PRESIDENT MACRON: IRAN IS NO PARTNER TO FRANCE

PRESIDENT MACRON: IRAN IS NO PARTNER TO FRANCE

PRESIDENT MACRON: IRAN IS NO PARTNER TO FRANCE

NEWS : Maryam Rajavi

INU - On June 17, 14 years ago, the French anti-terror police raided offices of the Iranian main opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its principle member, the Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK, near Paris. Hundreds were arrested and building were torn down.

The expressed explanation for the drastic measure was “terrorism”. It turned out, they found nothing but a group of unarmed exiles and political refugees whom their only crime was trying to expose a tyrannical theocratic regime that ruled their country for decades.

It was further revealed that the then government of France had entered a shameful deal with the terrorist regime ruling Iran to raid the offices of its democratic opposition in return for more trade contracts.

The MEK was ultimately cleared of all charges, with the investigating judge reaching the conclusion that MEK has been engaged in a legitimate struggle against repression.

The MEK was vindicated but left an eternal shame for those who were engaged in sacrificing France’s reputation as the cradle for human rights for a few commercial deals with a terrorist regime.

Nowadays, the Iranian mullahs’ regime is being recognized as the source and main supporter of terrorism around the world and specifically in the Middle East.

The MEK Struggle

For over three decades the MEK and its supporters have been struggling to bring freedom and democracy to Iran.

The MEK members have been the pioneers in the struggle to realize the desire of the Iranian people to end the mullahs’ dictatorship in their country and replace it with a democratic government.
World governments increasingly come to realize the result of what is now known as the “rapprochement policy” towards the Iranian mullahs.

The carnage in Syria and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar Assad and the Iranian regime is one example of the outcome of the policy of appeasement.

Today, the MEK is increasingly gaining ground as a legitimate and strong solution and alternative to the Iranian rulers.

The MEK message is that the world no longer has to put up with a government that supports terrorism and threatens other nations by building nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles.

Today, the MEK constitutes a strong force in the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy and freedom. That is so while over 100,000 members and sympathizers of the MEK have been executed by the clerical regime during the past four decades.

                                                                  MaryamRajavi

The MEK has called on world governments to stand with the Iranian people’s desire to end mullahs’ regime and bring peace and stability to the region.

The MEK’s network in Iran has in recent months extensively increased its activities inside Iran. A major movement for seeking justice for victims of mass executions by the Iranian regime has formed in Iran. In particular the movement is seeking justice for victims of 1988 massacre of political prisoners, most of whom were members and supporters of the MEK.

The strength of the movement in support of the MEK has sent shockwaves through the Iranian regime. Almost every day state run media are writing about the MEK in a futile attempt to demonize the MEK.

The mullahs are using the same method, disinformation, by their lobbyist or agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) to demonize the MEK in order to confront growing recognition of the MEK as a leading democratic force for change in Iran.

MEK And Europe

A large number of members of the MEK, were moved to Europe last year, mostly to Albania under the direct supervision of the United Nations.

According to Albanian media since the relocation to Albania, many American and European dignitaries and representatives have paid visits to the group, expressing their support for the MEK and its cause.

To name a few, US senator John McCain, Ambassador John Bolton, Gilbert Mitterrand, a French parliamentary delegation, as well as Members of European Parliament visited the MEK members at their new home in Tirana just recently in 2017.

Every year around this time, the Iranian diaspora supporting the democratic coalition of National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in which the MEK is a member organization, holds a large gathering in Paris, France as the annual gathering of Iranians seeking freedom and democracy in their homeland.

The Beginning Of Resistance

The month of June also marks the beginning of the massive, all out, crackdown on the Iranian opposition some thirty six years ago.

On June 21, 1981 the regime then Supreme leader called on the notorious Revolutionary Guards to open fire on the peaceful demonstration organized by the MEK.

A massive crackdown and execution rampage that was staged by the mullahs soon after, forced many Iranians including the MEK and its supporters into exile. That was the start of the resistance movement which is today recognized as the main opposition to the Iranian regime.

