Iran-Interlink

++ Saudi media outlet Iran International reported on a speech by Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, to academics and scientists. Eslami advised that Iran’s nuclear programme is important for developing talented young people in this and other fields. He also stressed that Iran plans to build two more reactors with Russian help in order to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Iran International added that the original nuclear programme started in 1950 with US help, but in 2002 the MEK ‘exposed’ secret facilities, including Natanz, which led to the 2015 JCPOA agreement to curb all Iran’s nuclear activities. The piece framed this as an economic setback for Iran without mentioning that the US has imposed extreme punishing sanctions on the country. Interestingly, the Saudi outlet “Iran International” referred to the MEK as ‘the opposition’, in a way that suggests they want to use the MEK but not be seen to support them. On the other hand, Iran International also ran a piece on Mohammad Marandi, who is acting as an unofficial PR interpreter for the JCPOA talks in Vienna. The piece is an attempt to cast doubt on Marandi’s past and present motives and legitimacy as a member of the establishment. Farsi commentators have said this looks more like hysteria over the possible success of the JCPOA talks.

++ The anniversary of the assassination of generals Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes in Iraq by the Trump administration has prompted speeches and commemoration ceremonies not only in Iran but in other countries. It was and remains an event which uniquely united the people of Iran against foreign interference and the malicious anti-Iran coalition which includes the MEK. Both Iranians and Iraqis have continued their claims for justice. In 2019 Maryam Rajavi said this: “From December 2017 to November 2019, and throughout the past year, it became crystal clear that the strategy of ‘uprising and overthrow’ devised by the commander of the Liberation Army is going to be victorious. And it will successfully lead all anti-regime fighting forces towards their great destination.” After Soleiman’s assassination Massoud Khodabandeh wrote that his death guaranteed that there will be no regime change in Tehran. Maryam Rajavi will need to re-visit her predictions in 2022.

++ Albanian journalist Gjergji Thanasi wrote in Gazeta Impakt that the US and its allies must control MEK crimes in Albania. The piece follows the arrest of two leading members of MEK on charges of human and drug trafficking. It appears that the US embassy intervened and arranged a media blackout of the arrests and the alleged crimes committed by MEK members. Thanasi gives an example of a MEK member now living illegally in Vienna. Thanasi asks as an Albanian journalist and patriot that the Americans keep the criminal activity of MEK under control and the members on a tight leash.

++ Iran Interlink commented on recent events which exposed Maryam Rajavi’s increasingly tenuous situation. Rajavi’s appearance in a church in Paris was promoted by MEK sites as a great example of her embrace by the west. In fact it reminded everyone that Maryam Rajavi has been expelled from the EU and her appearance was engineered, probably by Israel of its allies, to poke Iran in the eye. Thus revealing not only how desperate Rajavi is for publicity, but how empty the anti-Iran tool box is for the west. A second example of push back against the Rajavi regime came with the reappearance of the media article about the arrest of two leading MEK members. Iran Interlink concluded “it appears that this message has got through to the right people in the country. The EXIT article has been restored. Some honest, patriotic elements in the Albanian establishment have gained control and the MEK and its mafia collaborators are being pushed further and further back.”

Dec 31, 2021

++ To mark ‘Tree Planting Day’ in Albania, ASILA Association coordinated an activity in which several former MEK members got together with local people to plant trees. The event was warmly welcomed by the people.

++ Albanians have reacted to news that the US State Department Country Reports on Terrorism 2020: Albania, goes full out in support for the MEK “opposition group” against “Iran’s state-sponsored activity directed primarily” against the MEK, and that “On July 23 a suspected agent sponsored by Iranian authorities was declared ‘unwanted’ by the Government of Albania and subsequently expelled from the country”. Commentary points out that although in Albania, where members of the political class, judiciary, security services and media are openly for sale, this type of unfounded bias is to be expected, coming from the US the assessment has either been pushed by Israel or paid for by Saudi Arabia.

US Assessment Paid or Pushed

US Dept of State in its latest report on Albania defends the Iranian terrorist cult Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, an ex-terrorist cult which is involved in terrorism, drug and human trafficking, abductions. How can the @USStateDepartm1 expect to be taken seriously?https://t.co/KXfaL3sbdH

— Olsi Jazexhi (@OlsiJ) December 17, 2021

If the above declaration is true it means that @USEmbassyTirana is directly supporting Narges Abrishamchi & Hassan Nayeb-Agha who were caught by Albanian police trafficking drugs to Italy! @GiulioTerzi does #FreeIran mafia works with you in these smuggling operations?

