Follow
Tehran Times, June 27 2020:… Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has marked the 39th anniversary of an act of terror that killed over 70 senior figures by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) terrorist group, saying the MEK has since remained under the auspices of the U.S. and Europe. “39yrs ago, today, Iran Chief Justice Ayatollah Beheshti & 72senior figures were assassinated by US-, Saddam-backed MEK terrorist cult. Since then, MEK has remained under US/Euro auspices, letting it horribly kill&maim 10000+Iranians,” Mousavi tweeted on Saturday. “Their blood on terrorist MEK supporters’ hands!” he added. MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices .
MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran
TEHRAN — Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has marked the 39th anniversary of an act of terror that killed over 70 senior figures by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) terrorist group, saying the MEK has since remained under the auspices of the U.S. and Europe.
“39yrs ago, today, Iran Chief Justice Ayatollah Beheshti & 72senior figures were assassinated by US-, Saddam-backed MEK terrorist cult. Since then, MEK has remained under US/Euro auspices, letting it horribly kill&maim 10000+Iranians,” Mousavi tweeted on Saturday.
“Their blood on terrorist MEK supporters’ hands!” he added.
The MEK was established in the 1960s to express a mixture of Marxism and Islamism. It launched bombing campaigns against the Shah, continuing after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, against the Islamic Republic. Iran accuses the group of being responsible for 17,000 deaths.
Based in Iraq at the time, MEK members were armed by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to fight against Iran during a war that lasted for 8 years in the 1980s.
In 2012, the U.S. State Department removed the MEK from its list of designated terrorist organizations under intense lobbying by groups associated with Saudi Arabia and other regimes opposed to Iran.
USA backs MEK terrorists then produces Terrorism Report ; Iran says
A few years ago, the MEK operatives were relocated from their Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala Province to Camp Hurriyet (Camp Liberty), a former U.S. military base in Baghdad, and were later relocated to Albania.
Last year, Germany’s Der Spiegel revealed that members of the MEK undergo horrific training in a camp in Albania, a country that has turned into a hub for anti-Iran activities by hosting the MEK.
Spiegel: MKO (MEK IRAN) members in Albania receive horrific training
On Thursday, Mousavi termed the Islamic Republic of Iran as the biggest victim of terrorist actions, “which have been taken mainly with the U.S. government’s direct and indirect supports, and with more than 17,000 people martyred in this path, is always at the forefront of the fight against terrorism at the global and regional levels.”
He also said the United States, as the world’s most infamous terrorist regime, is in no position to judge other countries.
The remarks came in response to the annual Country Reports on Terrorism released by the U.S.
Mousavi added that “The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects and condemns the U.S.’s annual Country Reports on Terrorism because that regime is blatantly shifting the blame onto others, is utterly insincere, and has double standards in the fight against terrorism.”
MH/PA
MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran
***
Also read:
https://iran-interlink.org/wordpress/trump-promoting-saddams-terrorists-irans-zarif/
Trump Promoting Saddam’s Terrorists ; Iran’s Zarif
Ali Harb, Middle East Eye, April 25 2020:… The US president’s post was celebrated by an MEK-linked account. Trump retweeted that response, taking a dig at the presumptive Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden. “The mullahs’ regime ruling Iran harasses UN [sic] Navy ships for propaganda purposes,” Heshmat Alavi, a popular MEK-linked Twitter account, responded to Trump’s post. “Thank you, President Trump, for reminding this regime that the Obama years are gone.” In turn, Trump shared Alavi’s post commenting: “Sleepy Joe thought this was OK. Not me!” . Trump Promoting Saddam’s Terrorists ; Iran’s Zarif
Donald Trump MEK Terrorists And The Troll Factory In Albania
Trump Promoting Saddam’s Terrorists ; Iran’s Zarif
( MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices )
Why Iran’s Zarif accused Trump of promoting ‘Saddam’s terrorists’
Chief Iranian diplomat denounced Trump for retweeting MEK-linked account
Ali Harb in Washington
Until 2012, MEK was considered terrorist organisation by United States (AFP/File photo)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday accused US President Donald Trump of making threats that were cheered on by “Saddam’s terrorists”.