Paris Rally: The Call For Regime Change In Iran

In recent years, the Rally held in Paris, brings in tens of thousands of supporters to France calling for regime change in Iran and the establishment of a non-religious and elected government in that country.

Many world-recognized dignitaries and high officials have attended the gathering in the past as they will do so this year to extend support and solidarity with the Iranian voices for freedom.

The key-note speaker of the event last year was, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance, who has led the movement during the hard years of exile.

The Rapprochement Policy

The rapprochement policy may have secured some commercial contracts for EU countries, yet it has brought nothing but more terrorism and agony for the EU citizens.

The policy has brought more executions and oppression for the Iranian people and the MEK specifically.

And the policy has resulted in no true resolution to the rogue actions of the mullahs. On the contrary, the rapprochement policy has emboldened the mullahs in taking the world hostage for political ransom.

The Iranian mullahs openly support acts of terrorism throughout the world by supporting groups such as Hezbollah. Their Revolutionary Guards corps is actively involved in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and other parts of the region. The Iranian officials have openly confirmed involvement in fatal attacks on US and Western personnel in Iraq.

Just recently, 265 members of the European parliament singed a statement calling for the blacklisting of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

The statement also calls for a commission for inquiry into massacre of political prisoners in Iran. The Iranian regime went on a rampage killing over 30,000 political prisoner following the eight-year war with Iraq in the summer of 1988.

The majority of those fallen victim to the executions where members and supporters of the MEK.

MEK – Blowing The Cap Off Mullahs’ Nuclear Program

Many world parliamentarians and high-officials have recognized and commended the MEK as the original revealers of the Iranian regime’s nuclear development program - revelations that have come with great sacrifice from the part of MEK supporters inside the country.

We may never know but the MEK may have in fact saved the world from complete destruction by preventing a state-sponsor of terrorism from becoming armed with nuclear weapons.

And The Paris Rally

As the yearly rally by the Iranian opposition nears – planned for 1 July, 2017 – France will once again be at center stage of a peaceful but very significant gathering of not only Iranians but world dignitaries who care deeply about peace and security in the Middle East and the world over.

This is a gathering against extremism and advocating tolerance.

In this respect, MEK is the political force, which rejects extremism under the name of religion, advocates gender equality and separation of religion and state and in short advocates a democratic and tolerant Islam.

European leaders including President Macron who has just formed its government after a landslide victory in the Parliamentary election are expected to stand firm vis-à-vis the extremism whether it is originated by ISIS or the mullahs’ regime who are called by Iranian people as the Godfather of the ISIS.

The world is watching European leaders at this critical juncture to stand with their principles and not some petty economic interests. History will judge them.

IRAN TAKES ACTION AGAINST INCREASING POPULARITY OF MEK

IRAN TAKES ACTION AGAINST INCREASING POPULARITY OF MEK

 Written by Mahmoud Hakamian

During the summer of 1988 in Iran, some 30,000 political prisoners, the majority of whom were MEK members or sympathizers, were executed. The year is the 29th anniversary of the 1988 massacre.

Last summer, an audio tape was published by the son of Hossein-Ali Montazeri. August 9, 2016, the recording was heard for the first time, and on it Khomeini’s former heir can be heard telling a meeting of members of the “Death Committee” that they are carrying out a crime against humanity, 28 years ago, on August 15, 1988.

The tape sent shockwaves through Iran, as it adds new knowledge of the breadth and scope of the massacre and confirms that it involved the highest levels of leadership. For more than two decades silence has been imposed in regards to the massacre because, you see, Iranian leaders who held positions of power at that time, members of the notorious Death Commission, are still in leadership positions today.

They have never faced justice for committing this horrific crime against humanity.

Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was subsequently dismissed as the heir by Khomeini, and subsequently spent the rest of his life under house arrest, for the very remarks heard on the audio tape, tells members of the Death Commission, who include Hossein-Ali Nayyeri, the sharia judge, Morteza Eshraqi, the prosecutor, Ebrahim Raeesi, deputy prosecutor, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, representative of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), “The greatest crime committed during the reign of the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your (names) will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals.” He adds, “Executing these people while there have been no new activities (by the prisoners) means that … the entire judicial system has been at fault.”

Regarding the recent revelations, Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described the audio recording as an historical document. Mrs. Rajavi said that the recording attests to the strength of the Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK) political prisoners’ rejection of surrender, to their admirable allegiance and the perseverance of their commitment to the Iranian people. She called the recording “irrefutable evidence that leaders of the mullahs are responsible for crimes against humanity and the unprecedented genocide.”

Following release of the audio tapes, the Iranian Resistance initiated a worldwide movement, and during the last 10 months both inside and outside Iran, have created a huge momentum against the ongoing violation of human rights in Iran.

In February 2017, Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI), published the details of numerous mass graves in Iran. Page 349 of the JVMI report, “Inquiry into the 1988 mass executions in Iran”, refers to the mass grave near the Behesht Abad Cemetery in Ahvaz. Then, Amnesty International published a news item on June 1, 2017 on its website, warning that the Iranian authorities may be attempting to desecrate a mass grave site in Ahvaz, southern Iran in an effort to destroy vital forensic evidence, and sabotage opportunities for justice for the mass killings of political prisoners that took place across the country in 1988.

While Iranian officials try to counter the effects of these revelations, growing sympathy for MEK members who were the main victims of this horrible massacre, and increased popularity of the opposition movement have resulted, instead.

In recent months, following a report published by The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, concerning the power and progress of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), officials have admitted the Iranian youth has tended toward the attraction of the Mojahedin (MEK), as well as the prestige of the Mojahedin at home and at the international level.

The director general of a state funded Habilian Foundation, Hashemi Nejad, stated, “We have held 300 exhibitions against MEK in Iran up to now. These days, MEK is getting recognized as a leading institute in Human Rights,” He added that the duty now, is to discuss Human Rights issues against MEK since Iranian youths are the target of MEK. According to Intelligence Ministry officials, a detailed research report against MEK, of more than 8,000 words, has recently been published in the Habilian website, affiliated to the Ministry.

“The Mojahedin Organization (MEK) is after… total change and removal of the Velayat-e faqih system in Iran…,” states the report.

It also discusses the role of MEK in exposing the Iranian’s administration secret projects to obtain nuclear weapons, saying, “Following exposure of the issue (nuclear weapons program), the media published reports in this regard and this was the beginning of a major crisis that resulted in the adoption of several resolutions and sanctions with the devastating effects which are still continuing.”

The Intelligence Ministry reminded the public of the role of Mojahedin in the 2009 uprising, and admitted its fear of uprisings and revolts being tied to the nationwide resistance and to the Mojahedin, and wrote, “Mojahedin (MEK)… were still looking for an opportunity to strike the Islamic Republic of Iran, until the beginning of 2009 elections followed by the street riots, the group seized the opportunity and issued statements and messages to prepare the ground for achieving their goals… One of the goals (of the MEK) in 2009 election was to remove Velayat-e faqih and change the regime.”

The Mojahedin’s advancement in the international arena was also pointed out, “…In addition, members of the (MEK) organization hold meetings in France from time to time… In the recent years, the Mojahedin organization has held campaign and meetings in every international events and communities, including the United Nations, against the country and the system.”

The report concluded by describing the methods to confront the MEK, such as, “Introducing and fully identifying the (MEK) organization (i.e. meaning distorting the image of the organization)… to prevent, in this way, people and new members from joining the organization which would lead to increased damage to the system,” and added, “Strengthening the borders and increasing the country’s defense power: By this action, we can prevent entry of the MEK members into the country… and so we will be able to avert and ward off the enemies of the system outside the borders.”

These confessions appear to show the power, in regards to social as well as popular status, of the MEK and NCRI are welcomed by the Iranian youth.

