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Resettled MKO Members in Albania Disobey Ringleaders

Members of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI and PMOI) who Resettled MKO Members in Albania Disobey Ringleaders have been sent from Iraq to Albania in recent months are disobeying the orders of their ringleaders and seeking to defect the group.

In a report today, Didehban Center said that most of the MKO members who have been transferred to Albania from their transit camp in Iraq no more obey their masters and cannot be controlled by their ringleaders.

Didehban Center referred to a recent ceremony in France to celebrate the anniversary of the terrorist group’s armed attack against Iran in 1981, which was broadcast for the MKO members in Albania through video conferencing at a luxurious hotel in Tirana, and said merely 10 people from the 71 MKO members in Albania participated in the ceremony, while others did not show up in a bid to display their opposition to the group’s ringleader Massoud Rajavi and the terrorist group.

Many of the MKO members have abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the group are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A recent Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.

According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly-established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who eventually took the MKO off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September 2012, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

In September 2012, the last groups of the MKO terrorists left Camp Ashraf, their main training center in Iraq’s Diyala province. They have been transferred to Camp Liberty which lies Northeast of the Baghdad International Airport.

Camp Liberty is a transient settlement facility and a last station for the MKO in Iraq.

June 30, 2013 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

How to pack a Mujahadeen-e-Khalq rally

How to pack a Mujahadeen-e-Khalq rally: spend thousands on Western politicians, less on (non-Iranian) students

The number of Canadian parliamentarians accepting sponsored junkets from the political arm of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, which Canada until recently considered a terrorist organization, has fallen off of late.

Last year, according to the list of sponsored travel presented to the House of Commons in March, only Liberal MP Judy Sgro took a paid-for trip to France to “attend a global human rights event” hosted by the “Iran Democratic Association,” which appears to be the latest name the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq’s political wing has given itself in Canada. Globally it is known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran. How to pack a Mujahadeen-e-Khalq rally: spend thousands on Western politicians, less on (non-Iranian) students

These events happen every year and centre around a big rally involving thousands of supporters and robust praise for the NCRI’s “president-elect” Maryam Rajavi.

Sgro valued the travel, accommodation, and gifts provided by the NCRI at more than $2,000.

This year’s rally just concluded in Paris. We won’t know for a while yet whether any Canadian MPs attended. We do, however, have a glimpse into who some of the supposed NCRI supporters are.

Alina Alymkulova is a Kyrgyz — not Iranian — student studying in Prague. As she tells Radio Free Europe, she saw an online ad promising a weekend to Paris, complete with accommodation in a four-star hotel, for only 35 euros.

“I wrote to the trip organizer and discovered there was a catch, but it didn’t bother me,” she says. “The organizer explained that I would have to take part in a rally in Paris for a few hours, chant a few slogans in Persian, and wave flags. Although I don’t speak any Persian and don’t know much about Iranian affairs, I decided to go to Paris.”

Alymkulova wasn’t the only one. The buses that left Prague were full of Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs, and Asians. Some drank alcohol and chanted for beer. A Russian woman said she was going to meet handsome Frenchmen. A German she met in Paris thought the rally was for changes in Iraq, not Iran.

Eventually, after staying in a dump of a hotel 60 kilometres from Paris, Alymkulova was bused to the rally near Charles de Gaulle Airport.

“We were given papers explaining where to go and what to do. Cameras were not allowed. As we exited the bus, I resigned myself to the idea that running away was not an option — people were guarding the area.”

Inside the venue, Alymkulova was given coupons for a drink and sandwich. There were headphones on her seat translating the speeches, but she wasn’t interested in listening and left to look for the exit door.

“We arrived back in Prague. I was feeling down, and even the souvenirs I bought in Paris could not cheer me up. In thinking about the whole experience, a saying comes to mind: ‘Only a mousetrap has free cheese.’”

Here’s hoping Sgro’s trip was more enjoyable

By Michael Petrou, Mcleans

June 29, 2013 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Diary Of An MKO Rent-A-Crowd Demonstrator

Kyrgyz student Alina Alymkulova recounts how she was recruited to travel from Prague to Paris to attend a rally for the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), an Iranian opposition movement in exile.