The chief Iranian diplomat was referring to the formerly US-designated terrorist group Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition group that was allied with the late Iraqi autocrat Saddam Hussein.
The US military is hit by over 5000 #covid19 infections. @realdonaldtrump should attend to their needs, not engage in threats cheered on by Saddam's terrorists.
Also, US forces have no business 7,000 miles away from home, provoking our sailors off our OWN Persian Gulf shores. pic.twitter.com/7CjzabkyVK
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 23, 2020
It all started on Wednesday, when Trump said in a tweet that he ordered the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats that harass American ships.
The US president’s post was celebrated by an MEK-linked account. Trump retweeted that response, taking a dig at the presumptive Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden.
“The mullahs’ regime ruling Iran harasses UN [sic] Navy ships for propaganda purposes,” Heshmat Alavi, a popular MEK-linked Twitter account, responded to Trump’s post.
“Thank you, President Trump, for reminding this regime that the Obama years are gone.”
In turn, Trump shared Alavi’s post commenting: “Sleepy Joe thought this was OK. Not me!”
The case of Heshmat Alavi
Alavi, who has penned opinion pieces in several major international publications, has been the subject of an ongoing controversy since the Intercept published a story last year alleging that he is not a real person, but a “propaganda operation” run by the MEK.
The report cited former members of the Iranian opposition group as saying that a group of MEK members in Albania manage Alavi’s persona.
Twitter briefly suspended the account after the publication of the Intercept story. Alavi had pushed back against the story, saying that it was a “highly biased article full of lies”.
He did acknowledge that he supports the MEK and does not write under his real name.
“No, I will never reveal my real identity or photograph. Not as long as the mullahs’ regime is in power,” Alavi wrote in a blogpost in June 2019.
“No activist in his/her right mind would do so. That would place all of my family, friends and myself, both inside & outside of Iran, in complete danger.”
Fake or not, Alavi’s voice was amplified by the president of the United States on Wednesday, who shared the controversial account’s content with his more than 78 million followers.
Critics were quick to call out Trump for promoting the MEK-affiliated account.
“Behold Donald Trump’s open coordination with an Iranian terrorist organization. The person he retweets does not exist, the account is run by six people in the MEK’s terrorist base in Albania,” tweeted Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, an anti-war think-tank in Washington.
“Yes, the president of the United state [sic] is retweeting a terrorist account.”
The MEK has a long history of violent attacks in Iran, and until 2012 it was considered a terrorist organisation by the United States.
‘More of a cult’
Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a Washington-based group that opposes war with Iran, said the US administration’s ties to the MEK were “deeply concerning”.
“This is still a group that’s more of a cult than an advocacy organisation or a legitimate organisation… To think this is an organisation that is influencing the president and the administration should be cause for concern,” Costello told Middle East Eye.
The group has managed to garner strong relations with key members of both major parties in Congress. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his former security adviser John Bolton are also ardent supporters and have spoken at the group’s events for hefty fees.
The White House did not return MEE’s request for comment.
Detractors also accuse the group of being a “totalitarian cult” centred around its leader, Maryam Rajavi. Moreover, the MEK is tainted by its past ties to Iraq’s Hussein, who is loathed as a brutal figure in both Iran and the United States.
‘To think this is an organisation that is influencing the president and the administration should be cause for concern’
– Ryan Costello, NIAC
But MEK supporters dismiss such accusations, insisting that it is the most organised opposition group calling for a democracy in Iran.
The MEK supporters are no fans of NIAC. They often falsely accuse the organisation of being a lobby for the Iranian government in Washington. On Wednesday, Alavi called out Parsi, who is the co-founder and former president of NIAC, for his past association with the group.
“He constantly parrots Zarif’s talking points,” Alavi said of Parsi.
