Support change in Iran. Support Maryam Rajavi!

[atatwolf]

They should jam these nutters in the loony bin. I can't believe there are people who consider MEK to be legit.

And in the same breath you would say that the Mullah are sane.

 

[Abii]

lol ata, you're such a noob

 

[Hack-Hook]

ata the desperate he intrestingly choose the subject that 99.999 % of iranian are united about it .

She looks like she's for human rights and freedom for Iranis.

Unlike the terrorist in your profile picture who was for continued war in the middle east and continued terrorism.

Thankfully he won't be doing anymore of that

Sincerely with all of my existence,I hope she gave you the freedom and human right she gave to the all poor soul she brainwashed formerly at camp ashraf and right now at camp liberty .

 

[raptor22]

She looks like she's for human rights and freedom for Iranis.

Unlike the terrorist in your profile picture who was for continued war in the middle east and continued terrorism.

Thankfully he won't be doing anymore of that

Have you read previous posts? she and her terrorist organization killed around 17000 Iranian civilians .... including Iran elected president, prime minister, parliament spokesman and 72 MPs ...

 

[Syrian Lion]

There is a reason why I'm not as active on this forum as much, it is filled with idiots opening dumb threads...

 

[GBU-28]

Have you read previous posts? she and her terrorist organization killed around 17000 Iranian civilians .... including Iran elected president, prime minister, parliament spokesman and 72 MPs ...

I've read her wiki and it doesn't mention anything about mass murder.

Or is this what they tell you in Iran about every Iranian in exile? that they're criminals etc?

 

[The Last of us]

Maryam Rajavi

Seriously, these turks and wahabis are badly reducing the quality of this forum with their pathetic posts. These people are so desperate for propaganda that they're posting whatever nonsense they'll find on the internet.

 

[raptor22]

I've read her wiki and it doesn't mention anything about mass murder.

Or is this what they tell you in Iran about every Iranian in exile? that they're criminals etc?

Maybe you need to expand your knowledge by reading more sources ... but by the end of day your idea can not change anything 'cause majority of Iranian hate them ... if they had any support within Iran they didn't need to stay in abroad.

 

[GBU-28]

. if they had any support within Iran they didn't need to stay in abroad.

Well that's plainly not true.

Your regime does not allow for open dissent of the kind that espouses democracy or any activism that calls for freedoms.

You put hundreds of Iranians under arrest for the 2009 protests.

Your regime is a brutal one. Surely you know this.

 

[Madali]

Well that's plainly not true.

Your regime does not allow for open dissent of the kind that espouses democracy or any activism that calls for freedoms.

You put hundreds of Iranians under arrest for the 2009 protests.

Your regime is a brutal one. Surely you know this.

You are right. Iran doesn't allow a group that has assassinated Iranians and joined Saddam to fight our country. So closed minded of us.

 

[atatwolf]

I've read her wiki and it doesn't mention anything about mass murder.

Or is this what they tell you in Iran about every Iranian in exile? that they're criminals etc?

Iranians in exile can be divided into two groups. One with Alzheimer and one without Alzheimer. Most Iranians don't like the Mullah for the crimes done upon them and the crimes the Mullah are committing now in Iran and abroad but there is also a group that has Alzheimer and likes their victimizer. Notice how they demonize Maryam Rajavi and try to make the Mullah look like angels. Also notice how they never gives sources. They just accuse and smear the other side like they always do.

 

[Madali]

I can give you a million sources but it wouldn't matter. You are just being obnoxious and promoting willful ignorance.

However, if you are interested in learning more about MEK, I am willing to put in an effort to find you good sources.

But if you just want to keep poking us with a stick, then o can better utilize my time.

 

[GBU-28]

I can give you a million sources but it wouldn't matter. You are just being obnoxious and promoting willful ignorance.

However, if you are interested in learning more about MEK, I am willing to put in an effort to find you good sources.

But if you just want to keep poking us with a stick, then o can better utilize my time.

I saw a video in which Iraq Shias were killing so called "terrorist group" MEK on the orders of Tehran. They attacked them in the desert. None of them were armed. They were gunned down like animals and even run over with 4x4's.

Are you sure you're being told the truth by your regime?

