Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Articles& news about PMOI/MEK-Tehran’s online propaganda against the Iranian opposition backfires


MEP Delegation to Ashraf 3 Uncovers Iran Regime Lies

A high-level delegation of members of the European Parliament, including two members of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and the deputy head of the Security and Defense Committee, have just returned from a three-day-visit to Ashraf 3 – the new headquarters for Iranian Resistance group People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Albania.
This momentous visit, which came at the same time that 150 MEPs from all political factions and groups sign a petition condemning human rights abuse in Iran, showed the delegates the huge transformation of the site in just the past year.
Since the MEK moved from the accommodation arranged by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees into accommodation that they purchased for themselves, they have constructed a small city that now features shops, doctors’ offices, sports facilities, offices, restaurants, bakeries, housing blocks, meeting halls, and studios.


The Guardian Demonises Iran’s Democratic Opposition to the Benefit of the Ruling Regime

By Firouz Mahvi
The British newspaper The Guardian published a lengthy, 3-page article targeting Iran’s democratic opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK). Author Arron Merat, an Iranian-British citizen and well-known apologist of the Islamic Republic, has worked extensively to attack the opposition, and penned numerous articles encouraging tourism in Iran as “a must visit destination.”
The Guardian piece is a collection of baseless allegations, invented and disseminated by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, and lacks the minimum standards of a fair, objective article. It is but another attempt to demonise the only organized and serious opposition to the mullahs.


Clear Fabrication by the Clerical Regime's Mercenaries in Albania and the Channel 4 of England

he Security and Anti-Terrorism Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran disclosed in details in its statements of August 16, September 2 and September 19, 2018, that the dirty plans and campaigns of the clerical regime's agents and mercenaries around the Mojahedin’s residence in Albania under the cover of British Channel 4 reporters and Al-Jazeera (English) were completely done "on the orders" of the mullahs regime.

MEPs issue statement about the situation of Iranian dissidents in Albania

20, 2018 - Ten senior members of the European Parliament have issued a statement covering the Iranian regime’s terrorist plots and demonizing campaign targeting the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), especially their members in Albania.
This statement calls on the European Union to blacklist the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for its undeniable role in Tehran’s terrorism. According to an EU statement issued back in April 1997, “’visas [should] not be granted to Iranians with intelligence and security functions’ and ‘Iranian intelligence personnel from European Union Member States should be expelled.’”
The Iranian regime’s agents, active mainly under the disguise of reporters, are considered a general threats for the PMOI/MEK in Albania. The most urgent step necessary to protect these “refugees” is for the Albanian government to expel these intelligence agents of Tehran’s regime. Experience shows the security of the host country is jeopordized when Iranian regime spies and operatives are tolerated.

Iran and its popular alternative
Iran stands at the threshold of another revolution. Following decades of unrests, protests and major revolts in July 1999 and the 2009 uprising, we are now witnessing the continuation of an uprising that began in late December 2017, quickly spread across the country and continues in various shapes and forms today.
Looking at the big picture, in one side we see a religious dictatorship squandering Iran’s vast national wealth, coupled with ruthless suppression and executions. While on the other side are the Iranian people and their resistance movement. Evident is the regime’s powerful crackdown machine is shrinking and weakening as the mullahs sink further into a growing crisis.
Let us see what regime insiders say about all this.


Khamenei envoy in IRGC: PMOI/MEK behind unrest in Iran
Fearing the link between the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and increasing popular protests across the country, the representative of Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently said, “[PMOI/MEK] have the pulse of this unrest.”
A state-run outlet referred to Abolghasem Alizadeh’s remarks and wrote:

Iran regime website: PMOI/MEK have de facto potential for regime change
Considering the fact that the Iranian regime is facing the imminent threat of being overthrown, state officials and media simply cannot refrain from expressing their concerns in this regard.
Terms such as “mistrust,” “pessimistic” and “hopelessness” are used, along with warnings about the unknown road ahead.
On September 14th, without referring to a specific enemy, Saeedi, Friday prayer imam in the city of Qom, said this enemy’s main objective is to “create anxiety among the people” and “leave the public facing an impasse regarding their problems and make them lose hope in the heads of the three branches and various entities… this is very dangerous.”