After the Mullahs were unable the failure to destroy the MEK by siege and missile attacks, and the Mojahedin were able to maintain the integrity of their organization and transfer themselves to a safe place, the regime is frightened, and they are trying to frighten the Iranian people with warnings about the danger of Mojahedin.

In another report, published in Habilian site, the Intelligence Ministry stated that intellectual (thought) danger of unarmed MEK is much more than the threat of armed MEK.

In an interview with Vatan Emrouz, September 4, 2016, the secretary general of the Habilian Institution, which is a branch of the Intelligence Ministry, Mohammad Javad Hashemi Nejad, had previously warned about the danger of the MEK revelations, stating, “Mojahedin in the areas of human rights and related issues are present in the European Parliament and in the U.S. and any places where there is opposition to the system …MEK is a dangerous force…”

This sense of danger may be attributed to the fact that the surge in power of the MEK has coincided with the divisiveness within the Velayat-e faqih system, as well as the unrest, in the form of vastly increasing protests and demonstrations, in Iranian society.

The assistance to the West by the MEK had assisted the West in revealing Iran’s secret nuclear missiles programme was also highlighted. To stop the youth from joining the MEK, the Regime attempts to present a twisted view of the Resistance Forces, which is the reason behind the exhibitions and movies like “Magaraye Nimroz”, a film by state run media, on screen now.

However, in the midst of the propaganda and hyperbole surrounding it, a political analyst attacked the film. Sadegh Zibakalam, a political science professor at Tehran State University, and an associate of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was also responsible for dispatching of university students to war with Iraq during 80’s, criticized the film. He said, “The events in this movie are not reciting the reality of what has happened between the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and MEK in that era, we are condemning MEK, but have never asked why MEK fought back? As if they did it for no reason! This film is trying to imply that IRGC agents were kind and caring for humanity, (this is not true) we killed thousands of MEK members without any trials, just like the killers of Imam Hossain (a 7th century revolutionary Shiite leader who made the ultimate sacrifice for social justice in the face of corruption and tyranny).” Zibakalam’s confession clearly shows the ineffectiveness of such desperate moves to demonize the MEK.

In their recap of the report, The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) wrote, “The truth is that after the Mullahs were unable to destroy the MEK by inhumane siege and missile attacks, and Mojahedin were able to maintain the integrity of their organization and transfer themselves to a safe place, the Mullahs are frightened now. That is why the mullahs regularly yowl and whimper about the danger of MEK.”

“This fear and sense of danger is particularly due to the fact that the power and cohesion of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran has coincided on the one hand with the weakness and ultimate decay of the Velayat-e faqih system and the crises engulfing the ruling class, and on the other hand by the fact that Iran’s society is on the verge of explosion and ready for uprising and revolution and is only waiting for a spark,” they wrote.

Are U.S and Iran moving towards a military conflict?

