between Iran and the West to resume talks on JCPOA are huge. Tehran’s cyberwarfare on a NATO country calls into question the Middle Eastern country’s willingness to reach a new worthwhile agreement on its nuclear programme for both counterparts. On the one hand, Western European countries, which are involved in the talks, need to normalise relations with Iran in order to purchase its natural gas (17% of world reserves are located there) after facing hardships with Russian supply due to the Ukrainian War; on the other hand, the Islamic Republic needs revenues in order to bring technological improvements to the domestic market of this form of energy.

Gjergji Kajana – Balcanicaucaso

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Michael Rubin
Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Michal Rubin: the MEK is at best, a creepy cult; at worst, a terrorist group

The American journalist, Michael Rubin warns about the US strategy to support the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK/ MKO/ Cult of Rajavi). He discusses three Iran strategies taken by the US that are guaranteed to fail. One is supporting the MEK which according to him at best is a creepy cult; at worst, it is a terrorist group.

Rubin who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributor to the Washington Examiner and Commentary Magazine, is a critic of the Iranian government but he is also an opponent to any policy based on embracing the MEK and ethnic separatist groups. He has already written several articles to warn western politicians about the MEK’s cult-like terrorist background. In his recent article on the Washington Examiner, on August 4th, 2022, Rubin asserts about the MEK, “What it is not and has never been is popular or democratic.”

MEK women in Ashraf 3

Leaked photo of MEK’s Albanian headquarters

On the MEK’s alleged part to expose the Iranian nuclear program Rubin writes, “That the group sometimes reveals intelligence is no metric of its influence or infiltration within the Iranian system. First, its intelligence is often wrong. Second, even when right, it simply represents how the Israelis, Saudis, or perhaps even the CIA use the group to launder information to the public so that the real fingerprints of those who gathered it are not exposed.”

About a year ago, Rubin condemned the American politicians who spoke in Maryam Rajavi’s annual gathering. He titled his article by this statement: “The Mujahedin-e-Khalq has become a barometer of Washington corruption.” He denounced a number of American retired authorities who advocate the MEK in exchange for “Five and six-figure honoraria and speakers’ fees.”

He accurately argued that corruption of the MEK’s paid speakers is obvious because “In reality, its leaders Masoud and Maryam Rajavi rule with an iron fist. It runs as a cult with its rank-and-file cut off from their families and the broader society.”

“Claims about high support inside Iran are fiction”, Rubin emphasized. “Many resent the MKO’s terrorism that as often killed innocent Iranians as the regime officials they targeted. More despise the group for siding with Iraq during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.”

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Belgium decides to break free from the MEK terrorist group
Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Belgium decides to break free from the MEK terrorist group

In recent days, the annual meeting of the Mujahedin-e Khalq terrorist group has been canceled for reasons that have been listed as security concerns. In Belgium, with a courageous and humanitarian act, the country’s parliament approved with Iran the plan for the extradition of political prisoners, which allows the Iranian diplomat Assadollah Asadi, detained in violation of international law, to return to his country. As you know, Iran’s friendly and economic relations with Belgium date back centuries and Belgium has shown that it does not want to interrupt its long-term relations with the Islamic Republic due to a terrorist group that was on the list until 2012. American Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). For this reason, now the MEK, which sees itself in danger of disintegration, it is trying to organize rallies and meetings with the presence of its members in Sweden, Germany and other countries, renting Afghan and Syrian citizens with promises of free food and tourism.

Belgium decides to break free from the MEK terrorist group

Belgium decides to break free from the MEK terrorist group

As you know, according to the report of the American RAND Institute, this terrorist group has no social status and 97% of Iranians hate it. According to American experts, the MEK will not have a political future in Iran, so the support of some retired former politicians has served to get huge sums of money from this group; with these actions, these people are in fact violating the principle of human rights, because the money that is paid to this terrorist group comes from the taxes that the Albanian people pay and, in this case, not long ago we witnessed the protests of the very people Albanian, who asked why his taxes are ending up in the pockets of the MEK terrorist group and asked for the Albanian government’s financial support for this group to be cut. In the same matter, the US Embassy in Albania announced in a Twitter post its support for this terrorist group and Albanian citizens wrote their opposition in the comments, asking not to support this group anymore. In this regard, we interviewed Olsi Jazexhi, Canadian-Albanian journalist and university professor, on financial issues and the nature of this terrorist group. the US embassy in Albania announced in a Twitter post its support for this terrorist group and Albanian citizens wrote their opposition in the comments, asking not to support this group anymore. In this regard, we interviewed Olsi Jazexhi, Canadian-Albanian journalist and university professor, on financial issues and the nature of this terrorist group. the US embassy in Albania announced in a Twitter post its support for this terrorist group and Albanian citizens wrote their opposition in the comments, asking not to support this group anymore. In this regard, we interviewed Olsi Jazexhi, Canadian-Albanian journalist and university professor, on financial issues and the nature of this terrorist group.

Olsi Jazexhi

Olsi Jazexhi

1) Can you assess the nature of the Mujahedin-e Khalq group and how did you get to know this group?

A) I am a scholar of Islam who in recent years has studied and analyzed the creation and radicalization of Muslim extremist groups in the West by Western governments and their Arab allies, and their misuse against the Muslim world. Before exploring the extremist nature of the MEK, I dealt with other terrorist groups such as ISIS / DAESH, Jabhat al-Nusra, Wahhabi extremists etc. Albania, where I come from, has produced a large number of foreign Takfiri / Wahabi fighters who have been sent by Saudi and other Wahhabi networks to Syria to wage a terrorist war against the Syrian and Iraqi governments. The first MEK terrorist group arrived in Albania in 2013,

2) To what extent are the Albanian people, including public opinion and the elite community of this country, aware of the history and current situation of this group? What do these two groups of Albanians think about the presence of MEK members in their country?