Last month, internet behemoths including Facebook, Twitter, and Google Alphabet shut down several hundred fake accounts that belonged to the Iranian regime and its Ministry of Intelligence.
Following a report by cybersecurity company FireEye, the companies revealed how the Iranian regime and its broadcasting organization (formally called the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting IRIB), spread the fake news through fraudulent websites and social media accounts.
Shutting down part of Iran’s fake news network was a significant blow to the Iranian regime’s propaganda network.

Iran regime’s FM and Ambassador to London De facto confessions:
Al-Jazeera English and Channel 4 programs against the PMOI were planned by the regime

After a dirty campaign for several weeks against the PMOI by agents and mercenaries of the clerical regime operating under the guise of reporters from Britain’s Channel 4 and Al-Jazeera English, the regime’s Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, and the regime's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hamid Baeidinejad, unveiled that the threatening tactics around the residence of the People’s Mojahedin in Albania (disclosed in the statements of the NCRI Security Committee on August 16 and September 2) and the smear campaigns of Channel 4 (September 6) and Al-Jazeera English (September 16) were "ordered" by the mullahs’ regime. Their remarks are further proof that the lies propagated in these programs were a vengeful repetition of the mullahs' claims against the Iranian Resistance and meant to divert attention from the regime's cybercrimes and the closure of its fraudulent social media accounts. In 2002 and 2003, this very regime claimed through hired mercenaries and journalists that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were hidden in the PMOI’s headquarters. The goal then was to divert attention from the Iranian Resistance’s revelations about the regime's clandestine nuclear facilities.
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Is Britain’s Channel 4 Working With Iran to Demonise Opposition?
Terrorism 

London, 22 August - A trio who claim association with Britain’s Channel 4 are working with Iran to demonise the Iranian Resistance in Albania.
On Friday, August 10, a television crew set up outside the Albanian headquarters of Iranian Resistance group, the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and began to secretly film the compound, despite not having received permission or having informed the MEK of this action.
When security guards at the complex approached the three-person film crew, noting that they were acting suspiciously, the group said that they were working for Britain’s Channel 4 television. Security guards demanded that the alleged reporters stop recording and hand over the footage, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). When the trio refused, the guards called the police.



IRAN LOBBY TERRIFIED OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN (NCRI)

We know that the Iran lobby is terrified of the Iranian Resistance. We can see this in their constant attempts to slander dissidents through any means necessary in order to keep the Iranian Regime in power. But the reason why may surprise those who only hear about Iran through cable news.
Simply, the Iranian Resistance is unique among forces that seek to remove dictatorships from power. It not only advocates for regime change, but also represent the viable alternative to the mullahs.
Most revolutions fail because there is no stable government in place to take over, leading to chaos. The Iranian Resistance has formed a government-in-exile made up of several dissident groups (collectively known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran or NCRI) and it has working relationships with many of the world’s governments.


PMOI Debunks Baseless Allegations and Lies by Jason Rezaian

Jason RezaianJason Rezaian, parroting the Iranian state-run media, rehashed a litany of lies, and baseless allegations against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in his blog in the Washington Post on March 24.Rezaian for long had been a staunch advocate of one of the factions within the religious fascism ruling Iran, which the regimes portrays as “moderate”. Following the nationwide uprising when people chanted slogans such as “reformists, hardliners, the game is now over”, he is no longer in a position to openly advocate the non-existing moderate within the regime. Thus, by attacking democratic opposition and denying that there is a viable opposition, he is desperately trying to suggest there is no alternative to the mullahs. In his article Rezaian manifested his anxiety that the era of appeasing the clerical regime is over.


THE IRANIAN REGIME'S EFFORTS TO DISCREDIT THE MEK IN IRAN
by Poorang Novak

INU - In earlier articles, we’ve talked about the Iranian Regime’s constant efforts to attack and discredit the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) to the international community through campaigns of disinformation, in which they utilise attack websites, disinformation agents, and the pro-Regime lobby to spread lies about the MEK.