freerepublic | Keyvan Salami 
 Posted on 6/24/2017, 4:44:41 PM by Keyvan Salami

On June 19, Iran Launched 7 medium-range ballistic missiles targeting ISIS in Syria. The same day a US Navy Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Su-22. On June 20, a USAF F-15E blasted Iranian Shahed-129 armed drone out of the sky. The drone was shot down as it advanced toward the coalition-backed rebel outpost of At Tanf, near the southern Syrian border. In addition, Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, in a speech, harshly attacked the US and posted hostile tweets. “That US arms a terrorist group is what causes instability. Who created #ISIS? The US!... That the US joined the anti-ISIS coalition is a lie. They're against an unrestrained ISIS but agree with a controlled ISIS…US president accuses Iran of terrorism, while terrorism in this region has American roots…” The supreme leader twitted.
Now the question is if the U.S and Iran are moving towards a military conflict. Iran’s lobbies in the US are trying to say that any measure against Iran would lead to a new conflict in the Middle East, and the war is inevitable unless the West and especially the US recognizes Iran as a regional power and start to negotiate with it, and give its share of the pie. In short, continue the appeasement policy of Obama with Iran. But looking deep in Khamenei’s statements, and also to Iran’s propaganda indicates that the issue is not a new conflict, but on the contrary to contain the main source of conflict in the Middle East, namely Iran and its proxy wars in the Middle East. Iran is terrified of an external and an internal threat, and all their actions and rhetoric are the spinoff of this fear. The external threat is the US-Arab coalition against Iran’s meddling in the region, and the internal threat is the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), Iran’s main opposition organization. For 8 years Iran enjoyed the appeasement policy of Obama administration, allowing it to pursue its aggressive policy in abroad, and suppression of its people inside the country. The “Golden years” of Obama is over, an international coalition of Iran’s neighboring countries and US are united to stop Iran’s export of terrorism, and the MeK supporters, have expanded their activates inside Iran. On June 15, 2017 the Senate passed a Bill for more sanctions against Iran and its ballistic missile program. Iran’s officials called the new sanctions as the “mother of sanctions”, referring to the “mother of bombs” which US tested last month in Afghanistan. The new sanctions are the first practical measures of new policy, and the Mullahs ruling in Iran are feeling that the West means business. On the other hand millions of Iranians inside Iran are eager to see the results of the annual gathering of Iranian opposition on July 1st in Paris. The MeK supporters inside Iran have been informing the people about this gathering. In the annual gathering of the MeK over 100000 Iranians from all over the world gather to discuss their mandate, and a number of international officials from the US, Europe and Islamic countries also participate in the program. Launching ballistic missiles, and all the hostile rhetoric of Iran’s officials are in reaction to their critical internal and international situation.

 These are not neither signs of war, nor signs of a powerful regime, but on the contrary these are signs of a weak regime trying to hide its weakness by resonating show of power in order to save itself from the deadly crisis they are surrounded.

The end result is that if we want to prevent another war in the Middle East, the key is not appeasing Iranian regime, but to put more pressure on the regime and support their opposition.

U.S. Congress Sponsors Resolution Seeking Justice for MEK Members Massacred by Iran Regime in 1988

Iran Focus

London, 22 Jun - Forty-Six US Congressmen and women have sponsored a resolution which calls on the US Government and its allies across the world to publically condemn the 1988 massacre of Iranian political prisoners and calls on the UN to launch an investigation into this crime against humanity.

Unlike much in Congress nowadays, Resolution 188 (officially titled: The condemnation of the Iranian government for the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 and the invitation to call for justice for the victims) receives wide bipartisan support.

The main victims of the massacre were members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), an anti-fundamentalist group who espoused equal rights, a secular government and a ban on the death penalty, whom the Regime wanted to exterminate because the opposition was becoming too strong.

The resolution stipulates that those responsible for the brutal massacre of the MEK should be held to account for their roles. None of them have ever been punished for this slaughter, not even under the supposed moderate Hassan Rouhani; who interestingly cannot account for his whereabouts during the massacre.

Last year, the Iranian Resistance, which includes the MEK as its largest group, revealed the names of 59 current Regime officials who were involved in the massacre of the MEK, including “Justice” Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi. Head of the Supreme Disciplinary Court for Judges Hossein-Ali Nayyeri, and Ebrahim Raisi, a member of the Assembly of Experts and 2017 presidential candidate.

Some of the co-sponsors include:

• Michael McCaul (Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee)

• Ed Royce (Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee)

• Eliot Engel (ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee)

• Pete Sessions (the Chair of House Rules Committee)

• Barbara Comstock

• Tom MacClintock

• Bill Keating

• Brad Sherman

• Donald Young

• Judy Chu

Back in March, six human rights organisations who consult with the UN signed a joint statement calling for justice for the MEK titled: “The 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran constitutes a crime against humanity”.

They recommended that the UN appoint a commission to investigate the massacre of the MEK and that the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, Asma Jahangir and Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, Pablo de Greiff, carry out an inquiry into the massacre.