The MKO and its Paris-based political wing, the National Council of Resistance in Iran, are often at the center of controversy. The MKO, which advocates regime change in Iran, was only recently delisted as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

The National Council of Resistance in Iran and its president-elect, Maryam Rajavi, are known for organizing mass rallies that attract Iranian exiles and VIP supporters from around the world. But as Alymkulova’s diary makes clear, some of the tens of thousands of supporters who attended the June 22 rally in Paris might have been motivated by more than their wish for a free Iran.

JUNE 20

9 p.m.: I was in Prague listening to music online and checking news on social media when an advertisement caught my eye. It offered a weekend trip to Paris, a city I always dreamed of visiting at least once during my lifetime.

The price was amazingly cheap — round-trip by bus and bed and breakfast at a four-star hotel would cost me only 35 euros ($46).

I wrote to the trip organizer and discovered there was a catch, but it didn’t bother me. The organizer explained that I would have to take part in a rally in Paris for a few hours. He promised the protest would be peaceful and violence-free, and that I would return home safe and sound.

JUNE 21

9 p.m.: I arrived at a bus station in Prague along with a friend, a fellow student from Kyrgyzstan. Just as the trip organizer said last night, there were eight buses waiting to take us to Paris.

Most of the “protesters” were young and obviously students like me. I met many Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs, and students from Asian countries who were all recruited via the Internet.

More than an hour later we were still at the bus station. People kept coming. It was cold and rainy, and some people began to drink alcohol to keep warm. Some others started to chant slogans: “Freedom to Iranian parrots!” and “Organizers should bring beer!”

I approached two Russian girls to see if they might have a better idea about the purpose of our trip. “To defend the rights of Iranian women,” said one of the girls. “To meet handsome Frenchmen,” said the other. “Who cares about Iranian women?”

11:12 p.m.: Finally, the trip organizers arrived and let us on the buses. The journey had begun.

JUNE 22

11:56 a.m.: After a lengthy bus journey and a sleepless night, we arrived in Paris. The organizers told us we had the whole day to see the city.

I met a student who traveled from Germany to take part in the same rally. But he was sure we were going to attend a rally in support of changes in Iraq, not Iran.

JUNE 23

12:52 a.m.: The hotel was about 60 kilometers outside Paris. We were promised a night in a four-star hotel, but I wouldn’t even give one star to the shabby place the organizers brought us to. “Well, what else would you expect for a 35 euro, all-inclusive trip to Paris?” someone said as we stood in line to use the toilet.

11:42 a.m.: I overslept and missed my breakfast. Those who woke up early said the breakfast consisted of milk and a sandwich. Kyrgyz student Alina Alymkulova recounts how she was recruited

1:16 p.m.: The buses took us to some strange place not far from Charles de Gaulle Airport. We were given papers explaining where to go and what to do. Cameras were not allowed. As we exited the bus, I resigned myself to the idea that running away was not an option — people were guarding the area.

There were yellow-and-purple flags hanging everywhere. The name “Maryam Rajavi” was written on the flags. Well, at least I knew the name of the person behind this massive event. Kyrgyz student Alina Alymkulova recounts how she was recruited

The endless sight of buses from many different countries was somewhat alarming. Security guards checked us as we entered a building. They stopped me because I had kept my camera inside my backpack despite the organizers’ warning. Amazingly, the guards let me take my camera in after I paid them a couple of euros. Within seconds I was inside the building.

2:23 p.m.: There were at least 10,000 people inside. Strange music was playing. All the participants were given coupons for a free drink and sandwich. We ate and drank and then joined the rally being held in what appeared to be a huge stadium.

There were headphones on each seat, apparently so we could listen to direct translations of the speeches. I suddenly realized that there was a woman standing next to me. She was covered head-to-toe and kept saying, “Allahu Akbar.”

Enough. I had to find the exit door.

Near the exit doors, where organizers were distributing salmon sandwiches and kebabs, I heard a few people speaking Kyrgyz, my mother tongue. They were three students who traveled from Germany.