But what of their attempts to discredit the MEK within Iran?
Well, it starts surprisingly early, spreads through much of daily life, and doesn’t work at all. Let’s look at it in more detail.

HOW POPULAR IS THE MEK IN IRAN?
by Mahmood Hakamian 
One of the most common reasons given for dismissing the Iranian Resistance, specifically the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), is that it is unpopular within Iran. This is simply untrue.The MEK is the largest and most popular people’s resistance movement within Iran and it enjoys support from all sectors of the population. The Mullahs’ Regime, on the other hand, is highly unpopular among the Iranian people as evidenced by the hundreds of protests per day in 2017, which was admitted to by the Regime and finally by the recent nationwide protests and uprising in which the Iranian people clearly expressed their desire for regime change as 


The MEK's Religious Beliefs

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) is a political group dedicated to bringing freedom and democracy to Iran.
They derive their political beliefs from a modern and tolerant version of Islam that is fully compatible with modern society – the exact opposite of the ruling mullahs’ Sharia Law, which is intolerant, extremist, genocidal, non-democratic, and misogynist – and the MEK believe that their interpretation is the true meaning of Islam.
In 1982, MEK leader Massoud Rajavi, said: “The Islam we want is nationalistic, democratic, progressive, and not opposed to science or civilization. We believe there is no contradiction between modern science and true Islam, and we believe that in Islam there must be no compulsion or dictatorship.”
This combination of tolerant religion and politics means that the MEK enjoys broad public support amongst the Iranian people and people all over the world, but it is also why the mullahs fear the MEK.
Today, we will look at some of those beliefs in more detail and explore why the MEK believe that Islam that the Quran, the Prophet Mohammad, and other religious leaders espouse the ideological principles of freedom, gender, ethnic and religious equality, human rights, and peace.

Maryam Rajavi

DEBUNKING THE IRAN REGIME'S LIES ABOUT THE MEK: NO, THE MEK AREN’T MARXIST

by Poorang Novak

It is no secret that the Iranian Regime (both Mullah and Shah) have used disinformation campaigns to attack and discredit the Iranian Resistance group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
One of those disinformation campaigns is the ‘Islamist Marxist’ label that the Shah’s Secret Police (SAVAK) originally used to disparage the MEK in order to undermine its support among the devout Iranian people because the Shah was scared of the MEK’s potential to mobilise Iranians- particularly the youth- against the monarchy. The Shah and SAVAK also used it to disparage other political opponents of the monarchy.
Why? Because of the public perception of the word in Iran as being synonymous with atheism, materialism, and Westernism.
Newspaper reports didn’t help clear up the matter because all opponents of the monarchy (and there were many) would be placed in the same paragraph, meaning that the MEK would be listed in the same paragraphs as the Communist Party and the Marxist People’s Fedayeen, which may have given the false impression that their policies were similar.
Maryam Rajavi
What You Should Know About Iranian Resistance Leader Maryam Rajavi
Maryam Rajavi is the leader of the combined Iranian Resistance forces, which fight for freedom and democracy in Iran.

She is president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a broad coalition of resistance groups, with has the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as its largest member, which serves as the government in exile for Iran.
Maryam Rajavi first joined the MEK in the early 1970s- not long after its founding- when they were fighting against the brutal regime of the Shah. Her family were also involved in the struggle against the Shah; her brother Mahmoud was also a member of the MEK and was held as a political prisoner during the Shah’s reign, while her sister Narges was tragically murdered by the Shah’s secret police (known as SAVAK) in 1975.
Still, her family fought on to attain freedom for all Iranians.
Shortly after joining the MEK, Maryam Rajavi became an official in its student movement (1973-79) before moving on to its social department (1979-81) following the Iranian Revolution. In 1980, she ran for Parliament in Tehran and received 250,000 votes, but the ruling mullahs banned anyone associated with the MEK from entering Parliament.

