Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 289

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

++ Iran-Interlink posted in Farsi about the cooperation between Rajavi and the Saudis in discouraging Iranians from voting in the upcoming presidential election. This week the MEK fronted a man called Ahmad Afshar, (who has changed his name to Mussa Afshar). Afshar was the go between for Rajavi and the Iraqi intelligence and security services. He features in the videos taken by Iraq’s Mokhaberat of the meetings between the MEK and Iraqi services. These show Afshari as the MEK translator as they are bargaining about the price of the assassinations that the Iraqi security services gave to Rajavi to perform, and show the bundles of cash being handed over to the MEK in these meetings. assassinations they were given by security services of Iraq they were talking about it and getting bundles of money etc. Afshar has now surfaced in Saudi media, this time on channel 24. He says that if the people of Iran don’t vote, particularly Arabic speakers – who should be separate anyway along with the Balouchis and Turks and etc, who are forced to be part of Iran – if they stop voting then, as Massoud Rajavi has always said, we can put this separatist demand on the table and get backing to creating disturbances inside Iran. “We [the MEK] are on the same side as the Saudis and we should be doing these things.” Massoud Khodabandeh on Twitter indirectly referred to this performance and pointed out that the last time there was an election in Saudi was 1400 years ago when they decided to ‘elect’ someone to kill prophet Mohammad in his sleep.
Last time some in #SaudiArabia witnessed #Ellections was 1400 years ago when they decided to “choose” someone to kill prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in his sleep.
He was ultimately saved by migrating at night from Mecca to Medina (Hence the start of Islamic Hejri calendar) pic.twitter.com/7opDiGadV1

— Massoud khodabandeh (@ma_khodabandeh) June 8, 2021

++ Zahra Moini in Germany posted about the election and the MEK. She goes from the disqualification of Massoud Rajavi in 1980 who wanted to be president but wouldn’t accept the constitution. Moini relates one disqualification after another over the intervening years to the present time. She points out that Massoud Rajavi is now trying to support one of the disqualified candidates, while at the same time insisting that nobody should vote.

In English:

++ A piece by Nejat Society titled ‘MEK’s efforts for more sanctions against Iranians’ examines the MEK’s current situation as mercenaries for Israel and the US. Since the US cannot use military power against Iran, it relies on sanctions and the MEK make every effort to exacerbate the effects of these sanctions on the Iranian people through their intelligence and propaganda activities. “Spying on governmental, semi-governmental and private-economic institutions and organizations in Iran, as well as attempts to influence Iran’s economic networks with other countries, are the actions that MEK agents have taken to discover Iranian systems to circumvent sanctions. Also, MEK seeks to find the areas in which the Iranian government has had some progress in domestic production that directly eliminated the effects of sanctions.
“Foreign companies under the contract of the Islamic Republic of Iran are other targets of MEK operatives to discover Iran’s business relations with other countries, which seek to explore possible ways to circumvent the sanctions. The agents of the MKO in this area are generally seeking intelligence on Iranian parties by contacting law offices, shipping companies, insurance companies and brokers.” This work is a major source of income for the group.

++ Robert Fantina writing in Core Middle East takes the lid off the fabricated bomb plot against the MEK in 2018. Fantina simply applies a little logic and rationality to the arrest of Iranian diplomat in Austria, Assadollah Asadi, in joint operation by German, French and Belgian police for procuring explosives and a detonator which he allegedly handed over to an Iranian couple from Belgium in a restaurant in Luxembourg. “Initially, Belgium authorities hacked his email, and found one inviting him to a conference in Germany. It is somewhat interesting that the most ‘incriminating’ email they found was this invitation. How unusual is it, one might ask, for a foreign diplomat to be invited to an international conference?

“But that was what was needed. Going to Germany for the conference, Asadi allegedly met a Belgium couple of Iranian origin at a restaurant in Luxembourg. Here is where things get a bit foggy. This couple reported receiving a package from Asadi, without knowing what it contained. At some point, they were arrested with a package and – lo and behold! – it contained a bomb.” Fantina points out that it makes no sense that Iran would blow up the extremely unpopular MEK in France creating carnage, while Iran was enjoying worldwide sympathy following President Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA. The piece concludes that the US government will be disappointed that Asadi’s imprisonment will not lead to regime change. The questions may remain unanswered but it is reasonable to conclude that this is “yet another attempt by the U.S. and its minions to marginalize, ostracize and demonize Iran.”

++ Nejat Society reports that the covert protests and dissatisfaction among the rank and file of the MEK – which has been on going for a long time – is increasing. Scrawling messages on the bathroom walls and other places where they are not supervised by the camp commanders indicates that more and more members want to leave the group but are intimidated by daily cultic abuse; verbal and physical attacks. Since arriving in Albania over 400 members have escaped the cult. Rajavi has ordered that members sign a ‘letter of engagement’ swearing an oath to stay in the MEK until the overthrow of the Iranian government.

Jun 11, 2021

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