Massacre of MEK

Then-Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini ordered a Fatwa to slaughter MEK members and supporters, even if they had already been sentenced to jail for their beliefs or already served their sentence in full.

The MEK supporters were put through a mock trial which lasted all of five minutes, where they were asked ‘What is your political affiliation?’ before being sentenced to death. They were then buried in secret mass graves and their families were given no information on them.

This move was criticised by then-heir to the supreme leader Hossein Ali Montazeri, who wanted the Death Commissions against executing pregnant women as it violated Shiite law and called the massacre "the greatest crime that the Islamic Republic of Iran has committed and the history will condemn us".

He was then stripped of his power and sentenced to house arrest until his death in 2009. His comments came to light last year, after his son, Ahmad, released the audio of the conversation online. Ahmad was then sentenced to 21 years in prison.

In February, a political science professor at Tehran State University, who supported President Rouhani admitted to the massacre on his website.

Sadegh Zibakalam wrote: “The Iranian regime, has killed thousands of MEK members just like killers of Imam Hossain (a 7th-century revolutionary Shiite leader who made the ultimate sacrifice for social justice in the face of corruption and tyranny). Thousands of members of the People's Mujahedeen opposition organisation (MEK) were killed without any trial and any proof of the crime on them, during the first years after the revolution.”

More about the People’s Mojahdin Organization of Iran (PMOI/ MEK)

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (Also known as MEK, or Mujahedin-e-Khalq / Mujahedeen-e-Khalq), was founded on September 6, 1965, by Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen, and Ali-Asghar Badizadgan. All engineers, they had earlier been members of the Freedom Movement (also known as the Liberation Movement), created by Medhi Bazargan in May 1961.1
The MEK’s quest culminated in a true interpretation of Islam, which is inherently tolerant and democratic, and fully compatible with the values of modern-day civilization. It took six years for the MEK to formulate its view of Islam and develop a strategy to replace Iran’s dictatorial monarchy with a democratic government.

MEK’s interpretation of Islam

The theocratic mullah regime in Iran believe interpreting Islam is their exclusive domain. The MEK reject this view and the cleric’s reactionary vision of Islam. The MEK’s comprehensive interpretation of Islam proved to be more persuasive and appealing to the Iranian youth.

MEK’s founders and new members studied the various schools of thought, the Iranian history and those of other countries, enabling them to analyze other philosophies and ideologies with considerable knowledge and to present their own ideology, based on Islam, as the answer to Iran’s problems.

MEK’s leadership’s arrest during the 70s.

The Shah’s notorious secret police, SAVAK, arrested all MEK leaders and most of its member’s in1971. On May 1972, the founders of the MEK, Mohammad Hanifnejad , Saeed Mohsen and Ali Asghar Badizadegan, along with two members of the MEK leadership, Mahmoud Askarizadeh and Rasoul Meshkinfam, were put before death squads and were executed after long months of imprisonment and torture.
They were the true vanguards, who stood against the dictatorial regime of Shah. However, they are also recognized for their opposition to what is today known as Islamic fundamentalism.

Kazem Rajavi

The death sentence of Massoud Rajavi, a member of MEK’s central committee, was commuted to life imprisonment as a result of an international campaign by his Geneva based brother, Dr. Kazem Rajavi (assassinated in April 1990 in Geneva by mullahs’ agents) and the personal intervention of the French President Georges Pompidou and Francois Mitterrand. He was the only survivor of the MEK original leadership.

Massoud Rajavi’s critical role in characterizing religious extremism

Massoud Rajavi

From 1975 to 1979, while incarcerated in different prisons, Massoud Rajavi led the MEK’s struggle while constantly under torture for his leading position.

Massoud Rajavi stressed the need to continue the struggle against the shah’s dictatorship. At the same time, he characterized religious fanaticism as the primary internal threat to the popular opposition, and warned against the emergence and growth of religious fanaticism and autocracy. He also played a crucial role when some splinter used the vacuum in the MEK leadership who were all executed or imprisoned at the time, to claim a change of ideology and policy. Massoud Rajavi as the MEK leader condemn these individual’s misuse of MEK’s name while continuing to stress the struggle against dictatorship. His efforts while still in prison forced these individuals to no longer operating under the name of MEK and adopting a different name for their group. These positions remained the MEK’s manifesto until the overthrow of the shah’s regime.