Maryam Rajavi

The MEK and Its Popularity in Iran
London, 25 Jan - One persistent myth about the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) is that it is unpopular amongst the Iranian people, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The MEK is the oldest, biggest, and most popular resistance movement in Iran, but it should also go without saying that it far outstrips the Regime’s popularity among the Iranian people.
It is impossible to get precise numbers on support for the MEK within Iran, as Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini declared them to be enemies of the Regime in 1980 and criminalised the pro-democracy movement soon after, but their signs can be seen during every election and at every protest.
One of the best ways to measure support for the MEK may actually be through their television channel Face of Freedom (Simaye Azadi in Persian), which bypasses strict Regime censorship to bring unbiased news to Iran as well as programs on Iranian history, literature, culture, art, music, and comedy.
The channel has about 10 million viewers receives tens of thousands of hits to its website every day. In 2017, it held a telethon to keep the channel running and generated $5.5 million.
If the MEK is so unpopular, why does the Regime focus on them so much?
If the MEK were truly an unpopular, fringe group, then why would the Regime spend so much time and effort trying to eliminate the MEK?


In Tehran Friday Prayer: Board of Directors Member of Assembly of Experts expressed the regime’s fear of PMOI

Jan. 27, 2018 - Frightened by the continuation of the popular uprising in Iran, Mullah Ahmad Khatami, vice chairman of the Assembly of Experts and Friday Imam of Tehran, said: 'Do not think that the (risk of) overthrow is over. No, the enemies will not give up thinking about the overthrow even for a moment. We must be alert.” He added, 'The enemy is abusing new information tools; Telegram channel, Instagram and other tools in this field.”
Concerned by the growing popularity of the PMOI among the youth and rising people, Khatami said: 'You foiled the PMOI’s sedition in 1996, 2009 and January 2016. You should foil the next seditions and you can do that. You foiled the PMOI’s sedition; how? You informed that there is a team of them near our home. Go arrest them. They (the suppressive forces) went and arrested them and destroyed them ... Wherever you see the conspiracy, wherever you see the plotter, quickly notify the authorities, as your duty. '
 While acknowledging the anger and disgust of the people from the state mullahs, Ahmad Khatami said: 'Their new plan is to weaken the clergy ... You saw, the rioters attacked some seminaries, worse than the Shah's regime attack on ‘Faizia’ seminary.  The Takistan Seminary had such a situation. This indicates the depth of the hatred of enemies from the mullahs.” On January 5, he had also said about the attack on government buildings: 'They rushed into ... the office of some Friday Imams, the Islamic Propagation Organization, the Dispute Resolution Council.'
'Even a rial of our monthly salary is not from state budgets,' and 'the salary of a mullah is between 500 and 600 thousand tomans ... below the poverty line,” he said ridiculously to cover plunders by the mullahs. This criminal mullah is making these remarks whereas hundreds of millions of dollars of the country's budget are officially spent on educating government mullahs under the guise of 'Seminaries' or training non-Iranian terrorists under the title of foreign scholars. More importantly, a large part of the country's revenues and capital are stolen by mullahs and their corrupt children. This the reason for such a deep anger and hatred of the Iranian people against the Revolutionary Guards and government mullahs. 
The criminal mullah Ghias al-Din Taha Mohammadi, said in the Friday prayer in Hamadan two weeks ago:  during the uprising 'about 60 offices of the Friday Imams were attacked.' In most cities of Iran, clues to many crimes, robberies, moral and financial corruption are in the hands of the Friday Imams and their offices, who are representatives of Khamenei and are appointed by him.
Mullah Dorri Najaf Abadi, Friday Imam of Arak, and another member of the Board of Directors of Assembly of Experts and former minister of intelligence, said on January 17: in the course of uprising in Arak, 'Our house was attacked and I was at home. In recent events, the age of the protesters was very low. The people who attacked our home, although they had covered their faces, were under 30 years of age and even under the age of 18; of course, I only say about the Central province.'


DEBUNKING IRAN REGIME'S LIES ABOUT THE PMOI/ MEK: NO, THE MEK DIDN'T MURDER AMERICANS IN IRAN
There are a number of persistent and harmful rumours surrounding the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) - mainly spread by the Iranian Regime’s propaganda machine, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) - that are designed to make the international community and the Iranian people themselves distrust the MEK.
In this series, we intend to set the record straight and tell you the truth behind the lies.