9:28 p.m.: I spent the rest of the day sightseeing in Paris before returning to our bus.

JUNE 24

11:57 a.m.: We arrived back in Prague. I was feeling down, and even the souvenirs I bought in Paris could not cheer me up. In thinking about the whole experience, a saying comes to mind: “Only a mousetrap has free cheese.”

Translated from Russian by Farangis Najibullah

June 29, 2013 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Shadow of the Iranian election on the MKO gathering

On Saturday June 24, the political arm – read Propaganda arm – of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization held its annual gathering on the anniversary of the start of their violent movement against Iran. The so-called National Council of Resistance held their tenth annual conference to stick the image of a democratic movement on their cult like organization in the northern Paris suburb of Villepint.

Classically, the gathering was attended by hundreds of Western politicians whose luxurious flights and hotel rooms in Paris were paid by the MKO. "Major international figures including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and outspoken Republican politician Newt Gingrich were scheduled to speak at the event,” reported Alexander Turnbull of France 24.

The MKO propaganda ironically named the gathering "onward to freedom"! As a former member of the group or a family member whose loved one has be taken as a hostage in the group camps in Iraq and Paris, one may laugh at this fake title by a group that freedom is an odd notion in its internal relations. As an Iranian especially one who is living inside the country one may wonder who the MKO is who wants to bring freedom to Iran. The France 24 reporter suggests, "While the NCRI presents itself as a legitimate opposition group, critics say it’s an out-of-touch expatriate lobbying organization with a lot of money but with little relevance to Iran’s problems."

Disappointed with support from inside Iran the NCR has resorted to western supporters particularly since the fall of its main financial and military sponsor Saddam Hussein in 2003. Heavy, well-paid lobbying efforts of the group finally ended with its delisting in 2012 but not long later political relations turned against the MKO. "Maryam spent years making friends in high places, offering the West information on Iran’s nuclear program", asserted Turnbull.

This year, the MKO rally was harshly influenced by the recent Presidential elections in Iran in which the majority of Iranians participated and elected the moderate figure, Hassan Rowhani. Obsessed with the new political relations that may be formed between the world community and Iran following the election of Dr. Rowhani, the MKO leader Maryam Rajavi made efforts in her speech at the gathering to convince the West that the Iranian election is not a real one and the president elect is not a moderate.

"But while the NCRI may be able put on a good show outside its homeland, many of the group’s detractors feel that the Rajavis and their followers have ceased to matter to the situation in Iran," concludes the France 24 correspondent. This conclusion explains Maryam Rjavi’s serious concern about the future of the cult of personality her husband Massoud Rajavi has created around them. They fear any engagement between the West and the Iranian government — which is believed to be likely in the next Iranian administration. Thus the motto "Stop Appeasement" is now much more highly shouted by the group leader than before.

By Mazda Parsi

Reference:

Turnbull, Alexander, Exiled Iranian opposition in Paris for talks, France 24, June 22, 2013

June 27, 2013 0 comment

UN Iraq rep urges exile cooperation

The United Nations envoy to Iraq said Wednesday that residents of an Iranian dissident camp are denied freedom of movement by the exile group, and that efforts to relocate them outside Iraq are being stymied in part by lack of coope AP Interview: UN Iraq rep urges exile cooperation ration from the residents themselves.

Martin Kobler made the comments in an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad as he prepares to leave the country at the end of his term. The U.N. has been involved in relocating members of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq dissident group to a camp on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital while it works to resettle them abroad.

The MEK is the militant wing of a Paris-based Iranian opposition movement known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran that opposes Iran’s clerical regime and has carried out assassinations and bombings there. They fear persecution if sent back to Iran.

About 3,100 MEK members live in Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near Baghdad airport. The Iraqi government wants the group’s members out of the country. So do Iranian-backed Shiite militants, who have claimed responsibility for deadly rocket strikes on the camp.

Kobler acknowledged that a major problem in resettling camp residents is a shortage of countries willing to accept them. He repeated his call for U.N. member states, including the U.S., to do more.