— Olsi Jazexhi (@OlsiJ) December 8, 2021

++ Albanian journalist Gjergji Thanasi wrote about a romance between two former MEK members who recently married in Tirana. Thanasi says that love is a great antidote to the effects of cult membership. He likens the couple to Romeo and Juliet with Maryam Rajavi as the wicked enemy of love. But this time there is a happy ending. Thanasi reports that the Albanian police – immigration directorate – will be issuing ID cards to Iranian former MEK members who live in Albania in December. The ASILA Association, which protects the interests of these Iranians, has undertaken to help the couple with their rights.

In English:

++ Nejat Society reports that a book by Hanif Azizi, one of the evacuated children from Iraq, has been well received by Swedish readers. The book is reviewed on Good Reads where several people comment on it as ‘important’, ‘both tragic and inspiring’. Azizi was taken to Sweden as a child and was fortunate to have been placed with a non-Iranian, non-MEK foster family. This allowed him to develop as a normal citizen – although at one point in his youth he meets his mother in Iraq and is almost persuaded to join MEK. After returning to Sweden, he finds his direction and becomes a police officer. His book describes these experiences, which for the readers who review the book, is an ‘amazing story’.

++ Nejat Society comments on the MEK response to recent revelations by some of the evacuated children from Iraq, some of whom became child soldiers, and who, as adults, are beginning to speak out about their experiences. MEK typically denies their testimonies and says it is Iranian propaganda. However, in a Club House room with the topic ‘Accounts by former child soldiers of the MEK’, several of these former child soldiers met and revealed and confirmed accounts of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of MEK, including sexual abuse.

Dec 17, 2021

++ In Albania, Alice Taylor for Exit News reported the arrest of two senior MEK officials for drug trafficking, people smuggling and money laundering. While MEK experts and observers responded by saying it was about time the MEK’s crimes were exposed and the perpetrators brought to justice, a parallel scandal took place as the article was expunged from the site leaving an Error 404 notice. The article reported an official source stating that the pattern of criminality by the MEK dates back to 2015. Commentators pointed out that manipulation of the media also follows the same pattern. In 2017, after two visits to Tirana, some media interviews with Anne Khodabandeh, expert in Cultic Abuse, were removed as editors and proprietors were intimidated and bribed by the MEK. Similarly, reporting on the death of Malek Sharaii was also removed after the MEK intervened. False reporting labelled Iranian visitors as ‘terrorists’. The pattern of MEK mafia-like behaviour in Albania encompasses not only the media, but includes the police, security services, judiciary and politicians from all parties. This has become so prevalent and well-known that an article in Balkans Insight by Nahzi, from BIRN, concerning America’s complaints about high-level corruption in Albania, directly mentions the MEK presence in that country as an example.

++ Gazeta Impact, Albania, published an article highlighting the difficulties faced by MEK members who try to leave or have already left the cult. The piece focuses on the Danafar family of father and two sons who requested from the MEK leadership that they be allowed to live freely in Tirana rather than continue in the closed camp in Manez. This was not a defection, simply a change to their living arrangements. They were refused. One son attempted suicide. In hospital, he was guarded 24/7 by MEK minders. The article points out that under Albanian law, inciting suicide – for example through ill treatment – is a criminal offence, as is depriving a person of their liberty. The article’s authors call for state protection of these people from Maryam Rajavi and her lieutenants. Another case is mentioned, that of Farshad, a famous singer who escaped the MEK camp. He has since been subjected to extreme psychological pressure by an MEK commander. The authors appeal to the Albanian police to protect Farshad “thus avoiding any extraordinary event such as murder, suicide or even murder disguised as suicide”. After all, the state is responsible for protecting all Iranians sheltering in Albania.

++ Nejat Society draws our attention again to the plight of MEK children who were separated from their parents by the leadership. A translation of an interview of Hanif Azizi by Linda Eliasson in folkbladet.nu describes the lucky escape he made. Azizi, who is now a policeman in Sweden, describes how he was deceptively recruited by his biological mother and the brainwashed to join the MEK fighters in Iraq. When he returned to Sweden to say goodbye to his foster family, they were able to alert him to this deception. Waiting to renew his passport allowed him time to realise he was living his dream life and he returned to Swedish society, eventually joining the police.

++ Mehdi Khoshhal in Cologne, Germany has addressed an Open Letter to Olaf Sholz, the new Chancellor of Germany. Khoshhal says that the working class and immigrants have good expectations from Sholz based on his policies. This must include guarding against the continued activities of the MEK in Germany. Khoshhal gives a brief overview of the danger that the MEK poses because of its belief in violence and human rights abuse and points out that this propensity for violence does not only affect Iran but also Europe where self-immolations were ordered. He suggests that the office of Green Party Minister Annalena Baerbock could be used to leverage human rights policies that would target the MEK’s abuses.

