++ The MEK leadership’s only mission this week has been to pump up the members by promising that ‘John Bolton will save us, and we will go to Iran’, a message entirely for internal consumption. The reaction – mostly from ex-members – has been to try to wake people inside the MEK up. For example, some point out that Rudi Giuliani sat with Maryam Rajavi in the Nowruz show and asked members to clap for one minute for the martyrs of MEK. He knows they were anti-Imperialism martyrs, but that doesn’t matter to him or Rajavi. Some commentators talk about the Haftsin table for Nowruz. Some years the MEK have a table of items beginning with ‘S’ which symbolise Sarneguni [overthrow], some years they don’t. This year they didn’t. It’s just a game they are playing. Mainly, commentators say that Maryam Rajavi has simply gone over the top. One day she presents a list of MEK martyrs to John McCain. This time, ridiculously, she awarded Giuliani with a ‘medal of Free Iran’. Even more ridiculous is that he accepted it; anything for money. Others say that this organisation, after the deaths of benefactor Saddam and leader Massoud Rajavi, is being used for anything and everything by everyone. One day it is in the hands of the Saudis, the next day Giuliani. Even Iran uses it to claim that the uprising in Iran is their fault. This is the true meaning of ‘mercenary’ force.
In English:
++ Fax Web in Albania reported that 124 former MEK who are resident in the country made a formal asylum request to the Albanian police. The police say there is credible evidence that the MEK’s death threats and other intimidation are real and could end in murder as happened in Iraq. Since 21st February the police have implemented measures to protect and guarantee their lives. Former Military Intelligence Director Ylli Zyla told Fax Web that “a good number of the Mojahedin that are in our country are elderly and do not pose a high risk”. Zyla said further that the security services in our country are keeping these people under surveillance. “The security services have the ability to control this mass of people and the work of their ranks. They have no way of influencing Iranian politics and they have a rule that they cannot get married”, said Zyla.
++ Gazeta Impakt of Tirana published in full the Albanian Information Service report mentioned by Fax Web. “The report highlights the violent attacks and threats of murder that the MEK is making against the defectors who have decided to abandon jihad and deradicalize in Albania, and who the MEK accuse of acting as agents of Iran. Albanian police and SHISH are taking the threats that MEK is making against these deradicalized jihadists in Albania seriously and has placed them under protection from the possibility of assassination by Maryam Rajavi’s extremists.” Pointing out that the MEK’s calls for violent regime change are illegal in Albania, the report continues, “Since the MEK was brought to Albania by the US Intelligence services and used as a diversionary and terrorist organization against Iran and is protected by US-based Senators such as John Bolton and John McCain, the MEK’s violations of Albanian laws are ignored by the Albanian authorities.”
++ Masses of outraged articles appeared from every side in response to Trump’s proposed appointment of John Bolton as his National Security Advisor. Many linked Bolton to the MEK:
+ Jason Rezaian, Washington Post, ‘John Bolton wants regime change in Iran, and so does the cult that paid him’
+ Washington Post (AP), (quoting Iran’s Fars News), ‘Iran: Naming John Bolton national security adviser shameful’
+ Daniel Larison, The American Conservative, ‘Why Bolton’s MEK Connection Matters’
+ Daniel Larison, The American Conservative, ‘Bolton and the Noxious U.S.-Saudi Relationship’
+ Gareth Porter, The American Conservative, ‘The Untold Story of John Bolton’s Campaign for War With Iran’
++ Olsi Jazexhi, Global Research, asks ‘Is Albania a Partner of the US in Supporting International Terrorism?’ Jazexhi charts how Albanian politicians, are being co-opted by the MEK and Americans such as Rudi Giuliani, for promoting their regime change agenda. The MEK’s insistence that Iran is an active threat in the Balkans has artificially skewed Intelligence and security behaviour in the region, something Israel is particularly interested in. The Albanian government which is ordered by people like John Bolton, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani to do all they can to support the Mojahedin, have finally started to attack even Shia and Sufi religious institutions in Albania. The UNHCR, instead of helping MEK who have escaped the group, support the MEK and tell dissociates to go back to the MEK for financial support. Media which dare to show how the defectors have been abused, enslaved and radicalized by the MEK, are attacked for being “bought by Iran”.
The writer concludes: “The attacks that the Mojahedin are launching against local Muslim communities, academics and intellectuals, journalists and media are shocking the Albanian public. Until now they have seen the Mojahedin as some foreign terrorist leftovers that the USA wanted to dump in Albania after they were expelled from Iraq. However, the recent media and police attacks are showing to the Albanian public that the Mojahedin are a threat not only to Iran, but to Albania too. On the other hand, the calls from US senators like Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton and John McCain on the Mojahedin who are based in Albania to go and wage jihad in Iran, make many Albanians worried and upset. Many ask: if the USA wants to use the Mojahedin to fight Iran, why don’t they host them in the USA instead of Albania? … Mr. Rudy Giuliani! Mr. John Bolton! Can you please take your Mojahedin to the USA and from there do anything you want! We do not want to fight another Middle Eastern war for you. Leave us alone, please!”
March 30, 2018