A) When the MEK was moved en masse to Albania in 2016, most Albanian politicians and the public were shocked by its presence. Many media articles, public debates, protests and police reports have revealed the strange and criminal nature of the MEK. Albanians protested against the insidious arrival of the MEK in their country and many blamed the regime of Prime Minister Edi Rama for bringing a terrorist group into the country. The Albanians, horrified by the crimes of DAESH and Jahbat al Nusra in Syria and Iraq, resented the presence of the MEK and asked for their deportation to another country. However, since 2019 the MEK has managed to silence the voices of dissent in Albania. Spending millions of dollars on propaganda and blackmail, he managed to silence most of the media and journalists. The US embassy in Tirana and the Trump administration blackmailed Albanian politicians, parliamentarians and security services to stop their refusal and investigations into the MEK’s activities in the country. As a result, since 2019 no Albanian public official or media dares to report any crime or terrorist activity that the MEK carries out inside and outside Albania. Journalists or security officials who dare to talk about the MEK are sidelined and punished. since 2019 no Albanian public official or media dares to report any crime or terrorist activity that the MEK carries out inside and outside Albania. Journalists or security officials who dare to talk about the MEK are sidelined and punished. since 2019 no Albanian public official or media dares to report any crime or terrorist activity that the MEK carries out inside and outside Albania. Journalists or security officials who dare to talk about the MEK are sidelined and punished.

3) According to the MEK, this group aspires to build the so-called “free Iran”. Can you explain the situation of the freedom of the members of this group and how the group meets with the Albanian press community?

A) The MEK is a sect. It is directed by a woman, Maryam Rajavi. Due to her advanced age and her criminal past, Rajavi seems to have lost her mind and is out of touch. The MEK operates as a terrorist and cult paramilitary organization. It has no internal democracy, no free elections. Its members are locked up in the organization’s paramilitary camp in Manza, Durres, Albania. They do not have the freedom to marry, to develop their ideas, to have contact with their families. Rajavi and her leadership have created an army of radicalized lunatics whose dream is to assassinate any Iranian who does not obey the Rajavi cult. The MEK hates democracy and the press. They never allow reporters to interview their members or question the strange nature of the cult. The MEK only does monologues with the media. Whenever they break news to the press, they want the press to accept their version of the news without questioning its veracity. The MEK’s relations with the press can be compared to the way North Korea treats the media: they beat up reporters on British Channel 4 and attacked many Western and local media. Most Iranians I know hate MEK. Iran does not need democracy. It is already a democratic state and the MEK is the last terrorist organization on the planet that can bring democracy to Iran. The military command of the MEK is a criminal organization that faces justice for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian and Iraqi people in recent decades. they want the press to accept their version of the news without questioning its veracity. The MEK’s relations with the press can be compared to the way North Korea treats the media: they beat up reporters on British Channel 4 and attacked many Western and local media. Most Iranians I know hate MEK. Iran does not need democracy. It is already a democratic state and the MEK is the last terrorist organization on the planet that can bring democracy to Iran. The military command of the MEK is a criminal organization that faces justice for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian and Iraqi people in recent decades. they want the press to accept their version of the news without questioning its veracity. The MEK’s relations with the press can be compared to the way North Korea treats the media: they beat up reporters on British Channel 4 and attacked many Western and local media. Most Iranians I know hate MEK. Iran does not need democracy. It is already a democratic state and the MEK is the last terrorist organization on the planet that can bring democracy to Iran. The military command of the MEK is a criminal organization that faces justice for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian and Iraqi people in recent decades. The MEK’s relations with the press can be compared to the way North Korea treats the media: they beat up reporters on British Channel 4 and attacked many Western and local media. Most Iranians I know hate MEK. Iran does not need democracy. It is already a democratic state and the MEK is the last terrorist organization on the planet that can bring democracy to Iran. The military command of the MEK is a criminal organization that faces justice for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian and Iraqi people in recent decades. The MEK’s relations with the press can be compared to the way North Korea treats the media: they beat up reporters on British Channel 4 and attacked many Western and local media. Most Iranians I know hate MEK. Iran does not need democracy. It is already a democratic state and the MEK is the last terrorist organization on the planet that can bring democracy to Iran. The military command of the MEK is a criminal organization that faces justice for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian and Iraqi people in recent decades. Iran does not need democracy. It is already a democratic state and the MEK is the last terrorist organization on the planet that can bring democracy to Iran. The military command of the MEK is a criminal organization that faces justice for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian and Iraqi people in recent decades. Iran does not need democracy. It is already a democratic state and the MEK is the last terrorist organization on the planet that can bring democracy to Iran. The military command of the MEK is a criminal organization that faces justice for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian and Iraqi people in recent decades.

4) In your opinion, who has chosen Albania as the base and residence of the MEK group? Has the Albanian government voluntarily resettled the MEK in this country? What was the purpose?

A) The transfer of the MEK to Albania was an American decision. After invading Iraq and defeating Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime, the MEK betrayed its master Saddam and offered itself to the Americans and their Zionist agenda in the Middle East. However, the Americans could not guarantee the security of the MEK in post-Saddam Iraq, as many Iraqis wanted to see the MEK face justice for the crimes committed against the Iraqi people. Americans have been desperately trying to find a country to host the MEK. They asked Romanians, Bulgarians and Macedonians, but all these governments refused. Finally, they asked to host them under the Edi Rama regime in Albania. The current Albanian regime is completely corrupt. If you read the WikiLeaks cables, we understand how the US embassy has total control over the country, in every respect. For this reason, the MEK was imposed on Albania and its politicians could not say no. The purpose of the MEK’s transfer to Albania was to use the experience this group has in terrorism and espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since it arrived, the MEK, like DAESH or Jahbat al-Nusra before them, has become the simple soldier of Zionism against political Islam. They work on behalf of the United States and Israel in their global war against the Arab and Muslim world. The purpose of the MEK’s transfer to Albania was to use the experience this group has in terrorism and espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since it arrived, the MEK, like DAESH or Jahbat al-Nusra before them, has become the simple soldier of Zionism against political Islam. They work on behalf of the United States and Israel in their global war against the Arab and Muslim world. The purpose of the MEK’s transfer to Albania was to use the experience this group has in terrorism and espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since it arrived, the MEK, like DAESH or Jahbat al-Nusra before them, has become the simple soldier of Zionism against political Islam. They work on behalf of the United States and Israel in their global war against the Arab and Muslim world.