December 12 2021

++ In Albania, the Iranian-Albanian aid association ASILA was legally registered in response to the issue of ID cards to non-Albanian residents. This was followed by news of several high-ranking individuals leaving MEK this week. On the surface the MEK have been silent, but news has emerged that behind the scenes they are vigorously trying to recruit lawyers and others to help. They are also trying to find ex-members who are vulnerable and need money, to counter this association.

In a Facebook post, Hassan Heyrani says: “We know clearly that they [ex-members] are being approached by MEK with large amounts of cash to get together with the lawyers and others to discredit our Association. We warn Maryam Rajavi that this is not Iraq, and your organisation MEK, which is legally non-existent in Albania, trying to work against a registered organisation for helping Iranians will not turn out well for you. We will take you to court and expose you.”

In reaction, Maryam Rajavi has found someone among the 348 Senators to hire a room in the French Senate for propaganda purposes. A few people are sent to attend and watch a link to Maryam Rajavi speaking from Albania where she was deported to. In English, French, Arabic, etc the MEK advertise that Maryam Rajavi sent a message to this group. On the face of it, the meeting is about the JCPOA talks and is anti-Raisi. But in reality, what she has done in Farsi is advertised it as though she is actually in the meeting in France. Since she doesn’t have an audience in Iran and her only Farsi audience is MEK members, the only conclusion we can draw is that she is reacting to the loss of members because of the ID cards and wants to show to the members that she can still travel to France. What we call in English a big fat lie!

++ Mehdi Khoshhal in Germany wrote an article titled ‘The Phase of Court Cases’. He explains that MEK started with an armed anti-imperialist phase because their political predecessors were not radical enough. After the Revolution they started the political phase. Then after falling out with the new Khomeini regime went into military phase followed by a terrorism phase. That collapsed so they were reduced to a ‘cutting the fingertips of the regime’ phase. They moved on to a phase of eliminating all opposition outside Iran to leave them the only opposition group in case of regime change. The phase of everyone going to Iraq and the National Liberation Army phase faded when they lost half the forces in the Eternal Light operation. They then entered yet another ‘Internal Revolution’ phase (about 3 or 4 had already passed); this one added divorce and giving up children, giving up individuality and dreams etc. Then they came back to the phase of political lobbying, involving McCain, Bolton, Giuliani, etc. Between this, of course, they had a phase of self-immolation in Paris. Now MEK has arrived at the phase of court cases. Specifically, against an Iranian diplomat in Belgium and another against a former official in Sweden – which because of MEK has been moved to Albania where the knackered old people with Zimmer fames try to go and explain why they were not executed back in Iran and have now ended up in Albania. Khoshhal concludes that none of these phases are about what they are stated to be – not about Iran or regime change or human rights. This Swedish court phase is not about justice. It is obvious to all who know the MEK it is all about Rajavi. “All through the years I have seen these phases, they have been to support Rajavi against the ex-members. That is the fight, no one else is involved. I write this to promise that this court case will end, and this phase will end, but Rajavi will use it against ex-members not against Iran. Then use it inside the camp to say, ‘if you leave you will end up like them’.”

In English:

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest Mojahedin Khalq MEK NCRI Rajavi cult++ Following on from the interview with a former MEK child soldier in Germany by Luisa Hommerich, Mazda Parsi of Nejat Society has written about the memories of Zahra Moini – former MEK member and former ‘babysitter’ for the children who arrived in Germany during the First Gulf War. The treatment of these vulnerable children that she describes is harrowing. The cynical and brutal exploitation of them for financial gain and free labour is shocking, but not new. Others have written similar detailed accounts. A huge number of children, particularly girls, became victims of the Rajavi Cult in different ways.

++ Habilian Association in Iran has re-published some reporting from Germany about the MEK as a terrorist entity. One is titled ‘Rajavi’s Red Army’. Habilian writes: “Despite the publication of numerous reports by various intelligence services in Germany, why this intelligence nucleus is still present and active in this country still remains to be seen. After the disbanding of the Red Army Faction terrorist group, which had brought insecurity and violence for Germans for about two decades, the question is, what the Rajavi terrorist and leftist cult is doing in Germany? Terrorists are a time bomb wherever they are.”

Nov 26, 2021

++ A play called Baba Adam has been staged by the City Theatre in Tehran. The play charts the journey of the father from Iran to Iraq in search of his long-lost son who is a member of the MEK. On arriving at Camp Ashraf, instead of letting him know that his son is alive or not, fanatics of the MEK throw stones at him and break his head. Ebrahim Khodabandeh who was consulted by the writers as they created the work, attended the first performance and thanked the writers. The play was well received by Tehran theatre goers.