Release of Political Prisoners on the last days of the Shah

A month before the 1979 revolution in Iran, the Shah was forced to flee Iran, never to return. All democratic opposition leaders had by then either been executed by the Shah’s SAVAK or imprisoned, and could exert little influence on the trend of events. Khomeini and his network of mullahs across the country, who had by and large been spared the wrath of SAVAK, were the only force that remained unharmed and could take advantage of the political vacuum. In France, Khomeini received maximum exposure to the world media. With the aid of his clerical followers, he hijacked a revolution that began with calls for democracy and freedom and diverted it towards his fundamentalist goals. Through an exceptional combination of historical events, Shiite clerics assumed power in Iran.

Khomeini’s gradual crackdown on MEK in fear of their popular support

In internal discourses, Rajavi the remaining leader of the MEK, argued that Khomeini represented the reactionary sector of society and preached religious fascism. Later, in the early days after the 1979 revolution, the mullahs, specifically Rafsanjani, pointed to these statements in inciting the hezbollahi club-wielders to attack the MEK.

Following the revolution, the MEK became Iran’s largest organized political party. It had hundreds of thousands of members who operated from MEK offices all over the country. MEK publication, ‘Mojahed’ was circulated in 500,000 copies.

Khomeini set up an Assembly of Experts comprised of sixty of his closest mullahs and loyalists to ratify the principle of velayat-e faqih (absolute supremacy of clerical rule) as a pillar of the Constitution. The MEK launched a nationwide campaign in opposition to this move, which enjoyed enormous popular support. Subsequently, the MEK refused to approve the new constitution based on the concept of velayat-e faqih, while stressing its observance of the law of the country to deny the mullahs any excuse for further suppression of MEK supporters who were regularly targeted by the regime’s official and unofficial thugs.

Khomeini sanctioned the occupation of the United States embassy in 1979 in order to create an anti-American frenzy, which facilitated the holding of a referendum to approve his Constitution, which the MEK rejected.

MEK’s endeavors to participate in the political process avoiding an unwanted conflict with government repressive forces

The MEK actively participated in the political process, fielding candidates for the parliamentary and presidential elections. The MEK also entered avidly into the national debate on the structure of the new Islamic regime, though was unsuccessful in seeking an elected constituent assembly to draft a constitution.

The MEK similarly made an attempt at political participation when [then] Massoud Rajavi ran for the presidency in January 1980. MEK’s leader was forced to withdraw when Khomeini ruled that only candidates who had supported the constitution in the December referendum – which the MEK had boycotted- were eligible. Rajavi’s withdrawal statement emphasized the MEK’s efforts to conform to election regulations and reiterated the MEK’s intention to advance its political aims within the new legal system”. (Unclassified report on the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/ MEK) by the Department of State to the United States House of Representatives, December 1984.)

However, the MEK soon found itself in a direct struggle against the forces of the regime’s Supreme leader. The MEK’s differences with Khomeini dated back to the 1970s, and stem from its opposition to what is known today as Islamic extremism. Angry at the position taken by the MEK against his regime and worried about the MEK’s growing popularity, Khomeini ordered a brutal crackdown against the MEK and its supporters. Between 1979 and 1981, some 70 MEK members and sympathizers were killed and several thousand more were imprisoned by the Iranian regime.

June 20, 1981- Khomeini’s order to open fire on peaceful demonstration of half-a-million supporters of MEK

The turning point came on 20th June 1981, when the MEK called a demonstration to protest at the regime’s crackdown, and to call for political freedom which half-a-million supporters participated at. Khomeini ordered the Revolutionary Guards to open fire on the swelling crowd, fearing that without absolute repression the democratic opposition (MEK) would force him to engage in serious reforms – an anathema as far as he was concerned; he ordered the mass and summary executions of those arrested.