5) Each year, the group spends an impressive amount of money on glamorous but almost audience-free ceremonies. Do you know the source of these expenses? What is the purpose of organizing such a ceremony for a group whose name has been on the list of foreign terrorist organizations in the European Union and the United States for years?

A) Despite being an endangered organization, the MEK is being used by the US government and Israel as a bugbear against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The strategy of the United States and Israel, after defeating and destroying the Arab nationalist and Islamist regimes of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Egypt and Sudan, was to build an alliance between the sheikhdoms of the Arab Gulf and Israel to counteract the Political Islam in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are believed to be the main sponsors of the MEK’s operations in Albania. While the Albanian government and the Americans protect MEK donors, so far we know that the UAE is one of the main indirect sponsors of the MEK. The UAE sponsored the reconstruction of the city of Manez, where the MEK is based. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, which sponsors a large group of Wahhabi imams in Albania, is believed to be behind Wahhabi propaganda in favor of the MEK in some Wahhabi circles. The annual meetings that the MEK organizes each July in Albania, where it invites numerous Western politicians, mostly retired, are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance it leads. from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. Saudi Arabia, which sponsors a large group of Wahhabi imams in Albania, is believed to be behind Wahhabi propaganda in favor of the MEK in some Wahhabi circles. The annual meetings that the MEK organizes each July in Albania, where it invites numerous Western politicians, mostly retired, are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance it leads. from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. Saudi Arabia, which sponsors a large group of Wahhabi imams in Albania, is believed to be behind Wahhabi propaganda in favor of the MEK in some Wahhabi circles. The annual meetings that the MEK organizes each July in Albania, where it invites numerous Western politicians, mostly retired, are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance it leads. from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. which sponsors a large group of Wahhabi imams in Albania, is behind a Wahhabi propaganda in favor of the MEK in some Wahhabi circles. The annual meetings that the MEK organizes each July in Albania, where it invites numerous Western politicians, mostly retired, are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance it leads. from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. which sponsors a large group of Wahhabi imams in Albania, is behind a Wahhabi propaganda in favor of the MEK in some Wahhabi circles. The annual meetings that the MEK organizes each July in Albania, where it invites numerous Western politicians, mostly retired, are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance it leads. from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. is behind a Wahhabi propaganda in favor of the MEK in some Wahhabi circles. The annual meetings that the MEK organizes each July in Albania, where it invites numerous Western politicians, mostly retired, are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance it leads. from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. is behind a Wahhabi propaganda in favor of the MEK in some Wahhabi circles. The annual meetings that the MEK organizes each July in Albania, where it invites numerous Western politicians, mostly retired, are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance it leads. from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. they are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance which runs from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. they are used by Israel as a platform to build a global alliance against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance which runs from Palestine to Yemen. The goal of the MEK and its sponsors is to blackmail Iran and force it to abandon its support for the liberation of Palestine. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam. Most of the European and American politicians who support the MEK are diehard Zionists. They know that by supporting the MEK they are supporting Israel and its supremacy over Islam.

6) Mike Pompeo recently traveled to Albania with a security team of 80 and visited the MEK camp. The news of this meeting focuses more on the economic aspect of the issue, or on the remuneration for the interventions of former American politicians. Interestingly, Mike Pompeo also describes himself as an “unemployed politician” in his speech. What do you think of this kind of look on Pompey’s journey?

A) Well, at the moment Mike Pompeo is practically nobody in the United States. His arrival in Albania was coordinated by the Zionist lobby in the United States, interested in promoting the MEK and Maryam Rajavi as the leader of the terrorist movement against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Albanian media revealed that Pompeo was paid over $ 150,000 for his visit to the Mujahedeen camp. The Israeli lobby uses clowns like Pompeo to pressure the Biden administration against signing the nuclear deal with Iran. By promoting and sending Pompeo to visit the Mujahedeen camp, the Zionist lobby wants to show the Democrats of the United States that if you don’t follow our line, we can replace you with puppets like Pompeo.

7) What future do you foresee for the members of this group in Albania and what benefits or harm can their presence in Albania have for the people and the government of this country? Has any group that opposes the presence of these terrorist refugees in Albania taken any serious action to stop their presence in the country?

A) The MEK will probably cease to exist in 10 years. Most of its members are dying of cancer and other diseases. However, they currently pose a serious threat to democracy and law enforcement in Albania and to the security of Iran. Their activity as foreign fighters who want to violently wage a terrorist war against a foreign country is contrary to Albanian laws, its security and international obligations. Their presence in Albania, their involvement in drug and human trafficking has created a very negative image of Albania in Europe and in the world. Many European governments are concerned about their presence, but do not dare to speak out against them. Many journalists, Albanian politicians and human rights activists who in the past spoke out against the MEK are now silent. They fear for their safety because the MEK does not tolerate free speech and fights its opponents in many forms. The MEK has seriously undermined the freedom of the press, democracy and security of Albania. However, it enjoys the support of the US government and will continue its terrorist activity from Albania unhindered for the time being.

8) As you know, the MEK terrorist group has carried out many criminal actions in Albania, such as trafficking in human beings and drugs and has also broken many laws, so much so that one of them was carrying out terrorist activities against another country while he was in Albany. To what extent and under what circumstances is it possible for the government to expel a group from Albanian territory?

A) As long as Europe, Albania and the Balkans are a US protectorate, the chance of the MEK being expelled from Albania is zero. As you have seen from the current conflict in Ukraine, the United States does not allow the peoples of Europe to pursue their national interests. We in Europe live under US occupation and, for the moment, the only power that can expel the MEK from Albania is the US that governs us. Albania can save itself from the MEK only if World War III breaks out between Russia and NATO and the MEK finds the same fate as the Azov battalion in Ukraine or ISIS in Syria. But for the moment the MEK is under the protection of the United States and Israel.

