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Zhelwan Z. Wali, Rudaw, September 26 2019:… ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s Kurdish parties say they will not take part in a conference allegedly organized by the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday because the Kurdish question in Iran is not a key part of the agenda. The US State Department considered MEK a terrorist organization until it was de-listed in 2012.With the help of a powerful lobby in the US establishment, MEK has sought to present itself as the official opposition to the Iranian regime. Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI
Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Pompeo to speak at Iran opposition event snubbed by Kurds
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s Kurdish parties say they will not take part in a conference allegedly organized by the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday because the Kurdish question in Iran is not a key part of the agenda.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to speak at the event fronted by Iran hawk and former diplomat Mark Wallace, according to The Washington Post.
The US State Department considered MEK a terrorist organization until it was de-listed in 2012.
With the help of a powerful lobby in the US establishment, MEK has sought to present itself as the official opposition to the Iranian regime.
Pompeo attends meeting linked to MEK cult that murdered 6 Americans
Confusion over who actually organized the event, and the belief that Kurdish issues have been left off the agenda, led Kurdish parties in Iran to decline invitations.
“The Cooperation Center of Iranian Kurdistan Political Parties is informing the public that after subjective interpretations from all the parties, we agreed not to take part in the conference set be held on September 24 under ‘The Future Iran’ in New York,” a joint statement from the parties read.
ڕاگهیاندنی ناوهندی هاوكاری حیزبهكانی كوردستانی ئێران سهبارهت به بهشداری نهكردن له كۆنفرانسی نیۆیۆرك …
Posted by Foad Khakibaigi on Sunday, September 22, 2019
The cooperation centre was formed by five Iranian Kurdish parties to better coordinate their activities. The Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran (PDK-I), Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), and two branches of the left-wing Komala party are among its members.
Salih Sharifi, spokesperson of the cooperation center, told Rudaw: “The Kurdish movement has its weight among the Iranian oppositions and it should be the case when it comes to taking part in such conferences.”
“But in the agenda of the New York conference, the weight and position of Kurds is unclear to us,” he said.
According to the official organizers of the conference, invitations were sent to Kurdish opposition groups a few months ago.
“It is even unclear which side sent the invitations, nor did it say which parties were to attend,” he added.
According to media reports, the controversial MEK group is said to be the main organizer of the conference.
“Not all the opposition parties of Islamic Republic are attending the conference either,” Sharifi said.
MEK, which Tehran considers a terrorist organization, is an opposition party headquartered in Albania, with a presence in France and the US. The party advocates for regime change in Iran.
In 1981 the MEK formed an alliance with the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI). However, the KDPI left the alliance in April 1985 when its then-leader pursued talks with the regime regarding Kurdish autonomy. MEK said there should be no negotiation with the regime.
The group was listed as a terrorist organization for its role in the overthrow of the Western-backed government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and for its ties to the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
It has since been rehabilitated as an acceptable opposition movement, although critics have likened it to a cult.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former senator Joseph I. Lieberman, and former Vermont governor Howard Dean have all spoken it its events.
Pompeo’s decision to speak at Tuesday’s gathering is another sign of establishment endorsement.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been increasingly fraught since May 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the landmark 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed crippling economic sanctions.
Although Iranian Kurdish parties were not invited to a mid-February US-Poland conference in Warsaw, they called for unity among the Iranian opposition and urged the world to work with them if they want to contain the Islamic Republic’s destabilizing activities.
Kurdish groups such as the PDKI and PDK-I, Komala, and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) have been based in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region since 1992 and often engaging in sporadic military confrontations with Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the border areas.
Iran is worried the US, Israel, and their regional allies are using the Kurds against the regime in Tehran. However, Kurds have categorically rejected the claims, saying they fight for greater rights for their nation in the western part of the country, known as Rojhalat.
Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
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” Heshmat Alavi Gate ” , Trump and MEK
Remember: MEK was an American excuse to invade Iraq
The Many Faces of the MEK, Explained By Its Former Top Spy Massoud Khodabandeh
MEK Impunity Undermining Democracy
Also read:
Massoud Khodabandeh, Lobe Log, August 23 2019:… So, when Giuliani says we should be “comfortable” with this group, right-minded people the world over can honestly and unequivocally answer, “No, we are not comfortable ignoring this harsh reality just because the MEK amplifies an anti-Iran message to the world, and no, we don’t believe the MEK have any kind of future… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Jordan Michael Smith, The Intercept, August 14 2019:… the MEK is covered heavily and favorably, despite having almost no support inside Iran, a history of terroristic violence, and a well-founded reputation as a cult. A VOA employee, who asked to speak anonymously for fear of reprisal, said, “VOA Persian, for the first time in decades, has been acting as media… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Robert Fantina, Counter Punch, August 02 2019:… The oddly named People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (known as the MKO or MEK), whose sole purpose is the overthrow of the people’s government of Iran, has been busy. Some of their members, who seem to be mainly elderly, are technologically savvy, and use social media to further their disgraceful cause. But they… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Neri Zilber, The Daily Beast, July 25 2019:… The account had over 2,000 followers, including the verified profiles of several prominent Israeli journalists, the French ambassador in Israel, and the French embassy in Tel Aviv. A picture of the consul general visiting a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem was tweeted out around the same time as the MEK thread; a… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Nejat Society, July 22 2019:… The peak of the MEK’s successful deal –to sell fake news and buy war drums—was the case of the fictional persona named Heshmat Alavi that was revealed by the Intercept, a few weeks ago. “His purported work has appeared in a wide variety of journals over the years, write Robert Fantina of the Global Research.… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Nejat Society, June 21 2019:… Twitter has turned out to be a field for a “troll farm” of a thousand people inside the camps of Mujahedin Khalq (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Rajavi’s Cult) who work in three shifts to launch anti Iran disinformation advocating war and sanctions against Iran. Former member of the group Hassan Heirani who left it in… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Massoud Khodabandeh, Lobe Log, June 18 2019:… This is the tip of the iceberg. MEK interference in the internal affairs of America goes well beyond online attacks on Iran. In 2016, the Organization of Iranian American Communities in the US—a front for the MEK—announced a “General Elections Mobilization Effort,” publicly urging its members to “fulfill their civic duty through active… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Aljazeera News, June 17 2019:… As the Trump administration continues with its hawkish talk on Iran, we need to look at how that story is being crafted and by whom: Heshmat Alavi was once cited by the White House as a credible commentator on Iran. Shame he doesn’t exist. It turns out he is a fictional persona reportedly created by the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK),… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Helen Buyniski, Russia Today, June 14 2019:… Heshmat Alavi, a virulently anti-Iranian columnist promoted by the Trump administration and published in Forbes, the Hill, and several other outlets, was unmasked as a propaganda construct operated by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a controversial Iranian exile group often called a cult that has only recently lobbied its way off the US’ terror… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
The Young Turks, June 13 2019:… “Heshmat Alavi” is a front propaganda efforts of the People’s Jihadis (Mojahedin-e Khalq or MEK). The MEK has committed numerous acts of terrorism in Iran and then collaborated with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It was listed as a terrorist organization the the US until a few years ago and it is mysterious why it… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Negar Mortazavi and Borzou Daragahi , Independent, June 11 2019:…The “Heshmat Alavi” persona had a strong presence on Twitter and harassed Iranian journalists, academics, and activists who are critical of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq organisation, a one-time armed guerilla group now holed up in Albania. There is no known link between the Iran Disinfo programme and the fake persona. At least one… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
Jason Rezaian, Washinton Post, June 11 2019:… After the report, Twitter appears to have suspended the account. But the MEK, the organization that “Team Heshmat Alavi” represents, has a nasty history. It was on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations for years before being removed in 2012. These days, it has no discernible popular support in Iran and… Pompeo Support for MEK and UANI Kurds Boycotted UANI MEK Gathering