 

[Madali]

I saw a video in which Iraq Shias were killing so called "terrorist group" MEK on the orders of Tehran. They attacked them in the desert. None of them were armed. They were gunned down like animals and even run over with 4x4's.

Are you sure you're being told the truth by your regime?

I never just listen to one side. I try to mix up my information as much as possible to best be able to formulate an opinion.

I don't think I'm allowed to post links yet, so I'm copying and pasting the below from a BBC article:

BBC:

"Not only was the MEK heavily armed and designated as terrorist by the US government, it also had some very striking internal social policies.

For example, it required its members in Iraq to divorce. Why? Because love was distracting them from their struggle against the mullahs in Iran.

So the MEK leadership asked its members to send their children away to foster families in Europe. Europe would be safer, the group explained.

Some parents have not seen their children for 20 years and more.

And just to add to the mix, former members consistently describe participating in regular public confessions of their sexual fantasies.

You might think that would set alarm bells ringing - and for some US officers it did.

One colonel I spoke to, who had daily contact with the MEK leadership for six months in 2004, said that the organisation was a cult, and that some of the members who wanted to get out had to run away...

...

...He joined the MEK hoping to help Iranian democracy and did not like what he saw.

He says that after three years he asked to leave, but was told he couldn't. He stayed for 12 years.

He now says joining the MEK was the biggest mistake of his life and he has expressed that feeling in an unusual way...
...
...In over 25 years of reporting, I have been lied to often enough but, as successive former MEK members told what they had been through, their tears seemed real enough to me..."

 

[raptor22]

Well that's plainly not true.

Your regime does not allow for open dissent of the kind that espouses democracy or any activism that calls for freedoms.

You put hundreds of Iranians under arrest for the 2009 protests.

Your regime is a brutal one. Surely you know this.

When you enjoy support of your people you revolt, usually you don't need to bribe people to whitewash all $hits you have been involved for you ...

The Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), or People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, is an Iranian dissident group that has been formally designated for the last 15 years by the US State Department as a "foreign terrorist organization". When the Bush administration sought to justify its attack on Iraq in 2003 by accusing Saddam Hussein of being a sponsor of "international terrorism", one of its prime examples was Iraq's "sheltering" of the MEK. Its inclusion on the terrorist list has meant that it is a felony to provide any "material support" to that group.

Nonetheless, a large group of prominent former US government officials from both political parties has spent the last several years receiving substantial sums of cash to give speeches to the MEK, and have then become vocal, relentless advocates for the group, specifically for removing them from the terrorist list. Last year, the Christian Science Monitor thoroughly described "these former high-ranking US officials - who represent the full political spectrum - [who] have been paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak in support of the MEK." They include Democrats Howard Dean, Ed Rendell, Wesley Clark, Bill Richardson, and Lee Hamilton, and Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Fran Townsend, Tom Ridge, Michael Mukasey, and Andrew Card. Other prominent voices outside government, such as Alan Dershowitz and Elie Wiesel, have been enlisted to the cause and are steadfast MEK advocates.

Money has also been paid to journalists such as The Washington Post's Carl Bernstein and the Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page. Townsend is a CNN contributor and Rendell is an MSNBC contributor, yet those MEK payments are rarely, if ever, disclosed by those media outlets when featuring those contributors (indeed, Townsend can go on CNN to opine on Iran, even urging that its alleged conduct be viewed as "an act for war", with no disclosure whatsoever during the segment of her MEK payments). Quoting a State Department official, CSM detailed how the scheme works:

"'Your speech agent calls, and says you get $20,000 to speak for 20 minutes. They will send a private jet, you get $25,000 more when you are done, and they will send a team to brief you on what to say.' . . . The contracts can range up to $100,000 and include several appearances."

On Friday, the Guardian's Washington reporter Chris McGreal added substantial information about the recipients of the funding and, especially, its sources. As he put it, the pro-MEK campaign "has seen large sums of money directed at three principal targets: members of Congress, Washington lobby groups and influential former officials", including the GOP Congressman who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers.​

Q&A: what is the MEK and why did the US call it a terrorist organisation?
The MEK cut a 'swath of terror' in the Middle East, but leaders have worked hard to convince the west they are peaceful now

Friday 21 September 2012 15.21 EDT Last modified on Wednesday 8 October 2014 11.55 EDT


Why did the US designate the MEK a terrorist organisation in 1997?