– by Alireza Niknam – Geopolitics and ideeazione

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MEK agents attacking ASILA book stand
Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Maryam Rajavi sends her thugs to attack a book fair in the city of Durres

Agents of Maryam Rajavi attacked a book fair in Albania. The book fair which has been set up in the garden of Hotel Arvi, Durres, Albania was attacked on 17 August 2022 by several members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MEK/ MKO/ Cult of Rajavi). Their target was a stand run by the publication of ASILA, Association for the support of the Iranians Living in Albania.

“Maryam Rajavi has sent her #FreeIran2022 thugs in cities of Albania to attacks cultural events,” according to the Albanian news agency, Gazeta Impact. “The mujahedin attacked and threw on the ground the Quran, the book of Karbala etc. The mujahedin were later detained by Albanian police.”

To download the video file click here

Interviewing Dr. Ggergji Thanasi, the journalist, university lecturer and an Albanian member of ASILA, Euronews Albania reported, “Journalist Gjergji Thanasi was part of the incident that happened at the Summer Book Fair in Durrës on Wednesday afternoon, where a group of mujahedin protested and demanded the removal of the stand set up by him.”

Euronews Albania states that ASILA has been registered in the court as an Albanian NGO so it is a legal entity. “Having Participated in the Durrës fair, we took advantage of this opportunity for a modest stand with 5 books,” Thanasi says. “In the morning, I was drinking coffee when a group of mujahedin together with an Albanian who claimed to be the chief of security in Manza, asked me to leave.”

In the afternoon, everything was fine, the first visitors to the fair began to arrive when the MEK agents attacked the fair, with placards in their hands. They were gathered in front of the “Asila” association stand, based on Thanasi’s testimonies.

Agents of the MEK who are located in their notorious camp Ashraf 3 in Manza of Durrës, were equipped with banners demanding the closure of the Iranian stands. The coerced MEK agents turned their apparent protest into a largescale clash after they attacked the stands. Tearing the Albanian flag and ASILA posters, they threw books on the ground.

The numerous Albanian police forces prevented them from clashing with the Iranian book stand managers including some former members of the MEK. Ultimately, dozens of MEK agents were detained and escorted outside the fair in Police cars.

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MEK on the FTO list
Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

The Mujahedin-e Khalq on the way back to FTO

The Mojahedin-e Khalq group is a terrorist group that after its formation assassinated 6 American advisors in Tehran during the time of the Shah the puppet of America, and with the victory of the revolution when the people did not vote for them in the elections, they started to take revenge on the people, which in a short period 12 thousand people were butchered in the worst possible way by this terrorist group, that even among the dead, the bodies of many women and children can be seen. At the beginning of the war, the MEK first tried to start a civil war in Iran and assassinated the main officials of the Islamic Revolution, but when they saw that they could not succeed, they joined Saddam to attack their country with the help of Iraqi Baath forces, that many innocent people were killed. After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, this terrorist group carried out the Forough Javidan operation with the cooperation of the Iraqi Baath army on the western borders of Iran, which faced a heavy defeat of its forces against the Iranian army in the Mersad operation and was forced to retreat to their camp in Iraq. After the end of the war, Saddam, who was aware of the bloodthirsty nature of this terrorist group, ordered them to attack Iraqi Kurds, in this operation, 4 thousand Kurdish men and women were killed. They did so many assassinations that the US Department of State put the name of this group on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) in 1997. Continuing to understand the terrorist nature of the MEK, we are with Mr. Daniele Perra, an Italian journalist who provides valuable information about this terrorist group.

MEK on the FTO list

MEK on the FTO list

In your opinion, what is the goal of the opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran to fully support a terrorist group of the Mujahedin-e Khalq that has almost no credible popular base in its own country? What role exactly does this group play among the opponents of the Iranian government?

The goal is actually pretty clear. MeK is western favorite tool for the destabilization of the Islamic Republic. I will provide you an example. In 2014, the Israeli website of strategy and geopolitics MiDA has published an interesting article with the title “How to Hurt Iran, Even Without Airstrikes”. The author of the article recognized that Iran is Israel’s main adversary in the Middle East region and, in order to hit back Iran for its support of the Palestinian resistance, he says that Israel should exploit terrorists groups and the presence of ethnic and religious minorities inside the Iranian borders to dismantle progressively the country. Furthermore, the article name many groups that can be used for this purpose. Among them there are MeK (in the article it is clearly written that Mossad has financed, trained and armed MeK for killing Iranian officials and nuclear scientists), Jundallah (a group that operates between Iran and Pakistan) and some other kurdish groups. In this contest of low intensity war MeK has a special role because has proved to be quite effective since the Iraq-Iran war with its capacity to operate inside Iranian borders.

Regarding the terrorist background of the MEK group and the group’s attempt to hold an annual gathering in Albania and France, what do you think is the reason for the cooperation of some Western governments with this group?

Western governments dislike Iran for the simple reason that the Islamic Republic represents an alternative to their failing political model based on ultraliberal capitalism, exploitation and annihilation of men. A System that has been able to produce inequalities inside and outside the so called West and, at the same time, to destroy the environment. A system that completely forgets tradition and cancels culture and history in order to eradicate human beings from their roots. The Islamic Revolution has stopped the process of “westernization” of Iran. That is the reason why the West dislikes Iran nowadays. That is the reason why the West supports this kind of terrorists groups. They want a government in Tehran that follows orders. They cannot bear the fact that Iran is still a sovereign country even after 40 years of hybrid war against it.

As you know the MEK invited so many Ex-politicians to their annual gathering, these politicians have no position in their countries and they have no hope to be in a political position in the future, what is the main purpose of these figures attending the ceremonies of a terrorist group?