"We do not have enough recipient countries. … There is also reluctance from the side of the Liberty residents to cooperate with the UNHCR," he said, referring to the U.N. refugee agency.

Albania has agreed to take 210 camp residents, but only 71 have made the move so far. Germany has also offered to take 100 residents.

Kobler also cited concerns about what he called "human rights abuses inside Camp Liberty done by the MEK themselves."

Residents are not free to move between different sections of the camp without approval, and some are denied Internet and mobile phone access by MEK officials, he said. Medical treatment outside is also often blocked by the group, he alleged.

"There are, of course, MEK residents who probably would like to disassociate themselves from the MEK," he said. "Everybody who wants to go out of the camp … should have the chance to do so."

The NCRI, the MEK’s affiliated Paris-based group, has repeatedly criticized Kobler. He retains the backing of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and was recently appointed the U.N. envoy and head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo.

NCRI spokesman Shahin Gobadi dismissed Kobler’s comments as baseless and intended to "cover up the failure to provide minimum security provisions" at the camp.

"The only purpose they serve is they set the stage for more attacks," he said, insisting that residents cooperate with the U.N. Gobadi also charged that "Kobler has never been an impartial person and does not represent the values of the U.N."

Iraq gave foreign diplomats as well as journalists from AP and Iraq’s state-run TV a rare glimpse of the camp in September. Diplomats on the tour described conditions as acceptable.

The MEK fought alongside Saddam Hussein’s forces in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and several thousand of its members were given sanctuary at a facility known as Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border. The MEK renounced violence in 2001 and was removed from the U.S. terrorism list last year.

Iraq’s Shiite-led government, which has close ties to Iran, considers the MEK a terrorist group. Iraqi security forces launched two deadly raids since 2009 on Camp Ashraf, and in 2012 most residents were moved to Camp Liberty, which is meant to be a temporary way station.

Ali al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said Baghdad also has concerns that MEK leaders are preventing residents from leaving.

"There is intimidation being practiced by some MEK leaders against their fellow people," al-Moussawi said. "Some MEK members are willing to leave the country, but they are being threatened by a minority preventing them."

The exiles say their new home is unsafe, and they want to return to Camp Ashraf. Several residents were killed in a Feb. 9 rocket strike on the camp, and two others died in a similar attack this month.

In another development Wednesday, Iraqi electoral officials said the Kurdish-backed al-Taakhi list won the largest single bloc of seats in provincial elections in the restive northern province of Ninevah. It claimed 11 of 39 provincial council seats up for grabs.

Ninevah borders Iraq’s largely autonomous Kurdish region and has a sizable Kurdish minority. Many of the remaining seats went to Arab parties, with Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi’s Sunni Arab-backed United bloc coming in second, with eight seats.

Residents in Ninevah and neighboring Anbar province voted last week in local elections that were delayed due to security concerns.

Also Wednesday, Iraqi authorities said two policemen were killed in a bomb blast in the Ninevah provincial capital Mosul. Four others died in an explosion in a small cafe in Baghdad’s Dora neighborhood, They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information to journalists.

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed reporting.

By ADAM SCHRECK

June 27, 2013 0 comment

Camp Liberty

Camp Liberty residents’ questions go unanswered

News from inside Camp Liberty – base of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in Iraq – indicates that the cult leader Massoud Rajavi was seriously relying on the Iranian presidential elections turning into a fiasco. The cult’s Camp Liberty residents’ questions go unanswered leaders had prepared the grounds for an escalation of public unrest and had told the members trapped in the camp that the cult had a bright future, hence discouraging them from fleeing the camp.

When Iran named the Iranian New Year, beginning in March, to be a ‘political epic’, one MEK official told a gathering of the members with ridicule that, “They should beware not to have a political disaster during the elections never mind an epic”.

With reference to the sayings of Massoud Rajavi, one of the MEK officials said, “We lost our chance in the past election in 2009, if we lose our chance this time the overthrow of the regime will not be possible for another 8 years”. Apparently the cult had sent some sabotage teams into Iran who were arrested before they could do anything.

