There is no surprise to see the agents of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ the Cult of Rajavi) participating in the memorial of Senator John McCain. The group’s propagandists in the United States, Alireza Jafarzadeh and Sona Samsami attended Senator John McCain’s memorial. As he tweeted, Jafarzadeh was “honored” to pay tribute to the deceased senator for what he calls “standing on the side of freedom fighters of Iran as they seek a free Iran and global peace”.
What Jafarzaed calls “freedom fighters” of Iran is the lexical equivalent of “Mujahedin_e khalq_e Iran”. Yes, senator McCain was standing by the side of them. He met the leader of the group Maryam Rajavi in Albania in April 2017.
The American journalist Michael Rubin who is a longstanding critic of the Iranian Government and an admirer of US warmongers against Iran , criticized senator McCain for the visit. “With this meeting, McCain has embraced the enemy of our enemy in the Tehran regime, but he has also embraced the enemy of the Iranian people,” he wrote at AEIdeas on April, 17th, 2017. [1]
Earlier in June2015, McCain attended the MKO annual gathering in Paris –that regularly features speeches and appearances of dozens of current and former officials from the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, all of whom join in the call for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. This was McCain’s first appearance by the side of the formerly terrorist designated MKO. “John McCain continues his long tradition of embracing horrible foreign groups,” asserted Daniel Larison of the American Conservative. “He frequently endorses dubious and disreputable groups when they happen to share his dangerous foreign policy goals.” [2]
“McCain has been a leading advocate for a policy that has sent weapons into Syria when they have been seized by Jabhat al-Nusra or ISIS,” Larison added. “Those are just the most obvious examples of McCain’s terrible judgment. McCain doesn’t discriminate when it comes to choosing allies of convenience in pursuing unwise and reckless goals, so it was probably just a matter of time before he started associating with the MEK.” [3]
After the death of Senator McCain, Larison cultivates his legacy as a Vietnam veteran and along-time Congressman. “He specialized in matters of national security and foreign policy, and yet he had a remarkable knack for misjudging practically every major foreign policy issue of the last three decades,” he writes. [4]
“McCain distinguished himself as a consistent proponent of unnecessary foreign wars in the name of American “leadership,” and the country was always worse off when the president heeded his recommendations,” Larison states. “He was a leading cheerleader for the invasion of Iraq and intervention in Libya, and he was wrong about both. He was also a Kosovo war supporter and has been a steadfast defender of U.S. support for the Saudi war on Yemen. When Georgia escalated a conflict with Russia, he insanely proclaimed, “We are all Georgians” and gave the impression that he was willing to risk WWIII over a dispute that had nothing to do with us. Despite his constant demands for more “action,” the U.S. did not intervene in Syria as forcefully or as soon as he wanted. He was even once quoted praising the Saudis for their role in Syria. “Thank God for the Saudis,” he said. He was famously hawkish on Iran (“bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran,” he sang), and in recent years went so far as to jump on the Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) bandwagon. This is a record of horrible judgment and even more horrible costs for the people in the countries affected by the policies he supported.” [5]
Markha Valenta of Open Democracy describes senator McCain’s political characteristics as “a public man who made two runs at leading the most powerful war machine this world has known” but he believes that McCain’s bitter experiences in Vietnam justifies his violence-based strategies. “The nearly six years he spent in jail in Hanoi ravaged McCain physically and mentally,” Valenta writes. “His survival of them would come to establish his character and undergird his political career.”
The correspondent of Open Democracy notifies McCain’s desire to bomb Iran. “McCain fought the Iranian nuclear deal tooth and nail, and hailed Trump’s evisceration of it,” he suggests. “When it came to Iran, all of McCain’s readiness to reach across the aisle vanished. “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran”McCain once notoriously sang to the tune of the Beach Boys tune Barbara Ann.” [6]
McCain’s double standards for human Rights and terrorism is also discussed in Valenta’s article. “On the one hand, McCain’s close friendship with Israel and unrelenting enmity against Iran also meant enmity towards those Iran supported, from Hamas to Yemeni Houthis to Assad,” he write. “Even as McCain decried Assad’s violation of Syrians’ human rights and supported those rising in protest, he had absolutely nothing to say about the human rights of Palestinians and Houthis as they faced blockades, bombing, and incursions. Indeed, McCain loudly supported not only Israel but also the extravagantly undemocratic regime of Saudi Arabia (“thank God for the Saudis”), along with the Iranian dissident group Mujahideen-e Khalq (MeK).” [7]
He offers a short but enlightening description of the MKO as terrorist undemocratic cult: “MeK was notorious for a string of political murders in 1981 (including Americans), for joining Saddam Hussain in the war against Iran, and more recently for indulging in a host of aggressive cultish practices. Those who have left the group accuse it of ending romantic relationships, forcing others into arranged marriages, brainwashing, sexual abuse and torture. In short, going against all principles of social and political relation for which McCain stood. All this McCain was willing to ignore in publicly speaking with and on behalf of MeK: given the choice between democratic principles and undemocratic alliances against Iran, he chose the latter.” [8]
Therefore, a McCain-MKO alliance did not seem to have anything to do with “freedom” and “global peace”. Regarding the MKO’s violent past and its cult-like nature, it is definitely considered as a threat to freedom and welfare of its-own members and peace for the citizens of any society they live in. The first victims would be MEK members and the next targets could be Albanian, write the group’s former members and cult expert, Ann and Massoud Khodabandeh. [9]
Mazda Parsi
References:
[1] Rubin, Michael, What is John McCain thinking?, AEIdeas, April 12th, 2017.
[2]Larison, Daniel, McCain Is the MEK’s Newest Fan, The American Conservative, June 15th, 2015.
[3] ibid
[4] Larison, Daniel, McCain’s Foreign Policy Record, The American Conservative, August 27th, 2018.
[5] ibid
[6]Valenta, Markha, John McCain: on mourning a principled man … of violence, Open Democracy
29th, August 2018.
[7] ibid
[8] ibid
[9] Khodabandh, Massoud & Ann, False Flag Op In Albania Would Drive A Wedge Between The EU And Iran, Lobelog, August 30th, 2018.