To prove that point, Alavi shared a video showing Parsi mirroring Zarif’s criticism of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by bringing up the Qatar blockade, kidnapping of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the war in Yemen.
Such talking points against bin Salman’s policies have not been uniquely denounced by Zarif. Many of the kingdom’s critics, including members of the US Congress, have cited them in the past.
The Iranian opposition group enjoys close ties with Saudi Arabia. Saudi commentators and officials have praised the group and spoken at its events in the past.
The MEK and a US advocacy group aligned with it did not return MEE’s request for comment.
Costello said the MEK’s animosity with NIAC goes to the fact that the Iranian-American organisation opposed removing the group from the US terror list.
Tensions in the Gulf
Trump’s threat to shoot Iranian boats on Wednesday renewed fears of a military confrontation between the US and Iran at a time when both countries are combatting the spread of the coronavirus.
In 2018, the US administration nixed the multilateral Iran nuclear deal, which saw Tehran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions against its economy.
Over the past two years, Washington has been piling up sanctions against various Iranian individuals and industries as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign.
The two countries came to the verge of war earlier this year when a US drone strike killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Last June, Trump ordered, then cancelled, military strikes against Iran after Islamic Republic downed a US drone over the Gulf, claiming that it violated Iranian territorial waters.
NIAC’s Costello said in the past the US Navy has done an “exemplary job” of de-escalating tensions with IRGC boats that try to make life difficult for American ships in the Gulf.
He added that Trump’s threat risks inviting the hardliners in Iran to continue to “test the resolve” of the US, endangering everyone involved.
“I’m very concerned that what Trump has done here increases the risks that there’s another movement toward war or some sort of incident that results in ships being sunk in the Persian Gulf,” Costello said.
Trump Promoting Saddam’s Terrorists ; Iran’s Zarif
( MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices )
***
Also read:
https://iran-interlink.org/wordpress/albania-mek-rebrands-by-assassinating-unwanted-members/
Albania: MEK rebrands by assassinating unwanted members
Massoud and Anne Khodabandeh, Balkans Post, June 22 2018:… The mysterious disappearance of a member of the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) terrorist group in Albania has once again drawn attention to this controversial group. Malek Sharaee, 47, originally from Khuzestan Province in Iran, was reportedly drowned in the Rrotull village irrigation water reservoir. After three days, divers have not found his body even though the …
Albania: MEK rebrands by assassinating unwanted members
Massoud Keshmiri: Killed Iran’s PM and President – last seen in Germany after escaping MEK
The mysterious disappearance of a member of the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) terrorist group in Albania has once again drawn attention to this controversial group. Malek Sharaee, 47, originally from Khuzestan Province in Iran, was reportedly drowned in the Rrotull village irrigation water reservoir. After three days, divers have not found his body even though the water channel is only 3.5 meters deep. However, a MEK representative and three MEK witnesses say his clothes were found at the water’s edge. Police are now investigating this as a possible criminal offense. Even so, unless they gain access to Camp Ashraf Three, the MEK’s purpose-built training camp in Manez, they are unlikely to unearth the truth – MEK impunity is far greater than this small country can deal with or penetrate.
MEK (aka Saddam’s Private Army) was unknown in Albania until they arrived after 2013. Their bizarre behavior and controversial activitiessoon became the focus of media attention.
But the MEK’s dark history began long before this. Along with well-publicised military-style terrorist attacks on Iran since the 1980s, the MEK was also trained by Saddam Hussein’s Mukhaberat (Secret Services) and later by Israel’s MOSSAD, in intelligence gathering and secret operations. As a result, MEK has also conducted many covert terror acts and assassinations over the years. Several of these were deliberately staged to make it look like Iran was involved. Such as the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. In spite of extensive investigation, the primary evidence linking Iran came from four high ranking intelligence officers from MEK. In 2011, a man connected to Mexican drug dealers was arrested for the attempted murder of the Saudi Ambassadorto America. The US quickly accused Iran, but after two weeks the perpetrator was linked to MEK. In 2013, Israel arrested a Swedish Iranian man, Ali Mansouri, who ‘confessed’ to be spying for Iran in Tel Aviv. He turned out to be a MEK member.