I do not actually agree about the fact that these politicians have no hope to be in a political position in the future. For instance, there is a huge possibility that the former Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi (probably the greatest supporter of MeK in Italy) will have a position in the italian government after the election in 2023. In fact, he is in a very good relationship with right wing Party Fratelli d’Italia which seems to be the favorite by the polls. The leader of this party, Giorgia Meloni, not surprisingly, is linked with the Spanish far right Party Vox which was involved in a scandal about receiving money from MeK. The former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has recently met Maryam Rajavi in Albania. Even in this case, Pompeo has the possibility to take part in the primary elections to become the Republican candidate for the White House, or maybe to become again member of another Trump’s administration after 2024 presidential elections. Furthermore we should not underestimate the fact that Trump’s administration was very close to MeK as well. For example, Trump’s lawyer Rudolph Giuliani is a close friend of the terrorist organization.

A few months ago, the group of MEK organized a virtual anti-Iranian conference with the invitation of several members of the Italian parliament to spread hatred against Iran. What do you think are the reasons for the cooperation of these Italian politicians with this terrorist group?

You must consider the fact that Italian politicians are not independent. They have owners (foreign countries such as USA, UK, Israel and so on, or some multinational corporations). If they do not have owners they look for them in order to have guaranteed incomes. Italian politics is the triumph of immorality. In this regard, taking part in this kind of events it helps them to show themselves, to show that they are ready to be bought from the transatlantic élite or, for the ones that already have owners, to show them that they are following the orders.

One of the main slogans of the terrorist group of MEK is “Free and Democratic Iran”. In your opinion, what does this slogan have to do with the nature of this group and the way its leaders treat their members?

It sounds quite ridiculous because we know that this group nowadays works more like a pseudo-religious cult. There is no democracy at all in it. Pompeo, during his visit, even called Rajavi as “elected president of Iran”. Even more ridiculous, but it is at same time quite scary. So, we should ask another question. Is the West willing to ignore the involvement of MeK in drug and human trafficking, and even the killing of American soldiers in the first years of the Iraq war, in order to reach its geopolitical goals? The answer is yes since it has done it before, for example in Kosovo with the UCK.

As an Italian journalist, have you ever witnessed Maryam Rajavi attend a debate or challenging discussion? In your opinion, what is the reason for Maryam Rajavi to be afraid and avoid confronting challenging questions about the group of MEK?

Honestly I have not. But, if we are talking about western media, we have to take into consideration another thing. There is no risk for Maryan Rajavi to be questioned about the activities of MeK since this is not in the agenda of the western media, which are not independent again. We can apply for western journalists the same thing that we said before about western politicians. They have owners or they look for owners. Let’s keep into consideration that many of them have been trained by organizations well linked with American intelligence such as Stratfor Enterprise (the so called “Shadow CIA”). As long as MeK will keep working as a western proxy inside and outside Iran, its role in criminal and terrorist activities will never be questioned by the main media groups in the West.

Every year, the MEK name the year “Sin” which means to overthrow, but now, 40 years after the revolution Iran is standing stronger, after these many years and having lost so many members by death and separation what justification do the leaders of MEK have for their old members?

Well, the main justification can be the fact that nowadays MeK, after the removal from the list of terrorist groups, has been able to create links, penetrate the western political structure and make lobbying inside of it. Let’s be clear, MeK has no possibility to overthrow the Islamic Republic, or to govern Iran in the near future as Pompeo kind of predicted. However, it can still play the role that western intelligence agencies gave to it. Plus, as long as Rajavi receives funds from the West she can still buy some obedience.

Since the MEK has once again shown their true face and publicly propagated their armed policy, such as the Birmingham voting incident, the fifth founders, etc., would the Western countries take action to put them again on the terrorist list?

I do not think so. At the moment MeK is still an important asset especially for Israel and USA. But we never know. The West, and especially USA, has a long tradition in betraying its allies. In fact, Henry Kissinger used to say that America does not have allies but only interests. So, in the future, when MeK will not be anymore useful for the geopolitical interests of the West, probably, it will be put again in that list.

By Jack Turner , Geopolitika.ru

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MEK rented people to participate to their rally
Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

The Annual Gathering of the Mujahedin-e Khalq; Rental Audiences

The Avaricious Nature of Western Politicians Attending the MEK Event

The propaganda meetings of the Mojahedin-e Khalq group, known as the Kahkeshan (Galaxy), were held from 2004 to 2018 in various places in Paris, Auvers-sur-Oise (Maryam Rajavi’s residence), north of Paris, or in the Villepinte. After 2018, the group accused an Iranian diplomat of bombing this gathering and then held this propaganda meeting in the form of demonstrations or online under the pretext of Coronavirus Pandemic. The purpose of these multimillion-dollar rallies is simply to create the impression in the audience’s minds that “we exist”, but if we look closely at the faces of the members of this organization in such meetings, we will notice the broken and aging organization.

However, some European and American politicians, such as Texas Congressman Ted Poe, who received thousands of dollars in funding from the head of a pro-MEK group, in his state. At a time when he was acting as a keynote speaker on behalf of the lifting of sanctions on the MEK group at events across the United States, he introduced the organization as a ticket to regime change in Iran; But it should also be noted that, just as the MEK knows, the intelligence services supporting the MEK, certainly indicate that they have no social position among the Iranians and even its hatred can be seen obviously among the Iranian people, and raising issues such as alternatives to the Iranian system and overthrowing the government, etc., is no longer applicable and is just designed for the same stage of propaganda, but in the end, this group, with all its factors, capacities and facilities, is just a part of the opposition of the Islamic Republic, and the dissident countries, in the hope of creating disturbance for Iran, are forced to strengthen groups such as the MEK.

Although the MEK and its meeting in Paris cannot be valued as influential, and the radius of this move would be hyperbolic if we consider it further than the same Villepinte rental hall and a few hours of media coverage before and after it, examining this meeting can be an explanation for the glamor of this propaganda show.