Make no mistake, the Iranian Regime is absolutely terrified of not just the Iranian people, but also the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). This fear can be seen in the pro-regime protests that the mullahs organized, where paid protesters held signs like “Green Movement is supporter of Rajavi”, and in the many comments from Regime leaders themselves. It seems like even the Iranian Regime is being forced to admit that the Iranian Resistance is incredibly popular amongst the Iranian people. In early January, Supreme Leder Ali Khamenei said that the protest had been organized by the MEK months ago. 
مسعود رجوی

Iranian activists write slogans and graffiti on the walls against Iran Supreme leader, Khamenei

Tehran - January 19, 2018 - Death to Khamenei...
Isfahan - January 17, 2018, Students ... will not tolerate disgrace...
Isfahan- January, 2018 - Death or freedom...
Isfahan - January 18, 2018 - imprisoned students of uprising must be released, the families of the detainees will not remain silent
Kermanshah - January, 2018- Death to Khamenei ... Death to dictator... 
Saqez-January 18, 2018- Death to Khamenei, Death to dictator... 
Karaj –January 17, 2018 -The people of the world should know that Massoud is our leader...
Qazvin - January 19, 2018- This uprising continues until victory, death to corrupt Khamenei...
Qazvin- January 19, 2018 - Death to the clerical regime-Death to Khamenei...

THE MEK’S WRONGFUL TERRORIST DESIGNATION
After 15 terrible years, the US finally removed Iranian Resistance group People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK/PMOI) from its list of foreign terrorist organisations in September 2012, following countless court cases that found in the MEK’s favour and previous removals of the MEK from terror lists by the UK, France and the European Union.
But the MEK should never have been placed on any terrorist watch list in the first place, so how did they end up there, what effect did this have on the MEK’s fight for freedom in Iran, and how did the MEK finally get removed from the terror watch list? Let’s explore.
How did the MEK end up on terrorist watch lists?
Iran Sees Opposition Elect New Secretary General
Crisis-riddled Iran Sees Opposition Elect New Secretary General

As Iran finds itself engulfed in domestic and external turmoil, the opposition in-exile enjoys the prowess and cohesion to elect a new secretary general.
A new administration in Washington has been ramping up the heat, punishing Tehran for meddling in other states’ affairs and advancing its ballistic missile drive. All the while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has seen his representative rejected by two senior Shiite leaders in Iraq, the proxy war in Yemen going south and Tehran’s support to maintain Syria’s Bashar Assad in power eating up crucial resources. Internally, the Iranian people are stepping up their protests to significant scales.
In now daily protests thousands of investors are demanding their savings from state-run institutions, and the city of Baneh in western Iran recently witnessed clashes as locals took to arms to protest the ruthless killing of porters by state security forces. In a parallel significant development, the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/MEK) held its congress on Wednesday marking its 52nd anniversary and sitting to elect a new secretary general.

MEK and Regime Change Policy
by Pooya Stone
Since the major gathering of the Iranian opposition, MEK in Paris on July 1, the issue of necessity of regime change in Iran has gained traction.
“The only solution to free the people of Iran and establish peace and tranquility in the region, is the overthrow of the Iranian regime,” declared Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, in the major gathering of Iranians in Paris on July 1. She reiterated, “The regime’s overthrow is possible and within reach, and a democratic alternative and organized resistance MEK exists that can topple it.”
Maryam Rajavi’s call for regime change in Iran was widely echoed and supported by other prominent U.S. and European speakers. Among the speakers were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. All supported MEK ’s call for regime change in Iran.
Referring to the MEK , Bolton, said: “There is a viable opposition to the rule of the ayatollahs, and that opposition is centered in this room today. I had said for over 10 years since coming to these events, that the declared policy of the United States of America should be … to change the regime itself. And that’s why, before 2019, we here will celebrate in Tehran!”
After the MEK and Iranian resistance’s July 1 rally in Paris, Fox News reported, “The Trump administration is potentially considering seeking a strategy to try to topple the regime.” The resistance, however, only needs American political and perhaps economic support to effect “regime change from within.”