++ Rahman Mohammadian in Albania wrote that for the last four decades Massoud and Maryam have been telling us that all their critics are agents of the regime. The actual intelligence ministry of Iran has answered that in order to be legitimate, the members should be allowed to criticise the regime 80% and MEK 20%. Mohammadian argues that “this means Iran is more tolerant than you. At least allow your critics to do that. This could not be in favour of the regime.” But, asks Mohammadian, “would you allow 99% criticism of the regime and 1% criticism of MEK, or even just one question about you. You can’t tolerate even that. Why?”

In English:

++ Kourosh Ziabari writes in Asia Times, ‘Well-Funded Exile Regime-Change Outfits Are Hardly Paragons of Virtue’. He asks are “these kaleidoscopic opposition groups the ‘saviors’ that will cultivate democracy in Iran and put national interest above anything else when they rule the roost, including ideological dogmas, ethnic divisions and partisan interests? The answer is a clear, if not resounding, “no.” Among the groups he covers, MEK is prominent. Ziabari charts the MEK’s murky behaviours and activities – from collusion with Saddam Hussein to arguing for severe sanctions against Iran – as well as questioning its internal workings so that “it is so cryptic in its workings and so unethical in its conduct that the majority of Iranians reckon it to be a shadowy cult, leaving it with little to zero credibility among the populace it professes to be fighting for.” He offers us the example of his own treatment by the MEK after publishing a critical article. “ As soon as the story went viral, hundreds of Twitter accounts began slandering me – posting identically worded tweets – as an apologist of the Islamic Republic, and some of them went so far as to claim that I was a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps!” As for the credibility of the opposition groups he concludes that the “alternative to a bad situation is not a parlous one.”

++ Jack Turner interviewed Robert Fantina, journalist and political analyst, about the MEK for Geopolitica. Concerning recent court cases against Iranian officials – in Belgium and the Swedish court case which has now moved to Albania – Fantina says it highlights double standards that western criminals such as the assassins of Soleimani are not prosecuted by the International Criminal Court and yet Iranian officials are being brought to trial in other countries.

“The MEK is a terrorist organization that seeks the overthrow of the legitimate government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Their terrorist activities – the killing of innocent people – are well-known. Yet they receive support from some western nations, most notably the United States, because that nation’s government harbors an irrational hatred of Iran, and will support any organization, even a terrorist one, that opposes it.”
“The leaders of the MEK should be charged in the International Criminal Court with the many crimes they have committed.”

++ The MEK proudly advertised that UK MP Bob Blackman attended their ‘Free Iran’ rally in London this week. Blackman made an intervention in a parliamentary debate on the government’s treatment of asylum seekers crossing the channel in small boats. Blackman offered the example set by the Albanian government “who moved, satisfactorily, Camp Liberty from Iran into Camp Ashraf?” Iran? The MEK pays these people, yet they can’t even do their homework and get their facts right.

Nov 26 2021

++ The MEK is on overdrive to claim victory in the Swedish court case. This does not mean that the court has issued a verdict, we are months if not years away from that. No, they say that they are now the only witnesses in the court case. Indeed this is true, because Mesdaghi and his gang, who originally brought the case, have now disappeared. Whoever is paying for this court case has decided to support the MEK rather than both. As they say in Farsi – two Darvish can sleep on one rug, but two kings cannot live in one kingdom. Commentators say that ‘at least Mesdaghi has kept his dignity!’

++ More on the Swedish court in Albania. Commentators ask why the court has gone to Albania to take witness testimony? Why didn’t they send the witnesses to Sweden? Some say that it is clear: if they get to Sweden they will run away and claim asylum there. Many know these people from MEK. They explain: they have been killing and begging, but they have done so as Gladiators, forced to do this by Rajavi. If they have the chance, they will not go back to Albania. Maryam Rajavi has to keep them captive there. Others comment that even though the judge could arrange visas for them to travel to Sweden, he knows they are fine to be used in Albania, but like dogs, should be kept in a kennel at the end of the garden. For the same reason, they don’t allow Maryam Rajavi out of Albania to visit the US, EU or UK. They will use her but not bring her inside the house.