In each time of holding this propaganda meeting, different politicians participated in it. For example, after the transfer of MEK members out of Iraq, the meeting was held on Saturday, July 1, 2017 in Villepinte, Paris. This gathering was held simultaneously with Iran’s influence in the region and the development of ballistic missiles and with the presence of the group’s supporters from five continents. Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the group of MEK, was the main speaker at the ceremony. Some of the personalities attending the ceremony included: Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York, John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Senator Joe Lieberman, Louis Freeh, Tom Ridge, Michael Mukasey , Turki Bin Faisal, from Saudi Arabia, Linda Chavez, former White House Public Relations Officer, and Nasr al-Hariri, member of the Syrian opposition delegation, and parliamentary and opposition delegations from various countries.

Retired and rented speakers

Both in this meeting and in the previous and subsequent meetings of this group, all the participants in these gatherings, even if they are well-known politicians, have one thing in common, and that is not only are they now retired from the world of politics and power, but have almost no hope of returning to the power that forced them to enter into such a deal with the MEK.

John Bolton, Gingrich, Turki al-Faisal, etc., all of them no longer have a place in the power structures of their respective countries and only look at the meeting of the MEK with a commercial motive, with the difference that the position and background of each of these politicians is effective in increasing or decreasing amounts they would receive. A look at the MEK’s payroll, which shows the amounts of $ 80,000 for a two-minute speech, confirms this. The interesting thing is that the texts of the speeches are also prepared by the agents of the MEK, and more precisely, the speakers at the meetings of the MEK are literally reserved for a specific time.

The behavior of Rudolf Giuliani, one of the participants in the previous meeting of the MEK in Villepinte, is an example of the fact that these people do not see a political future in the power structures for themselves that they agreed to attend the meetings of the MEK, which is why they look at MEK for business matters.

Referring to words from the Turki Faisal, the Saudi speaker of this kind of meetings, increases the possibility of writing the texts of these speeches by the MEK agents and the hired politicians have no choice to read them for the audiences to get their money at the end. In his speech at the meeting, he accused the Iranian government of interfering in Arab countries, saying that Iran today is not a religious or non-religious country and is an isolated country. Unlike artists and scientists in the Sassanid era, Iranian elites today have many problems. He said in a speech to Mojahedin leader Maryam Rajavi that: “Your efforts to liberate your nation are a legendary epic that will remain in history like the Shahnameh.”

The use of words such as Shahnameh and reference to the Sassanid era is completely rooted in Persian literature and culture, not Arabic!

He said to the Iranian government that “Iran is the biggest supporter of terrorism in the world,” He stressed that the elections in Iran are “undemocratic and illegitimate because Khamenei, like all dictators, nominates candidates”! He mentioned this statement while 40 years of free elections in Iran after the victory of the Islamic Revolution have been done, but the first election in Saudi Arabia return to 2005 that was held without the presence of women and it was only to elect members of city councils and municipalities and not to elect officials and main figures! He considers Iran a sponsor of terrorism, while his country has been one of the aggressors in Yemen since 2015 and is responsible for deadly crimes and the killing of more than 370,000 Yemenis and the displacement and wounding of millions of them.

The Guardian writes in connection with the meeting of the MEK and the presence of former US officials in the gathering: “Supporters of an Iranian terrorist organization in a struggle after investing millions of dollars in an unprecedented campaign of political aid, recruiting Washington lobby groups and paying former senior government officials, have been victorious in the United States to lift sanctions on the organization.”

The Guardian’s research, based in part on data from the Center for Political Accountability, a group that tracks the impact of money on US policy, identified a steady stream of funding from key Iranian-American organizations and their campaign leaders, intended to remove the organization from the list of terrorist organizations in the United States.

The campaign to bury the bloody history of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization in the bombings and assassinations that killed Americans, Iranian politicians and thousands of civilians, and to portray it as a loyal US ally against the Islamic Republic of Iran, has brought huge costs for the three groups : Members of US Congress, Washington lobby groups and former influential officials.

One of the prominent members of Congress who received the budget is Ileana Ros Lehtinen, chair of the House of Foreign Affairs Committee. She has received at least $ 20,000 from Iranian-American groups or their leaders.

Ed Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in 2012 that he was paid between $ 150,000 and $ 160,000 for his speeches in support of the group.

Congressman Bob Filner is another MEK recipient who has twice traveled to France to address pro-MEK events, presented resolutions in the House of Representatives for them, and called for the group’s sanctions to be lifted. More than $ 14,000 was the costs of Filner’s trips to Paris was paid to him by the head of an Iranian-American group, and nearly $ 1 million was paid to a lobbying firm in Washington seeking to lift the MKO sanctions.

Texas Congressman Ted Poe received thousands of dollars in grants from the head of a pro-Mujahedin-e Khalq group in his state and tried to portray the group as an option to change the Iranian regime.

Other supporters of lifting the group’s sanctions was Dana Rohrabacher, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Relations, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, received thousands of dollars in grants in just one year to support the MEK.

The Guardian asked the pro-Mujahedin-e Khalq politicians what they thought of the money they received from MEK, but only Rohrabacher responded. She said it was easy to receive financial aid from supporters of the MEK, but that the money had no effect on her position on lifting the group’s sanctions. “I have no doubt that people will help my campaign if it benefits them and they believe in it, whether it is the group of MEK or others.”

But the important thing about this is whether it is right to receive this funding, and whether it benefits the people of the United States at all?

Regarding the multiple policies of the MEK, the killing of several Americans, their change of attitude towards the United States and their “time-serving” and “go-with-the-tide” policies after the fall of Saddam, the answer is definitely no, but the group’s dollars and financial aid to American politicians in their change of opinion and taste has been effective.

“The MEK’s past attacks on the Americans, their bombings in Tehran and the killing of politicians and civilians, and their support for Saddam Hussein, are past and historic,” Rohrabacher said.

The three major lobbying companies in Washington have received nearly $ 1.5 million to pressure the US government and lawmakers to support the group of MEK and protect their members in the Iraqi camp.