The underlying pattern behind these events is of deception and callous, cynical murder. These examples are not unique. MEK has a long history of highly sophisticated and brutal undercover activity. However, the reported death of Malek Sharaee in Albania this week also points to a new phase in MEK covert activity. This time individual MEK members who were previously involved in known acts of violence are now themselves becoming victims of their own organization.
Internal assassinations are not new – Commander Ali Zarkesh was deliberately killedduring a military operation in 1988 because he had become critical of the leadership. There have been hundreds of reports of suspicious deaths and actual murders over the last three decades committed against critics and rivals.
In 2013, former MEK member Massoud Dalili was identified as the 53rd victim of a massacre at Camp Ashraf in Iraq. MEK only acknowledged his death when the Iraqi authorities formally identified him via his DNA. Dalili’s body had been deliberately disfigured (his face and hands burned) to hide his identity. Massoud Dalili had been one of the personal security personnel for leader Massoud Rajavi. He had undergone training with Saddam’s Republican Guards and the MEK’s own specialist training. Before coming to Iraq, Dalili had headed a small MEK team in Gilan Province where he was responsible for scores of deaths, including civilians.
Another victim killed during the same attack was Zohreh Ghaemi, She had commanded the assassination of General Sayad Shirazi in 1999. Of the other victims that day, at least ten are known to have participated in known acts of violence for MEK. No one claimed responsibility for the attack on Camp Ashraf.
In 2015, in the Netherlands, Mohamad Reza Kolahi was killed by a criminal gang on the order of MEK. Investigators confirmed that Kolahi was responsible for the 1981 bombing of the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party in Tehran in which 72 high-ranking politicians and party members were killed.
Another MEK member, Massoud Keshmiri, responsible for the bombing which killed PM Bahonar and President Rajai in 1981, was last seen with MEK in Germany some years ago. He has since vanished and could be dead. Although these deaths cannot be said to be directly linked, there is a common thread whose purpose becomes clear when we remember 2016 when Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi Intelligence chief, announced the death of MEK leader Massoud Rajavi. It is clear from this that MEK is being purged from top to bottom of all the individuals who have had involvement or are associated with its violent past – rebranding by assassination to make the group legally acceptable.
Massoud Khodabandeh is the Director of Middle East Strategy Consultants and has worked long-term with the authorities in Iraq to bring about a peaceful solution to the impasse at Camp Liberty and help rescue other victims of the Mojahedin-e Khalq cult. Khodabandeh co-authored the book ‘The Life of Camp Ashraf – Victims of Many Masters’ with his wife Anne Singleton.
(End)
***
Also read:
-
2017/03/04 Michael Ware discovers Mojahedin Khalq, MEK hasn’t abandoned belief in armed struggle
National Geographic, March 04 2017:… Leading MEK members squirm under the knowing gaze of Michael Ware. Watch the shifty looks and glances as the MEK representatives try to lie about their true intentions. They admit to wanting regime change, but claim to be pacifists. Ware asks ‘Why does a political organization still need to have a para-military organization?’ He then cleverly gets them to … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2017/02/16 Clarification: Trump-Iranian Exiles story (Mojahedin Khalq, MEK, MKO, Rajavi cult)
Associated Press, February 16 2017:… The group at one point successfully infiltrated the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, according to a State Department report. And a series of bombings attributed to the MEK accompanied visits by presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter to Iran, including one to target an American cultural center. In 1973, MEK assailants wearing motorcycle helmets shot dead U.S. Army Lt. … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2017/02/15 Fake News, Alternative Facts and Opinions – MEK succumbs to the American disease of hysteria
Iran Interlink, February 15 2017:… The following OpEd by MEK advocate Col. Wes Martin was published first in The Hill, followed by Mojahedin Khalq’s “Iran Probe” and the “NCRI” websites. Iran Interlink has published it here as indication of how hysteria has become the new normal in American published writing. A form of madness appears to have infected US politics and now all and sundry are dancing … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2017/02/07 Trump’s MEK version of events won’t secure victory against Iran, lets ISIS off the hook