++ Other commentators go into detail about the witnesses in the Swedish court case. One such witness is Mahnaz Meimanat, head of Maryam Rajavi’s office and a commander in Saddam’s Private Army. The MEK have published her mother’s picture as though she has been executed by Iran. But in the MEK’s Farsi archives, we discover that MEK have published a memoir about her as the oldest woman who was martyred in the failed Forough Javidan (Eternal Light) operation in 1988. In this sense it was Rajavi who killed this old woman, since she had no idea about war or fighting, and was actually taking watermelons to the front line for refreshment when she was killed. Some commentators say that there were many people like her, young kids and others brought to Iraq from abroad who were sent to get killed in Forough and later had their names published by MEK as though they had been executed. Any decent court would prosecute Rajavi for killing them rather than blaming Iran. Commentators say it is a ridiculous court in which the judge accepts testimony from people with these pasts: people who have never worked a day in their lives, or paid taxes, people who have killed, and proved daily that they go into the streets and lie to beg for money to give to Rajavi [Iran Aid charity collections], people who have had their suicide operative pledge published. The conclusion of all these ridiculous things is that this is not a court about justice, this is a reflection of the anger felt by Mossad and the US against Iranians. They want to punish the Iranian people for voting for Raisi. In fact, this court case is all about Raisi. This aligns with all the other issues that have arisen since his election. Suddenly Pence and Pompeo coming out in support of MEK for example. The anger is that not only was he elected, but that he might actually come to a deal in Vienna over the JCPOA. The Neocons and Israel and Saudis have reacted and want to derail this.

++ Abdul Karim Ebrahimi has published a lengthy piece about his own and others’ memories which they have published about how Massoud and Maryam Rajavi forced them to commit and live with horrible activities while in the MEK. For example, one woman who has escaped MEK tells how the MEK used her mother – who was executed – to kill people. She says ‘I knew my mother was not a murderer and that MEK made her do this. I was brought up with them and had nowhere else to go. They used to say my Mum was executed as a human rights activist but in fact her crime was that she had killed Iranian people My Dad was a torturer in Rajavi and Saddam’s prisons. I was brought up in this environment and had to live with these things. I was even sent to Forough Javidan as a child and had no say in this. If these are not crimes against humanity and war crimes then what is, and why are they [MEK] not in court?’ Ebrahimi concludes that Raisi’s election really hurt the anti-Iran coalition. Their Farsi outlets have been vigorously against Raisi since his election. Some commentators add that while we understand the Israeli ‘Manoto’ and Saudi ‘Iran International’ outlets are really hurt by the election in Iran, we don’t understand why VOA – which is paid for by the State Department under the Biden administration – is also on overdrive promoting the MEK in the hope Raisi’s government will stop talking and abandon the JCPOA. Whoever is in charge in the US, they conclude, it is not Joe Biden.

In English:

++ Nejat Society published the second part of its series Nine Women Under the Rule of Massoud Rajavi. In this part, Maryam Sanjabi who escaped the MEK’s notorious base, Camp Ashraf, in Iraq in 2011, recounts the stories of five more of these women under the abusive ruling of the MEK authorities.

++ Anne Khodabandeh wrote ‘Maryam Rajavi Enemy of Diplomacy’ to highlight Rajavi’s real agenda among all the anti-Iranian activities and propaganda. “There is only one reason why the MEK, through disinformation, character assassination and false accusations, would need to totally reject any move toward increasing diplomatic relations with Iran. That is because the very existence of this group depends on conflict, violence and enmity. Unfortunately for Maryam Rajavi, the world has moved on without her.”

++ Nejat Society reports on a petition signed by 1,700 families of the MEK members held captive in the MEK camp in Albania. The petition is addressed to Karim A A Khan QC, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It calls on the ICC to prosecute the leaders of the MEK who “continue to criminalize their followers and violate their most basic rights on European soil. And to rule for the rescue of hundreds of captives who are currently held incommunicado in the Rajavi Cult’s closed, isolated and remote camp in Albania.”

++ Press TV reports: “A senior official of Iran’s Judiciary has slammed Western countries for adopting a “selective” approach to human rights by allowing the anti-Iran Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist organization to hold “ridiculous” meetings on the issue.
“Kazem Gharibabadi, the Iranian Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs and secretary of the country’s High Council for Human Rights, made the remarks on Saturday, two days after the MKO ringleader delivered an online address to an Italian Senate panel.
“Gharibabadi strongly condemned the session, calling on the Italian government and Senate to end their “dual and destructive policies” towards terrorism and human rights.”

++ Mehr News reported that the “Secretary of Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council Kazem Gharibabadi has lambasted the European countries for supporting the MKO as well as siding with the US sanctions against Tehran while claiming to be HR defenders… in an apparent reference to gatherings in European countries and the United States organized by the MKO terrorist organization which are usually attended by the hawkish US politicians, Gharibabadi lambasted the Western countries for their double standards regarding human rights. He pointed out that while the Western governments sponsor the atrocities committed by the MKO Iranian innocent Iranians, they make claims on the human rights situation in Iran.”

