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Dave DeCamp, Anti War, July 21 2019:… The controversial Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq(MEK), held their annual “Free Iran” conference at their headquarters Ashraf 3 in Tirana, Albania on Saturday. They call their Iranian opposition coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The NCRI’s “president elect” is the MEK’s leader Maryam Rajavi. Among the many speakers were several former US politicians, most notably former mayor of New York City and one of President Trump’s personal lawyers Rudy Giuliani. MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
MEK the most hated in Iran’s history
MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
US Politicians Speak At Iranian Opposition Conference
Controversial Group MEK Suspected Of Being a Cult
The controversial Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq(MEK), held their annual “Free Iran” conference at their headquarters Ashraf 3 in Tirana, Albania on Saturday. They call their Iranian opposition coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The NCRI’s “president elect” is the MEK’s leader Maryam Rajavi. Among the many speakers were several former US politicians, most notably former mayor of New York City and one of President Trump’s personal lawyers Rudy Giuliani.
The MEK are often referred to as a cult by critics. The group was based out of Iraq for many years and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US government commissioned a report on the MEK from inside their former headquarters at camp Ashraf, Iraq. The report said, “many of the typical characteristics of a cult, such as authoritarian control, confiscation of assets, sexual control (including mandatory divorce and celibacy), emotional isolation, forced labour, sleep deprivation, physical abuse and limited exit options.”
Giuliani addressed the accusations of the MEK being a cult, “These are people who are dedicated to freedom, and if you think that’s a cult then there is something wrong with you.” In the video posted to the NCRI’s twitter after Giuliani made these comments, the camera panned to hundreds of women wearing matching outfits and red hijabs, clapping in the audience.
Giuliani called for regime change in Tehran and made it clear he thinks the MEK is the group that should take over. He also expressed his support for Trump’s policy of aggression towards Iran, “I’m proud of my government to tear up that nuclear deal. We don’t put nuclear weapons in the hands of murderers. When you put money in the hands of murderers, you are supporting murderers. When a German company makes business with Iran, they are helping to kill people in Syria, or kill us here in Albania. You are funding murderers. That makes you complicit in murder. We don’t allow people to fund murder. Wake up. When you buy oil from Iran you are funding murder. Face it and stop it.”
Former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman spoke at the event and also expressed his support of Trump’s Iran policy, “I say this as a Democrat. President Trump has been heroic and historic in taking the actions he has to break the Iran nuclear agreement, to impose sanctions on the Iranian government.” Lieberman voiced his support for MEK’s leadership, “Maryam Rajavi is a principled, visionary, selfless leader and cares for every one of you… Ashraf 3 is the best proof that this movement is a viable alternative to the ruling mullahs in Iran.”
Other American politicians who spoke were former Pennsylvanian Governor Tom Ridge, who also served in George W. Bush’s White House in the Department of Homeland Security, former FBI director Louis Freeh, former US House Representative for California Dana Rohrabacher and former US House Representative for Texas Ted Poe. They all called for regime change in Tehran and expressed their support for the MEK.
Current US House Representative for Texas, Lance Gooden, was the only American politician currently in office who spoke. Gooden assumed office in January of this year, after winning the election in November 2018. Gooden said, “The first thing I learned about Iran is that the most respected individual among the Iranian community is Madame Rajavi… We have to have regime change in Iran.”
Despite Gooden’s comments, the MEK have very little support within Iran, if any. The MEK have a violent history and started out as opposition against the US installed Shah, killing scores of his police throughout the 1970’s. When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took power in Iran, he quickly deemed the MEK a threat to his efforts of turning the country into an Islamic Republic.
After an MEK bombing killed the Iranian president and several other senior leaders of the Islamic Republic, the Ayatollah began to arrest and execute members of the MEK. The remaining members of the group fled to Iraq, where Saddam Hussein gave them refuge in a military base called Camp Ashraf. The MEK took Hussein’s side in the brutal eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, causing them to lose what little support they may have still had in Iran.
Rajavi’s husband was the group’s leader until he disappeared after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Rajavi ran a lavish lobbying campaign inside Washington to get the group removed from the US terror list when she took over. The Obama administration took them off the terror list in 2012.
Security Advisor John Bolton has reportedly received $180,000 from speaking at various MEK events before gaining his position in the Trump administration. Trump has said he is not seeking regime change in Tehran, but the group has money and a lot of influence inside Washington. If Trump does end up going to war with Iran they may be the group the US tries to install in Tehran.
MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
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The MEK’s man inside the White House (Maryam Rajavi cult, Mojahedin Khalq)
Also read:
Gjergji Thanasi, Gazeta Impakt, Tirana, Albania, June 18 2019:… Former terrorist Maryam Rajavi, leader of the MEK organization of the so-called Iranian Mojahedin of Camp Manez, has filed a lawsuit against German Der Spiegel journalist, Louisa Hommerich, for her article titled ‘Prisoners of Their Own Rebellion’ published by Der Spiegel on February 16, 2019. Among other things, the MEK organization… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Borzou Dargahi, THE INDEPENDENT, Originally published September 28 2018:… An Iranian exile group that is a darling of Washington conservatives has set up what critics describe as “a state within a state” inside the tiny Balkan nation of Albania. From a well-guarded 84-acre (340,000 square metres, or 34 hectares) property it has forged on a hillside in the Albanian countryside, the group – called… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Hassan Heyrani, Tirana, Albania, April 16 2019:… Maryam Rajavi told them that ‘with this situation and the conditions that the regime has been going through for up to a year and a half, we will see that the regime cannot continue and it’s over, over, over …’ After her speech, one of the members called Mohammad Ali Agahi stood up… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Hassan Heyrani, Tirana, Albania, April 11 2019:… The cost for a smuggler to transfer one person is between 3 and 4 thousand euros or more. So, the cult made indirect contact with a smuggler and told him ‘we have a lot of people to move so reduce the price to 2.5 thousand euros each’. A group of these people have now… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Gjergji Thanasi, Gazeta Impact, April 06 2019:… During the years of Prime Minister Rama several thousand members of this organization (from 2000 to 4000) came to Albania from Iraq, but also from other countries such as Bulgaria. The organization claims that from its Albanian base called Camp Ashraf 3 it continues to carry out a fierce fight against the legitimate government… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Anne and Massoud Khodabandeh, Lobe log, March 09 2019:… Hommerich reported that inside the camp in Albania, MEK militants were still practicing the deadly techniques for combat taught them by Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard—“cutting throats with a knife,” “breaking hands,” “removing eyes with fingers,” and “tearing the mouth open.” In 2017, the Trump administration reversed a 2013 plan by former Secretary… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Iran Interlink, March 08 2019:… To mark International Women’s Day on 8th of March some commentators remind us of the situation of women inside the MEK. In particular, Sarrafpour from Shiraz has written a long piece explaining how from the very beginnings up to the present Rajavi abused women. Some of the former MEK women members wrote that perhaps the biggest crime… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Tehran Times, March 08 2019:… Thanks to his brother’s high rank in the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI), Amir Arjmand escaped to Iraqi Kurdistan and there he met with French security agents who took him to Paris. About the status of MKO terrorist group among US-sponsored anti-Iran groups, Zam tells Alireza that Americans… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Iran Interlink, March 01 2019:… Nejat Association announced the launch of campaign group ‘Mothers of the Forgotten Victims, led by mothers of the MEK’s hostages. The group pledges to bring to public attention the “crimes of the backers of hostage takers and terrorists”, who misuse their power to the point that for decades they have denied families the straightforward human right… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Nejat Society, February 28 2019:… Defectors of the Mujahedin Khalq organization (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi) protested in Tirana, Albania. About forty former members of the MKO gathered in Eskandar Beik square in Tirana to call on High Commissioner of Refugees to accomplish its responsibilities regarding the defectors of the group. They took action against the HCR that used… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Ebrahim Khodabandeh, February 20 2019:… I have wondered why the Trump administration has moved the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK, MKO, NCR, Rajavi terrorist cult) to a remote and isolated camp in Albania to keep them intact, even though they were meant to be deprogramed and disintegrated there in the first place. I wondered what good they might be for the Trump administration… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
Nejat Society, February 11 2019:… A former member of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/MEK/PMOI/Cult of Rajavi) Nabi Ahmadi states new dimensions on the death of Malik Sharaei in the group’s camp in Albania. Malik Sharaei, 47, was one of the few remaining witnesses of the mysterious death of 53 MKO members in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Nabi Ahmadi asserts that Malik… MEK pays US Corrupt Politicians in Albania
