After Maryam Rajavi’s lavish stay in hotels and spas was exposed by Le Canard Enchainé, the other French media focused on uncovering more details about the Cult of Rajavi.
France’s TF1 Info began with a controversial headline: “Is Maryam Rajavi, leader of the MEK, skilled in thalassotherapy?”
Thalassotherapy (from the Greek word thalassa, meaning “sea”) is the use of seawater as a form of therapy. It also includes the systematic use of sea products and shore climate. It refers to a variety of treatments that use saltwater and seaweed, each designed to cleanse, soothe and revitalize the skin and body. And so far, according to documents obtained by French media, it has cost Maryam Rajavi over 130,000 euros.
TF1 Info then introduced the MEK and Maryam Rajavi’s background, referring to the “terrorist” status of this cult by the Iranian people and the European Union, and gave an overview of the group’s terrorist background and actions in France, then Iraq, and again in France.
The report implies the cooperation of the MEK with the French government. The TF1’s report was published after claims by the leaders of this terrorist group that they had protested against French politicians and media, calling them accomplices of the Iranian government.
While residents of Ashraf 3 are rationed for food and hygiene products and are constantly criticized for the costs they impose on the group, Maryam Rajavi, with a dozen bodyguards, rents a five-star hotel for her private stay. She enjoys fancy medical services under the flamboyant name of thalassotherapy, while just a few months ago the group asked Mehdi Javedan’s family outside the organization to cover the cost of his heart surgery. Mehdi Javedan, a longtime member of her organization, died two months ago.
Days after the publication of the reports of French media, the organization is still busy responding, or in better words, accusing. The responses are full of generalizations, repetition of the usual statements, and slander and libel.
Documents on money laundering
By the way, the MEK cult is currently in a very weak position vis-à-vis the French government. It is very likely that after France, the governments of Canada, the United States, and other countries will purse the MEK’s financial resources and the group’s money laundering network.
The story of the baths and massage therapy with ocean mud and sediments to rejuvenate the skin of the self-proclaimed president of the resistance, Maryam Rajavi, the payment of large tips and numerous bribes to keep her and her companions’ identities secret, prompted the French government to make sure whether the financial resources for these expenses were provided by the MEK.
The French judiciary is reportedly investigating the matter, as between December 2024 and February 2025, two reports under Article 40 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the possibility of money laundering were submitted to the prosecutors of Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France.
The reports point to companies that appear to be operating as financial fronts for the MEK. Front companies and institutions play a significant role in the MEK’s money laundering and revenue-generating network.
The organization was classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union between 1997 and 2013. The group holds annual fundraising campaigns from its members and supporters. Last year alone, more than 7 million euros were raised in this way, some of which was spent on skin rejuvenation for Maryam and other high-ranking members of the organization, and the rest was spent on inciting Western governments through paid speeches and signing declarations against the Iranian government.
France’s relationship with the MEK
It seems that the MEK is a tool for France to gain concessions from the Islamic Republic regime. This rule has always been true for traitors who are tools in the hands of rivals or opponents. On March 18, Le Canard Enchainé exposed Maryam Rajavi’s luxurious life and her money laundering through front companies, probably under the guidance of the French intelligence and security agency DGSE.
Many believe that the recent article in Le Canard Enchainé was the prelude to an exchange between the two governments. 48 hours after the article was published, François Macron announced the release of a French citizen in Iran. In this way, France, for its own economic interests, is gaining some of the Islamic Republic’s consent by putting pressure on the MEK.
The DGSE is aware of the money laundering and fake identities of the front organizations and Rajavi’s dirty nature, but it is not taking any practical action. Which group with such a track record in France is allowed to commit these violations, such that they are constantly in the squares of Paris defrauding Parisian citizens for fake charities to cover the cost of Maryam Rajavi’s thalassotherapy? It seems that France is always monitoring the MEK, but it also needs a weakened version of it.
Mazda Parsi