Nov 12, 2021

++ Mohammad Karami in Paris, former MEK member and human rights campaigner, published an article focusing on several MEK witnesses in the Swedish court case. Karami points out that these witnesses have claimed various things under oath. He then introduces them with photos and documents, as having worked for Saddam Hussein, carried out terrorist acts inside Iran and sworn pledges of unconditional total devotion to Rajavi while renouncing their own ‘self’. The documents are taken from the MEK themselves. Karami concludes, ‘if this does not prove that this court case is ridiculous, what will?’ On same subject, Hamed Sarafpour, an ex-member who writes analytical articles about the MEK, has written a piece on the court case. He begins by questioning, what is the reason they have watered down other witnesses like Mesdaghi and made the MEK witnesses so important. At first glance it could be said that because there are more of them this has been done to annoy Iran. Then as they move the witness list to Albania, and we look deeper, it becomes clear that it’s not about the case, it’s about rescuing Maryam Rajavi since the MEK cult is rapidly declining. Sarafpour points out that these witnesses never had a job, never paid a penny in tax, all have pledged lifelong, unconditional devotion to the leader and every one of them have been lying and deceiving for years. The Swedish case is being pursued to rescue Maryam Rajavi. But the problem is that by doing this, they have destroyed the credibility of the case. In the end, Iran is the winner. The losers are those who might have had a genuine grievance. They will never be able to get justice after this. Whoever pushed this behind the scenes has done a service to Iran in the long term and a disservice to those who actually had a case.

++ This week there was a cyber-attack on petrol stations in Iran which disrupted supplies for around half a day. For the next week the MEK claimed it as a victory as though they had done it. Some people comment that even if they haven’t done it, they should be given the credit because ‘if they could have, they would have’. This is the kind of people they are. The name of the attackers matches what they are: the killer sparrows.

++ Mehdi Khoshhal wrote about MEK acolyte Parviz Khazai in Norway. For the last three decades Khazai has said whatever the MEK ask him to with the pitch: ‘In Norway during the Second World war they executed traitors. So, therefore the MEK should execute the ex-members as traitors’. He gets paid to write this every time. Khoshhal has commented about Khazai himself. Before the 1979 Revolution, he was working in the Scandinavian embassy for the Shah. After the Revolution he stayed at the embassy and convinced the new government he would work for them. However, because he is a corrupt person, they wanted to dismiss him. This corruption included selling blank passports. When he was pushed out he took a lot of passports and documents from the embassy with him and took them to Rajavi, asking ‘how much?’ Rajavi appointed him his representative in Scandinavia. Khoshhal makes a second point: the ex MEK members that he is talking about executing are those who joined the MEK when the life expectancy for an MEK activist was around six months. They joined wanting nothing and giving everything. ‘Do you think’ asks Khoshhal, ‘that they are worried about execution?!’

++ In Albania, in the total silence of Rajavi and all the MEK sites and YouTube and Twitter etc, Ehsan Bidi has gone back to normal life. This week he celebrated his birthday with his friends – the former members. In a short interview he said, “I could not have resisted if it wasn’t for support of the families and these friends. I had the idea that this is not about me, it was about rescuing everybody.”

In Germany, Zeit Magazin published an interview by Lusia Hommerich with Amin Golmaryami, a former MEK child soldier. Golmaryami was a child of MEK parents who fled to Iraq after the Revolution. He was smuggled into Germany along with at least 40 other children in the early 1990s as Massoud Rajavi separated families to gain greater control over the cult members. Golmaryami had his brothers were exploited for social security fraud in Germany before being deceived into travelling to Iraq. Once in Iraq he was trapped and unable to leave until the MEK was transferred to Albania in 2013 and he could finally make his way back to Germany. In the interview, which spanned five meetings, Hommerich skilfully teases out the heartbreaking details of Golmaryami’s life under MEK control and his struggle to recover and pursue a normal, fulfilled life with his partner and new baby.

In English:

++ Massoud Khodabandeh wrote a piece on the MEK’s celebration of Maryam Rajavi’s three-decade long stint as ‘president-elect’, pointing out the irony that not a single election has been held sine to affirm or reject her in this role. Khodabandeh explains the way and the reason why this role was constructed by Massoud Rajavi in the early 1990s. The aim, for Massoud Rajavi, was to regain political support lost when he remained under Saddam’s protection during the First Gulf war. According to Khodabandeh, Maryam did not have the intelligence or political capabilities to undertake this work and instead tried to push her ‘feminist’ agenda among western women. Her main focus was on recruiting Iranian refugees to swell her audience. Essentially, Maryam Rajavi has based her career on performance and shows, with nothing concrete to show for her efforts or the vast sums of money spent.