IRAN REGIME'S OFFICIALS EXPRESS THEIR FEAR ABOUT PMOI/MEK ACTIVITIES IN PROPAGATING INFORMATION ON 1988 MASSACRE
MEK'S POPULARITY AMONG IRANIAN YOUTH, REGIME'S NIGHTMARE 

CONTRARY TO IRAN LOBBY CLAIMS, REGIME CHANGE DOES NOT END IN WAR
One of the great falsehoods of the Iran lobby and the appeasers of the clerical regime in Tehran is that any effort at regime change would inevitably lead to war. This by-line can be seen in every article by the Iran lobby and the appeasers attempting to underscore the growing global support for the Iranian opposition (MEK/PMOI) and the Iranian people’s quest for regime change.
History teaches us though that the longevity of any regime born out of violent conquest is ultimately short-lived.
The Iranian regime that was born out of a revolution overthrowing the Shah, which was in turn hijacked by the mullahs and turned into a religious oligarchy. The original aim of the revolution was the formation of a secular, pluralistic democracy. That dream still exists in the hearts and minds of the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people and resonates in the various forms of protest in Iran, despite the repressive measures by the regime. Therefore, the call for “regime change” is primarily the Iranian people’s demand.

What Is the Right Policy Towards Iran and the MEK?
By Jubin Katiraie

It is sometimes now that many US officials have been talking about Iran and the actions that US must take towards Iran. In a hearing in the congress, the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, in response to a question about the US policy towards Iran said: “Well our Iranian policy is under development. It’s not yet been delivered to the president, but I would tell you that we certainly recognize Iran’s continued destabilizing presence in the region, their payment of foreign fighters, their export of militia forces in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, their support for Hezbollah. And we are taking action to respond to Iran’s hegemony. Additional sanctions actions have been put in place against individuals and others.”
“We continually review the merits both from the standpoint of diplomatic but also international consequences of designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in its entirety as a terrorist organization,” he added. “As you know, we have designated the Quds [Force]. Our policy towards Iran is to push back on this hegemony, contain their ability to develop obviously nuclear weapons, and to work toward support of those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of that government. Those elements are there, certainly as we know.”
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Who is the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)

If you want to get more information about PMOI/MEK , this is an excellent article for getting to know the PMOI.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2016 / PRNewswire-USNewswire Formed in 1965, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the largest and best-organized Iranian opposition movement, is the main component of the coalition, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which acts as the [ 1,059 more word ]