Many former US officials have received up to $ 40,000 to speak out in support of the MEK’s removal from the sanctions list. Among them are Gen. Hugh Shelton, former chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, and Michael Mukasey, who oversaw the prosecution of terrorism cases, and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Randall, received more than $ 150,000 to speak at events in support of the lifting of sanctions for the MEK. Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page received $ 20,000 to speak at the rally. Other people in the United States or other countries only accepted travel expenses, although in some cases it included expensive trips to Europe.

Some of these payments prompted an investigation by the US Treasury Department. The organization is examining the costs incurred by Shelton, Freeh, Mukasey and Randall and others to see if they are violating the “financial support for a terrorist group” law. However, in cases involving links to other banned organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, individuals have received long prison sentences for indirect financial support.

Politicians and those invited to the gathering rarely mention the Mujahedin-e Khalq’s violent and anti-American past, portraying the group not as terrorists but as freedom fighters and pioneers of regime change in Iran. Some of them even admit that they had little information about this group before being invited to speak and led by MEK supporters.

A State Department official familiar with speech contracts explains the mechanism of this process: “Your lecturer will call you and say you will receive $ 20,000 for a 20-minute talk. They will send you a private jet and you will receive $ 25,000 more when you are done. They also send a team to explain to you what to say.”

A former US diplomat says he was offered $ 25,000 to speak in Paris, but he declined. He was told that he could make general statements about human rights in Iran and did not have to name the MEK, although “the MEK’s connection to this speech was clear and could not be concealed.” In this case, he was told that “rich Iranians in Europe” would pay the money. Several others spoke to the Financial Times and confirmed that they had received cash for the speech, including John Bolton, the former US national security advisor.

The presence of some former government politicians at these gatherings was sometimes criticized by those country’s media. Like the presence of former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose government considered the MEK a terrorist organization until 2012.

Thomas Juneau a professor at the University of Ottawa and a former Department of Defense analyst, wrote that Harper openly supports a former terrorist group and a completely undemocratic and illegitimate religious group that is in no way a substitute for the current Iranian regime.

Farzan Sabet, an Iranian policy expert at Stanford University’s Center for Security and International Cooperation, said Harper’s presence showed the complexity of the MEK’s political operations and the naivety or avaricious nature of Western politicians attending the event.

Finally, after much effort and lobbying by the organization, which had been on the US terrorist list since the 1970s for killing US personnel in Iran and its links to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the group was officially recognized by the US and Canadian Foreign Ministries and by the rejection of violent behavior in late 2012, they removed the MEK from the list of terrorist organizations. However, in a statement issued at the same time, the US State Department stated that they still had serious concerns about the MEK.

After the MEK was recognized in the United States, former politicians easily supported the organization and participated in its propaganda campaigns by receiving large sums of money.

Jack Turner, Gopolitika.ru

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scattered families
The cult of Rajavi

Deconstructing the Couple within the MEK

“Family, I hate you”. This citation from André Gide, the French author and 1947 Nobel Laureate can be described, with no exaggeration at all, as Massoud Rajavi’s motto. After all, the People’s Mojahedin sacrificed everything for their revolution.
In order for the individual to give himself up body and soul to the cause, the MEK intervened directly in its militants’ daily lives. This was to enforce the arbitrary decisions of the ‘Great Teacher’.
As Figaro reported:
“Founded on the cult of its spiritual leader, Massoud Rajavi and his wife, Maryam, the Mojahedin organisation has often been compared to a sect by former members, forced to divorce and break with their family to join the ranks of fighters”.

Mitra Yusefi

Mitra Yusefi , her husband and children

 

Mitra Yusufi, a long term member of the MEK, and a victim of this policy of enforced divorce, breaks the silence:
“I traveled a long road. I underwent a real brainwashing and I have to be alert all the time. The Iranian people detest Rajavi and I hate him. My story is simple. I was a young newlywed when it all started. My husband was a popular man; since he had played for the Iranian National Football team. This was the team that qualified for the World Championship in 1978 and played in Argentina. We were living in England when the revolution happened.
We returned to Iran before going to the United States. In the Eighties, we had heard bad news about things that happened to our friends. In fact, at the time, we were very cut off from the realities of Iranian society. Rajavi wanted to use my husband’s name. We agreed and we were moved to Greece to organize the movement. When Rajavi, after his divorce from Banisadr’s daughter married his comrade’s wife, Maryam, we were shocked. My husband then took a strong position, saying that you cannot take another’s wife. Two days later, though, they convinced us of the opposite.We were such fools…”.

Nadereh afshari

Nadereh Afshari

Nadere Afshari also lived inside the Mojahedin. She knows the reality:
“Rajavi used the family institution as an instrument at the service of his own power. To keep the men in the organisation, he forced them to marry. To do this, he used women as bait and ‘gave’ them to his most docile servants. Yet, at the slightest sign of disobedience, he took away their wives. Women were, therefore, objects passed from hand to hand.

Thus, a docile woman like Atefeh, who had the rank of Major, was forced to divorce four times, on the personal orders of Rajavi. Her comrade, Mahboubeh Jamshidi, divorced and remarried at least three times.
Rajavi considers the family as an integral cell in his organisation. He, therefore, feels free to intervene in the marital relations of members against their own will. The truth is that he dislikes the family which always posed a problem for his ‘regime’. This was for a very good reason: it is very difficult to keep ‘the light of love for the Leader’ burning bright.
From 1991 on, marriage changed its meaning. It became a barrier which kept the organisation’s members from loving their Leader”.

A third defector states:
“At this time, Rajavi also imposed on the leadership a fixed ceremony at the beginning of meetings: everyone had to place his hands on the table to make sure that no one was wearing a wedding ring, which he called ‘a slave ring’.”

Deconstructing the Family Of course, the MEK defended itself. The impact of these statements on its internal practices on international public opinion created a very negative impression. The National Resistance Council wrote, in its response to the American accusations:
“Further on, they claim that the Mojahedin had forced couples in Iraq to divorce and send their children to Europe and the United States. Here, it must be taken into account that the individuals who wrote this report were repeating, word for word, the allegations used by the Iranian regime and by the survivors of the Shah regime.
The National Liberation Army of Iran is based in the territory of a country where family-Iife in the camps became impossible during the unprecedented bombardments of the Gulf War and thereafter, because of the international embargo.

