Weeks after Senator John McCains’s visit to the newly established base of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO) in Albania, the ripple effects still continue. McCain’s support for a cult-like group with a dark history 
of violence and terror causes a wave of reactions that do not seem to end soon. The most recent has been by the side of an opposition figure against the Islamic Republic, Mehrdad Khonsari. He writes an open letter to the Senator criticizing his act of sponsoring the terrorist cult of Rajavi. He asserts, “It was quite a shock noting that a personality of your background and status had emulated the feat carried out by others much less informed about Iran and generally motivated by greed.” [1]
Following Senator John McCains’s trip to the Balkans (courtesy to US taxpayers), he was received by Maryam Rajavi in the newly established base of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO) in Tirana, Albania. Rajavi offered McCain bouquet with a wide smile on her face in a luxurious hall full of so called cheerful audience – perhaps McCain did not expect such a warm reception.
The leader of the MKO cult who was so enthusiastically motivated by the presence of an American hawkish figure could not conceal her happiness. She seemed to have found the savior of her declining organization. “The Iranian people and the resistance are more determined and prepared than ever to overthrow the ruling theocracy and to establish democracy and national sovereignty in Iran”, she claimed.
As a matter of fact the leaders of the MKO cult put their anti-American, anti-imperialism past behind and eagerly count on the United States new administration to change the Iranian government. However, the issues are not as simple as the naïve MKO leaders have always supposed. Their alliance with the enemies of the Iranian nation has not been so productive for them that they can prevent the collapse of their organization.
Besides, the MKO cult is notoriously known among the majority of American scholars, journalists and politicians, even those who are known as anti-Iran figures. Michael Rubin who is a critic of the Islamic Republic’s policies wonders: “what is John McCain thinking?” Reviewing the violent and cult-like background of the MKO, he affirms that the American advocates of the MKO are not supporting the enemy of the Iranian government but they are assisting the enemy of the Iranian people. [2]
Dr. Munr Kazmir of the Huffington Post states, “The enemy of my enemy is NOT always my friend”. He explains that the act of John Mccain and his hawkish colleagues to sponsor the MKO is the exact definition of “insanity”. He refers to other similar experiences of the US: “There was a group in Afghanistan led by a fellow named Osama Bin Laden whom we armed during the cold war. There are rebels in Syria to whom we have given arms. These are just two examples of many instances where the strategy of backing the “enemy of my enemy” blew up in our faces.” [3]
Dr. Kazmir challenges Rajavi-Republican agenda for regime change in Iran: “Regime change. Just like Nicaragua. Or Afghanistan. Or Iraq. Or Libya. Or countless other nations we made unquestionably worse with our involvement.” [4]
Furthermore, as Kazmir and Rubin warn about the destructive consequences of supporting the MKO cult for both the United States and the Iranian people, former member of the MKO, Arash Sametipour believes that both McCain and the MKO are not favorable entities in the world so their alliance does not work for them. Moreover, the MKO is hated in Iran. “It can be argued that MKO gains nothing by organizing meetings with warlords, right-wing activists, and Saudis,” He concludes. “A group which is unpopular in Iran has proven that will not be accepted as a player in Iran.”
By Mazda Parsi
Sources:
[1] https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/6903
[2]Rubin, Michael, What is John McCain thinking? , IAE.org, April 17, 2017
[3] Kazmir, Munr, The Enemy of My Enemy is NOT Always My Friend….., The Huffington Post, April 18, 2017