++ Tasnim News in Iran reported on the use of terrorists as witnesses as Iran rejects the UN Human Rights Rapporteur’s report on Iran. “Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Zahra Ershadi delivered a speech to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly focusing on “item 74: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” During her speech, Ershadi said, “We regret that one of the main sources of the Special Rapporteur continues to be the same terrorist groups which have long been laundered by their supporters and portrayed as opposition and so-called human rights defenders. Making use of unofficial, biased vague sources coming from sworn enemies, and taking a selective approach towards human rights achievements in the Islamic Republic of Iran put a serious question mark over the validity and reliability of such a report. It is repugnant to glorify terrorists whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent citizens.”

++ Several outlets reported on Mike Pence’s collaboration with the MEK. Daniel Larison, writing in the Anti War Blog, said “The willingness of so many prominent politicians and ex-officials to embrace such a group reflects how warped and toxic the debate over Iran policy is in this country.” He adds, “Any former official or retired officer that throws in with the MEK proves beyond any doubt that he hates the Iranian people and wants to cause them harm. In Pence’s case, we already knew that from the policies he supported in Congress and as Vice President, but it is useful to have it confirmed.”

++ Nejat Society in Iran has published Part One of a series of stories about nine women under the rule of Massoud Rajavi. Maryam Sanjabi, herself a former MEK member, writes about nine specific women who escaped the cult after it was relocated to Albania. She says, ‘the stories of some of these women were more complicated. The first part features the stories of four of these women.

Nov 05, 2021

++ Former MEK member Ehsan Bidi, who had been detained without charge for two years at the behest of the MEK working with corrupt officials, was finally released this week. The MEK did not acknowledge this whatsoever. It simply shows that the MEK has been defeated by one man, with no support, in a country like Albania which is a stronghold for the US, Saudi, Israel anti-Iran coalition. Among many reactions to this, some ex-members wrote: ‘This is what they do to us in Albania, and that’s why they don’t allow our families to come. They have this hold over us that we have no support.’ One wrote: ‘After 30 years working for them. I had to choose between being an informer for the MEK among the ex-members or run away and hide. I chose to run away and had to live for weeks in a cave’. Many have written that the release of Bidi after two years, alongside the issue of ID cards to MEK members represents a huge blow to Maryam Rajavi. Although she is keeping face, she is really shivering because this shows that her backers are not that interested anymore. She has already been deported from the EU and has nowhere else to go. There are only two outcomes: she will either rot in Albania or vanish like her husband did. Either way, this is the end of the MEK.

++ The MEK have gone fully overboard in trying to get their name associated with David Amess MP following his murder in the UK last week. In Albania, Maryam Rajavi has hailed him as a martyr for freedom in an inappropriately gaudy, crass ceremony in their camp. The question for many is ‘why?’ Amess was only a lobbyist for the MEK, just doing his job and being paid for it. Some point out that with the amount of money they spent on him, the MEK want to get their money’s worth. Others say that Maryam Rajavi lost him at a bad time. They don’t have any major lobbyists left – Bolton, Giuliani and etc have gone. Others point out that this has been an opportunity for Maryam Rajavi to remind the members that they do have some support; an MP in the UK. Rajavi is very much afraid of losing the members even though they are stuck in Albania. In the last week 3 members have left. Political analysts say that David Jones MP – who has already replaced Amess – was second in command in the lobby group in parliament. He replaced Amess just as Amess replaced Robin Corbett when he died. The problem for Rajavi is that when they are moved up, they expect more money. So, it is a loss for her. From a different perspective, some of the MEK families have issued a warning and asked for intervention. They write that because there is a shortage of lobbyists for the MEK, it is clear they will try to bamboozle Amess’ family – his wife and children – to misuse them for propaganda purposes in Albania. As ordinary people they won’t understand the danger the MEK represents to them. Amess was a politician and knew who he was dealing with. He wasn’t prepared to join them on any ideological level and give up his family. But are his family so aware. The British services need to intervene to protect his family from this cult.