In his internal analysis Rajavi had calculated that when Rafsanjani and Mashai were among those who put themselves forward as presidential candidates, the regime would be in an awkward position. Whether they are qualified according to the Guardians’ Council or not, according to Rajavi the result would be turmoil and disorder. He therefore believed the situation would be ripe for the MEK to add to the difficulties of the Islamic Republic and he could carry out his own goals.

After a calm and hassle-free election with a big voter turnout – which all media and political sources agreed was the case, except of course Rajavi who claimed insistently that nobody participated and people shouted slogans – and after the ‘most-unlikely-candidate-to-win’ according to Rajavi actually won the election, questions were raised amongst the MEK members to which the cult officials had no answer. Although they had created the grounds for these queries in the first place, they could only, as it is customary inside the cult, accuse those raising questions of repeating the regime’s nonsense.

The other matter which raised many questions inside the MEK is the recent resignation of two prominent members of the National Council of Resistance (NCR, the MEK’s western style front group), Mr Karim Ghasim and Mr Mohammad Reza Rohani, and the consequent revelations by two other members, Ismael Vafa Yaghmai and Iraj Mesdaghi. The cult leaders briefed the members by claiming that Ghasim and Rohani were supposed to have been fired six months ago but the Council had deferred it to an appropriate time before they eventually got rid of them. This is quite the opposite to the Council’s public statement that emphasized how shocked they were to learn that the two had resigned and blamed it on infiltration by the Iranian regime into the NCR.

The Rajavi cult is also trying to link the replacement of Mr Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the UN General Secretary to Iraq, to their hostile efforts against him and show it as a victory gained by them. The truth is that Mr Kobler’s mission in Iraq came to an end and he has now been appointed to a new mission in the Congo and of course the policy of the UN will not change just because one Special Representative has moved on and another has been appointed. It should be noted that Mr Kobler will certainly thoroughly brief his successor about the cultic behavior of the MEK.

The other news is that cult officials inside Camp Liberty try to pretend that those who were sent to Albania did not wish to go and they had to force them to do so. They do this to discourage people from volunteering to leave the camp so that the leaders can pre-select the people they choose to allow to go.

June 26, 2013 0 comment

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR welcomes Albanian offer to Hurriya residents

UNHCR chief welcomes Albanian offer of humanitarian admission for 200 residents of Camp Hurriya, Iraq

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, on Monday welcomed an offer by the Albanian Government to grant humanitarian admission for 210 residents from Camp Hurriya in Iraq to Albania.

The camp has seen a recent deterioration of the security situation of its residents, with a mortar attack on the camp on February 9th killing eight and wounding dozens, with subsequent threats made against the residents.

Guterres expressed gratitude to the Albanian government saying “This generous offer is a demonstration of international solidarity and burden sharing for a vulnerable population”. He strongly encouraged other”countries to follow Albania’s lead and offer solutions for the camp residents that enable them to relocate outside of Iraq”.

He said “The residents of Camp Hurriya urgently need solutions to relocate out of Iraq”. And he expressed the hope that they”welcome the offer and cooperate to ensure the departure of this important number of people”.

Camp Hurriya, also known as Camp Liberty, has over 3000 residents.

Donn Bobb, United Nations,Duration: 58″,.unmultimedia.org/radio/

To Listen to the audio file click here

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June 26, 2013 0 comment

UN envoy welcomes relocation of Iranian exiles

The top United Nations official in Iraq today[22 June 2013 ] welcomed the relocation to Albania of 27 residents from an exile camp near western Baghdad.

UN envoy welcomes relocation of dozens of Iranian exiles to Albania

“A total of 71 men and women now have safely arrived in Albania and have benefited from the Government of Albania’s offer to accept 210 of the Camp’s residents,” said the UN Special Representative for the Secretary-General and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Martin Kobler.

Some 3,000 residents, most of them members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran, are temporarily housed in a transit facility called Camp Liberty – also know as Camp Hurriya – while the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) carries out a process to determine their refugee status.

Mr. Kobler said in addition to Albania, Germany has offered to relocate some 100 residents. The departure of the group from Iraq is in accordance with the memorandum of understanding of 25 December 2011, which foresees the relocation of the residents to third countries.