Since then, MEK activists have been the prime victims of human rights violations in Iran. Over 120,000 of its members and supporters have been executed by the Iranian regime, 30,000 of which, were executed in a few months in the summer of 1988, on a direct fatwa by Khomeini, which stated any prisoners who remain loyal to the MEK must be executed.

Having been denied its fundamental rights and having come under extensive attack at the time that millions of its members, supporters and sympathizers had no protection against the brutal onslaught of the Iranian regime, the MEK had no choice but to resist against the mullahs’ reign of terror.

“Towards the end of 1981, many of the members of the MEK and supporters went into exile. Their principal refuge was in France. But in 1986, after negotiations between the French and the Iranian authorities, the French government effectively treated them as undesirable aliens, and the leadership of the MEK with several thousand followers relocated to Iraq.” (Judgment of the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission, November 30, 2007.)

MEK Today

The MEK today is the oldest and largest anti-fundamentalist Muslim group in the Middle East. It has been active for more than a half century, battling two dictatorships and a wide range of issues. The MEK supports:

• Universal suffrage as the sole criterion for legitimacy

• Pluralistic system of governance

• Respect for individual freedoms

• Ban on the death penalty

• Separation of religion and state

• Full gender equality

• Equal participation of women in political leadership. MEK is actually led by its central committee consist of 1000 women.

• Modern judicial system that emphasizes the principle of innocence, a right to a defense, and due process

• Free markets

• Relations with all countries in the world

• Commitment to a non-nuclear Iran

The MEK remains a strong and cohesive organization, with a broad reach both worldwide and deep within Iran. MEK is the leading voice for democracy in Iran, supported by its interpretation of Islam that discredits the fundamentalist mullahs’ regime.

Iran Regime's Ballistic Missile Programme: Exposed by MEK Intelligence Network

                                                                            Alireza jafarzadeh

Iran Focus

London, 22 Jun - The Iranian Resistance group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) held a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, to expose the real threat of the Iranian Regime’s ballistic weapons programme.

It appears that in the wake of the nuclear deal, which severely limited the research and development of nuclear weapons in Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to focus on their ballistic missiles instead.

Members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the largest faction within the NCRI, revealed 42 sites related to the production, testing, and launching of ballistic missiles.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, Deputy Director of the NCRI’s US office, said: “A dozen of these sites were revealed for the very first time. Among the 42 sites, 15 are part of the regime’s missile manufacturing network. These 15 centres include several factories related to a missile industry group and together form a web of dozens of missile production facilities.”

Four of these sites (Semnan, eastern Tehran, Lar, south-central Iran, Khorramabad, western Iran and Karaj, western Tehran) were highlighted by the MEK sources as particularly important. 

Only two of these are officially recognised by the Iranian Regime indicating that, as when the MEK revealed Iran’s nuclear programme, the Regime is trying to hide their intentions.

The Regime has claimed that they are building and launching missiles, as they did in Syria on Sunday, in order to defeat ISIS but Jafarzadeh rebuffed that.

He said: “The primary reason for launching these missiles was in no way ISIS.”

The Regime has also been working with North Korea on the missiles and missile sites and it is worrying that they could easily combine the ballistic missiles with nuclear weapons once the nuclear deal runs out in less than 10 years.

Shahriar Kia, an Iran expert and human rights activist, wrote on American Thinker: “In contrast to the ruling mullahs in Tehran, the Iranian people welcome change and deploy the regime’s nuclear and missile programs, and abhor their meddling across the region.”

He continued: “It is high time the international community adopted a united and firm policy on Iran based on the following pillars: Imposing sweeping sanctions targeting Iran’s missile program and blacklisting the IRGC for its role in directing Iran’s support of terrorism.”

Over the past two decades, the MEK have provided the US and its allies with large amounts of information on the secret plans of the Iranian Regime from their nuclear programme to their terrorist training camps.