During the bombings, families, voluntarily and sometimes in writing, asked the organization for assistance in sending their children to Europe and the United States to live with their parents or our supporters. Despite many obstacles and risks, the movement spent millions of dollars to move these children to safe places. The alternative would have been accepting the possibility of numerous victims among them “.

The MEK children

The MEK children

The facts, however, are stubborn and the eyewitness reports are very precise:
‘in the terms of the ‘Second Ideological Revolution’, children had to be separated from their families and sent abroad. Rajavi made sure personally that this order was carried out case by case, finding militants or family members living in Europe or the United States who could take the children in. In the absence of family abroad, the children were sent to orphanages or special schools established by the Mojahedin in Germany and the Netherlands. More than 500 children were sent abroad this way: they were handed over to the organization during a special ceremony in which the parents recited a text affirming: ‘I give my child to Massoud and Maryam’.”

Yet the MEK justified itself by comparison with others:
“Moreover, this policy is not without precedent. During the Second World War, children were separated from their families and sent outside London during the bombings. If this way of doing things is unacceptable, the State Department should have published a declaration criticising Winston Churchill “. (219)
The People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran could have cited two other 20Ih Century precedents, ones more troubling indeed.

During 1936-37, the evacuation of the children of Spanish Republicans fighting Franco’s Nationalists is one. To protect them from the bombings which struck some cities very hard, especially Madrid, young girls and boys were sent by convoy to the Soviet Union. But once the Popular Front Government was swept aside and taken over by the Communists, these kids stayed in the USSR for an orthodox MarxistLeninist education.
The same scenario took place a few years later in Greece, during the civil war that immediately followed World War ii. There again, children kidnapped for the stated motive of putting them out of harm’s way remained in the USSR.

Kidnapping could also take place at home. The Hitler youth stole the minds and loyalties of children, turning them against their teachers and even their parents. The “Racially pure” S.S. breeding facilities were only a continuation of kidnap, but with the result of bringing thousands of parentless children into post-war Germany. Uprooted, far from their country and cut off from their culture, these children became wanderers without identity. They only had that given them by the movement or the organisation which took them in hand and led them where they wanted to for their own purposes.

For more than 20 years we know exactly how the MEK has used these kids: easier to lead, because they are more docile than adults who have developed their critical faculties. This included abandoning them to their fate when times went bad:
“In Evin, the model prison of Iran, built by the ex-Shah, one section is completely devoted to the ‘curables’, who undergo a reeducation programme. There, we find a certain number of inmates who discarded their former masters, like Banisadr’s embody guard. But the overwhelming majority are children. They are the ones the Mojahedin threw into the street fighting, without any military or political training at all. These kids (13-15 year olds) cracked, naturally. They turned against themselves”.

From the book: Autopsy of an Ideological Drift by Antoine Gessler, translated by Thomas R. Forstenszer

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Massoud Rajavi
Massoud Rajavi

The MEK former member: Rajavi is an Iranian Bin-Laden

At a very long ago, this mechanical engineer, born to poor peasants, was attracted to the movement against the Shah’s dictatorship by the speeches of its founders: Mehdi Bazargan,Hanifnezhad and Massoud Rajavi. He joined the Mojahedin organization in his home region in northern Iran. He soon joined the movement’s militia. He explains that,” I knew that the organization carried out violent actions, but I was proud of that since the targets were the monarchy and imperialist agents”. a member of the Majles Shoura (Consultative Council). He specialized in propaganda activities. After his national military service in 1981, he was given his first missions. Heading a group of five activists, he received his orders through coded messages broadcast by the movement’s radio. These operations involved breaking windows of officials’ homes, setting fire to their automobiles and burning portraits of Imam Khomeini. The young Mojahed won the respect of movement leaders, now headquartered in Paris and they asked him to come to their base in Iraq.

Mohamamd Nazari left for Karachi, Pakistan, where the Mojahedin had offices. From there, he went on to Baghdad a month later. He says:” I had changed a lot. I wasn’t myself anymore. My personality had been stolen from me. I could no longer think for myself. I was completely devoted to the organization and ready for terrorist actions in Iran. “ his first operations were against military targets in Iranian Kurdistan. During the period 1985-1986,the unit he commanded was in combat several times against the Iranian army. He also helped reconnoiter and map Iranian military positions, intelligence which the organization passed on to the Iraqi authorities. The former Mojahed recalls:” dressed in an Iranian Military jacket, I entered the country to scout the situation on the front. Sometimes, I captured Iranian soldiers and handed them over to the Iraqis”. In total his unit fought fifteen engagements against the Iranian Army and carried out dozens of reconnaissance operations in Iran.

In 1992, Mohammad Nazari began to realize the truth about the organization and refused to fight the Iraqi Kurds. He served 45 days in solitary confinement and his break with the organization was now complete. But, fearing for his life, he agreed to a self-criticism and rejoined the ranks. But he had one idea: plan his escape.
A little later, he asked for permission to travel to the United States, in order to visit the brother. His superiors refused to let him go. As a compromise, however they sent him to Germany, now free to travel, Mohammad Nazari went to Italy and asked for political asylum. Eleven months later, he returned to Iran, with the help of country’s embassy in Rome. Now,43, the former Mojahed says: ”I am not proud of my past. I fought for 19 years, but it was for nothing. If I have now agreed to describe my past, it is to unmask the Mojahedin Organization which stole the best years of my life and all dreams of my youth.” He adds:” Rajavi is not a Commander Massoud.

He is a Bin Laden. The afghan leader gave his life for his people. The Iranian,for his part, has not the slightest qualms about sending his men to their deaths. But he, himself, avoids touching a rifle. During all the years during which I worked side by side with him, I never knew where really lived.”

From the book: The People’s Mojahedin of Iran: A Struggle for what? “By Victor Charbonnier

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