“I once again thank both countries’ governments for their generosity and call on other Member States to receive residents as well,” the UN envoy said.

The relocation comes just days after two people were reportedly killed and dozens injured in a mortar attack to the camp.

“Last week’s tragic events have once again shown how important it is to relocate the residents to third countries as quickly as possible,” Mr. Kobler noted.

The camp had previously been attacked in February while most of the residents were sleeping. The attack resulted in six deaths and various injuries.

June 25, 2013 0 comment

Albania

US strongly supports Martin Kober’s efforts,

27 Camp Hurriya Residents Depart For Albania

Press Statement

Jen Psaki

Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

June 24, 2013

On June 19 and June 21, two groups of Camp Hurriya residents, 27 in total, were permanently relocated to Albania. This was the third of a series of movements planned under the terms of a generous humanitarian offer by the Government of Albania to accept 210 individuals from Camp Hurriya. The United States thanks Albania for its compassion in this humanitarian endeavor. So far, 71 individuals have relocated to Albania as part of this agreement, and we look forward to additional individuals relocating as soon as possible.

The United States strongly supports the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), and the tireless efforts of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General Martin Kobler to relocate remaining camp residents outside Iraq. We urge the Mujahedin-e Khalq leadership, and all responsible parties, to ensure full cooperation with the UNHCR relocation process so that future movements occur as expeditiously as possible.

The relocation of Camp Hurriya residents outside of Iraq is a humanitarian mission and vital to their safety and security. The United States renews its call on the Government of Iraq to help ensure the security of the camp in accordance with its December 25, 2011 Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations. This is a matter of extreme urgency given ongoing threats to the camp. We further renew our call on the Government of Iraq to investigate and bring to justice the terrorists responsible for the June 15 rocket attack against the camp.

June 25, 2013 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Exiled Iranian opposition group in Paris for talks

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exiled coalition of Iranian opposition groups, will hold a conference near Paris on Saturday, with international figures including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani expected to speak.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled coalition of Iranian opposition groups, was due to meet in the northern Paris suburb of Villepinte on Saturday for the 10th annual Conference for Democratic Change in Iran.

Major international figures including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and outspoken Republican politician Newt Gingrich were scheduled to speak at the event.

The NCRI, which includes such groups as the People’s Mujahideen of Iran, appeared on the US list of designated terrorist organisations until last year.

Once the vanguard of resistance to Iran’s shah, the movement has been in exile for three decades. While the NCRI presents itself as a legitimate opposition group, critics say it’s an out-of-touch expatriate lobbying organisation with a lot of money but with little relevance to Iran’s problems. It has also come under fire for having proved useful to the West in the past and for telling politicians what they want to hear.

In the days leading up to Saturday’s conference, event organisers draped T-shirts printed with the faces of Maryam Rajavi, head of the NCRI since 1993, and her husband Massoud, founder of the People’s Mujahideen of Iran, over chairs set up in a vast hangar in Villepinte.

"Iranians from all over the world will be here to support change in Iran, the overthrow of the regime … The resistance wants a pluralistic, secular state," NCRI spokesperson Afchine Alavi told FRANCE 24.

From terror group to opposition movement

During the 1970s, the Mujahideen led the fight against Iran’s shah but swiftly turned against the religious rulers who replaced him. A bloody struggle ensued, followed by decades in exile.

In 1986, Massoud set up the National Liberation army in Iraq. Money and weapons flooded in to support then-Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s US-backed struggle against Iran. But as the Iraqi dictator fell afoul of Washington, and the West’s relations with Tehran thawed, the Mujahideen found itself on the US and Europe’s list of terrorist organisations.

Maryam spent years making friends in high places, offering the West information on Iran’s nuclear programme. By 2012 the organisation was back in from the cold.

“A new era has begun… for the resistance in Iran and abroad,” Maryam Rajavi said.

But while the NCRI may be able put on a good show outside its homeland, many of the group’s detractors feel that the Rajavis and their followers have ceased to matter to the situation in Iran.

By Alexander TURNBULL / Christopher MOORE (video)

June 23, 2013 0 comment

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