In English:

++ Phil Simmons wrote a piece for Human Lives Human Rights titled ‘Women Inside MEK Cult’. The piece charts as background the history of the MEK up to its expulsion from Iraq to Albania. Here, writes the author, the group’s treatment of women has come under scrutiny. Behind Maryam Rajavi’s many glamorous public appearances, the women members are reputedly subject to many human rights abuses, including forced marriage and separation from their children. Simmons says many allegations against the MEK ‘are to be taken with a grain of salt’ as the sources are from Iranian media. However, there are still legitimate concerns: questions over female members’ access to medical care and personal hygiene products, and forced intimate relations with multiple partners. Questions also remain about the advanced age of the female members and the likelihood that they could be replaced by younger female Afghan recruits. Simmons concludes that by not allowing human rights organisations to investigate such question, the MEK has allowed, by default, Iran’s media to tarnish the group’s image by publishing unsubstantiated reports.

++ Press TV reported that a senior official of Iran’s Judiciary has asked Iraq to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators in the assassination of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. In a meeting with Iraqi Justice Minister Salar Abdul Sattar Muhammad in Tehran on Tuesday, Kazem Gharibabadi, the secretary general of Iran’s Human Rights Office, said the two countries firmly pursue the assassination case. The activities of the MEK were also discussed as the two countries pledged to cooperate over human rights investigations.

Oct 22, 2021

++ In the run up to the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow at the end of October, former MEP and MEK advocate Struan Stevenson has been busy publishing his demand that Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi be arrested on arrival in Scotland. Now Stevenson is claiming that he has actually stopped Raisi from attending the Conference for fear of arrest. This remarkable achievement started with spreading stories from ‘sources from inside Iran’ saying that Raisi had been invited to the Conference. This information was not published anywhere in public in Iran and it is unlikely that Stevenson has access to the offices of the president of Iran, so how he could know about this invitation is anyone’s guess. After dropping this information into their publications, the MEK and Stevenson threaded together a narrative which focused on alleged crimes committed by Raisi as a judge thirty years ago, and the demand for his arrest. According to Stevenson, this has frightened Raisi so much that he has refused to come. This prompted ridicule on Farsi social media. The man who used to work for Saddam Hussein and the MEK has come to the low point that he is farting and laughing at it himself.

++ In Albania, journalist Gjergji Thanasi has written about the family of Hassan Heyrani in Iran. His parents have applied for visas to Albania so they can see the son they have not met with for 25 years. They explain how the MEK prevented Hassan from contacting them. But now he is living freely they should be able to visit. The MEK are trying behind the scenes with the corrupt Albanian government officials to prevent them getting visas. Thanasi is adamant that he will do all he can to make sure they are able to visit.

++ A spokesman for the judiciary in Iran has talked about the court case involving former members of the MEK demanding compensation from the leaders for their suffering. The spokesman announced that the fine and compensation amount has been issued. The verdict has now been passed by the foreign office to the countries that support and harbour this group, requesting that they hand over the guilty people and ensure they pay the money.

++ In Albania, the issuing of ID cards to all non-Albanians has started. Officials have entered the camp and one by one are taking fingerprints and identity details from each resident. The MEK and its backers are desperate to stop this, but it seems they can’t do much as this is a blanket issue covering everyone who is a foreign national in the country. If Albania wants to join the EU they have to go ahead with this. What the MEK is really afraid of is not the former members getting ID cards, but the issue of ID cards to current members. Once they have this documentation half the members will leave.

++ This week and last week, Iran was shining in wrestling, football and other sports. The MEK completely ignored the existence of sport in Iran this week. Some commentators reacted saying that Maryam Rajavi sent congratulations to the football teams of Iraq, Brazil and elsewhere but totally ignored Iran. This, they say, reminds us that they and other anti-Iran agents have been lobbying for sanctions on Iranian sports, which has failed.

In English:

++ Anne Khodabandeh wrote how the MEK has evolved ‘From Fanatical Terrorists to Fanatical Followers’. According to Khodabandeh, the MEK is fading into obscurity. It’s place – causing trouble between the US and Iran – is disappearing since the new Iranian president prefers to look East in pursuit of Iran’s national interests. The MEK is not mentioned in current discourse on Iran and Iranian issues, including the Swedish court case. Even though this is essentially an MEK event, both Struan Stevenson and Iran International fail to mention the group in their public stances. Ironically, as Iran has emerged victorious in several sporting fields in recent weeks, Maryam Rajavi herself cannot speak about Iran. Khodabandeh identified Rajavi’s move to shift control of the MEK to her daughter and niece as evidence that she is prepared to use their status as French citizens to take control of the vast personal wealth she inherited from her husband Massoud from Paris. She cannot travel to Auvers-sur-Oise, but her daughter and niece can. Without a meaningful role, the remaining members in Albania will become more and more a burden to the MEK’s backers. Neglect will mean the MEK will fade to become a cult of fanatical followers without a struggle.

October 16 2021