The NCRI and MEK, have been committed to a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic; gender equality; freedom of religion, thought, press, and association; support for peace in the Middle East; and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The president-elect of the NCRI is Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, who addressed a rally of 100,000 in Paris, well attended by dozens of prominent speakers from all over the world.
A. The MEK role was critical in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb
The MEK has been instrumental in exposing Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Relying on a vast network inside Iran, MEK revelations of the weapons program significantly contributed to the world peace and the national security of the United States.
These revelations triggered the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and Heavy Water Facility in Arak in 2002 for the first time, and since then, the majority of the visits by the IAEA inspection teams have been to the sites first exposed by the MEK.
Senior U.S. officials including President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have repeatedly pointed to the role the MEK had played in getting the world attention on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
In March 2005, President, George W. Bush, emphasized that the MEK‘s revelation of Natanz prompted an international campaign to stop the nuclear weapons program of Iran. “Iran has concealed its — a nuclear program. That became discovered, not because of their compliance with the IAEA or NPT, but because a dissident group pointed it out to the world.”
Many of the key front companies exposed by the MEK such as Mesbah Energy, Novin Energy, Kalaye Electric, Kavoshyar Company, and Farayand Technique were eventually sanctioned by the Treasury Department. In July 2011, the MEK exposed a new nuclear organization overseeing the entire nuclear program and run by the military, known as SPND. The U.S. Government designated that entity in 2014. In addition, many companies, key nuclear experts, and military institutions exposed by the MEK have been sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council resolutions 1737, 1747, and 1803.
If it were not for the MEK nuclear revelations, Tehran would have had the bomb by now. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) told a House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing “We all owe a debt of gratitude to the MEK for bringing this information to the world, and causing the United States and the world to focus on the problem.”
B. MEK exposed the terrorist network of Iran
The MEK has played a key role in exposing the terrorist operations by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and its entity, the Qods Force. MEK‘s actionable intelligence on Qods Force operations in Iraq saved many lives, and thwarted many terrorist operations by the Iranian regime.
MEK documented the details of the Qods force production and shipment of advanced EFP’s (Explosively Formed Projectiles), the number one killer of U.S. forces in Iraq. MEK also exposed Iran’s involvement in the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 American servicemen.
C. MEK enjoys extensive bi-partisan support in U.S. Congress
Over the past two decades, MEK has gained extensive support among a large bi-partisan group of members of congress. Congress strongly rejected MEK‘s FTO designation, which it viewed as a goodwill gesture to Tehran, as 99 members (52 D and 47 R) called for the group’s delisting. Secretary Clinton revoked the designation in 2012, after being urged by the U.S. Court of Appeals- DC Circuit.
Congress held hearings in the House and the Senate strongly supporting the safety & security of thousands of MEK members based in camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, as they were being subject to attacks instigated by Tehran. There were several pieces of legislations in support of MEK members in Iraq, e.g., H.Res.704 with 224 co-sponsors (126 D and 98 R).
In addition, the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2016, signed by President Obama and became law, included a language in support of the “security and protection” of MEK members in Camp Liberty, Iraq.
Secretary of State John Kerry lauded the resettlement of all members of “exiled Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin e-Khalq, or MEK,” from Iraq to Europe in September 2016, emphasizing that “their departure concludes a significant American diplomatic initiative that has assured the safety of more than 3,000 MEK members whose lives have been under threat…I first became involved in this effort when I was in the Senate … I’m very proud that the United States was able to play a pivotal role in helping to get this job done.”
Also, the U.S. military fully protected all the MEK members in Iraq and recognized them as “protected persons” under the 4th Geneva Convention, long before the group was delisted.
D. MEK has been leading the opposition against the regime at home and abroad
MEK has been in the forefront of opposition to the mullahs since early days of the 1979 revolution, when it soon become the number one target of the Iranian regime’s repression.
The rulers of Iran view the MEK as an existential threat due to its support at home, and undermining the regime’s Islamic extremist ideology among a vast majority of the Iranian population, especially the youth. MEK‘s modern, tolerant and democratic view on Islam has been the antithesis to the Islamic fundamentalists and the velayat-e faqih system. The MEK has been the main victim of repression in Iran. In summer 1988, the Iranian regime, by direct order of Supreme Leader Khomeini, massacred 30,000 political prisoners, most members of MEK. Over 100,000 of its members have been murderedsince 1981, and many of its supporters are currently jailed in notorious prisons across the country. Most of those arrested and sentenced to death after the summer 2009 uprising in Iran, belonged to the MEK.
After having failed to physically eliminate the MEK, Tehran waged an international effort to have the MEK designated as a terrorist organization, which eventually failed after all the designations were overturned in Europe and the U.S. with the help of over 20 court rulings. Eventually, Tehran embarked upon a multi-million-dollar campaign of character assassination and demonization, which described the MEK as a cult, to justify the policy of appeasement. None of those efforts succeeded.
CONTACT: Ali Safavi, 202-747-7847, www.ncrius.org

Related:
June 20 1981-Beginning of the Iranian people's resistance for freedom

Articles& news about PMOI/MEK-Tehran’s online propaganda against the Iranian opposition backfires


Iran-Speech by Maryam Rajavi on the anniversary of the massacre in Ashraf

The election of a new Secretary General heralds the certain overthrow of the mullahs’ religious dictatorship in Iran

Video&Text of Maryam Rajavi's remarks: successful relocation of Camp Liberty residents, a major setback for the clerical Iran regime

A Long Conflict between the Clerical Regime and the MEK

Policy on Iran and Desperate Attempts to Discredit the MEK


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