Massoud Khodabandeh, Huffington Post, February 07 2017:… He also signals that his war is not with ISIS but with the country Iran. Donald Trump rose to victory in part on the promise to take on ISIS and defeat the group. Yet ISIS cannot be defeated except by a coalition of forces that includes Iran. The facts on the ground in Syria and Iraq demonstrate unequivocally that ISIS forces in Aleppo and Mosul have been defeated largely due to the involvement MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 
Gazeta Impakt, Albania, Translated by Iran Interlink, January 01 2017:… According to Fatos Klosi, former director of the National Intelligence Service, the American CIA chief has warned Albania that Donald Trump will renounce support for the MEK terrorists and it will be the Albanian Government itself which must deal with internal security and must confront a group trained militarily from the time of Saddam Hussein … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 
Massoud Khodabandeh, Huffington Post, December 24 2016:… That can only happen if journalists and investigatory bodies (human rights, nuclear experts, war crimes, etc) are able to base their work on facts and not the fake and fictionalised fantasies of stooges like the MEK, which are clearly designed to misinform on these issues. The information laundry cycle is not difficult to follow – the Washington Times takes its report … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran Massoud Khodabandeh, Huffington Post, November 12 2016:… In particular, Rudi Giuliani, John Bolton and Newt Gingrich. Putting aside their weak personalities as well as their individual neoconservative agendas, the common thread which links these names together is their decade long support for the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organisation (also known as Saddam’s Private Army or Rajavi cult). It is certain that … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2016/10/30 Albania: Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) using slave labour to profit from business
Iran Interlink, October 30 2016:… Local observers in Tirana are reporting that the Mojahedin Khalq cultic terror group (MEK) is buying and creating several sandwich and kebab shops in the city and is using the MEK members to work in these fast-food businesses. On the surface this may look like a positive move. In an article titled ‘Albania: What would a de-radicalization program for the Mojahedin Khalq involve’, it was … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2016/10/16 Albania: What would a de-radicalization program for the Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) involve
Anne and Massoud Khodabandeh, Iran Interlink, October 16 2016:… In spite of American promises, no de-radicalisation programme is in place to deal with over 2500 members of the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist group who have relocated to Tirana from Iraq. The MEK has a long history of violent and criminal activity. This has not stopped now they are in Tirana. Unless the Albanian government introduces its own programme, it must accept … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2016/10/09 Albanian citizens fearful of radicalised Mojahedin Khalq neighbours deserve more information
Anne and Massoud Khodabandeh, Huffington post (and Top Topic), October 09 2016:… For the local citizens, mystery surrounds their arrival and their lifestyle. Should these secretive and covert neighbours be treated with suspicion or kindness? At a local level, the first thing neighbouring families need to be aware of is that among all MEK members, sexual relations have been banned for over 25 years. This means there are no marriages or children or young people in the organisation. More troubling … MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2016/07/14 Grand Controversy as MEK can’t prove leader Massoud Rajavi is dead or alive
Massoud & Anne Khodabandeh, Huffington Post, July 14 2016:… Whether Rajavi is already dead or now killable is not known – only he can answer this – but he and his whole organisation are certainly now, body and soul, in the capable hands of the Saudi Prince. If he is still alive, Rajavi’s only role is to act as go-between to instruct his wife what she must do on behalf of the Saudis. If he is dead MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran 2016/07/08 Maryam Rajavi — MEK Propaganda Queen — Advertises Her Services For Iran’s Enemies
Massoud Khodabandeh, Huffington Post, July 08 2016:… Clearly this message is not aimed at Iranians. The clamour for regime change in Iran does not emanate from inside the country in spite of its many social, civic and political problems. Who then is Maryam Rajavi’s constituency? MEK remains under U.S., Europe auspices: Tehran