The MEK's supporters say it was banned as a move by the Clinton administration to appease the Iranian government. The US state department, which decides which groups to include on the list of designated terrorist organisations, points to a long and bloody history.

The MEK ran a bombing campaign inside Iran against the Shah's regime the 1970s. The targets were sometimes American, including the US information office, Pepsi Cola, PanAm and General Motors. The group routinely denounced Zionism and "racist Israel", and called for "death to America".

A state department report in 1992 identified the MEK as responsible for the killing of six Americans in Iran during the 1970s. They included three military officers and three men working for Rockwell International, a conglomerate specialising in aerospace including weapons, who were murdered in retaliation for the arrest of MEK members over the killings of the US military officers.

The MEK was an enthusiastic supporter of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran following the Iranian revolution. It called the eventual release of the American hostages a "surrender".

After falling out with Iran's new rulers, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, the MEK launched a bomb campaign against the Islamic government. In 1981, it attacked the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, killing 74 senior officials including the party leader and 27 members of parliament. A few months later it bombed a meeting of Iran's national security council, killing Iran's president and the prime minister.


The state department described the MEK as cutting a "swath of terror" across the country in the following years and of "violent attacks in Iran that victimise civilians".

"Since 1981 the [MEK] have claimed responsibility for murdering thousands of Iranians they describe as agents of the regime," the report said.

The bombings continued into the 1990s including one at Khomeini's tomb and against oil refineries.

Who supported the MEK?

After the MEK leadership fell out with the Islamic regime it fled first to Paris. France expelled the MEK leader, Masud Rajavi, in 1986. The group then ran into the arms of Iran's enemy, the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. Iraq helped arm the MEK's thousands of fighters with artillery, guns and tanks and housed them in three camps near Baghdad and along the border with Iran. Baghdad also supplied money.

Saddam Hussein helped arm the MEK's fighters. Photograph: AP
The MEK's armed wing, the National Liberation Army (NLA), conducted raids into Iran during the last stages of the Iran-Iraq war. It also became a tool of Saddam Hussein's campaign of internal oppression.

"The NLA's last major offensive reportedly was conducted against Iraqi Kurds in 1991 when it joined Saddam Hussein's brutal repression of the Kurdish rebellion," the state department report said.

The last major act of violence committed by the MEK in the west was in 1992 when it stormed Iranian diplomatic missions in the US, Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Switzerland. The assault was in response to an Iranian air force bombing raid on an MEK base in Iraq.

Wouldn't the killing of Americans, calls for the destruction of Israel and supporting Saddam Hussein be enough to scare off any American politician from ever supporting the MEK?


The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 changed everything for the MEK. Its fighters at Camp Ashraf, near the Iranian border, and other sites near Baghdad were disarmed by the Americans. The MEK leadership moved swiftly to distance itself from Saddam Hussein, emphasising its opposition to the Islamic government in Tehran and casting its supporters as selfless and long suffering supporters of freedom and democracy. From then on the MEK reinvented itself in American eyes.

Two decades ago, the state department identified the MEK as running what it called "a determined lobbying effort among western parliamentarians".

"To conduct its propaganda campaign the group has established offices through western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and the Middle East," it said. "Through such efforts, the (MEK) attempt to transform western opprobrium for the government of Iran into expressions of support for themselves".

The MEK leadership has played on opposition to the present Iranian leadership, which is in part bound up with concerns among US politicians over Tehran's nuclear programme and fears for Israel's security, to bury its past by portraying itself as a democratic and popular alternative to the Islamic regime.

"Exploiting western opprobrium of the behaviour of the current government of Iran, the (MEK) posit themselves as the alternative. To achieve that goal, they claim they have the support of a majority of Iranians. This claim is much disputed by academics and other specialists on Iran, who assert that in fact the MEK have little support among Iranians," it said.

The state department report quotes an American journalist as saying of the MEK: "They hope to transform their public image in America from terrorists to freedom fighters".

It appears to have been largely successful in that. Few of the MEK's American backers appear to know the detail of its past, particularly the scale of its killing and the depth of its hostility to the US and Israel. Instead it described as a loyal and useful ally. Supporters say that it was the MEK that first provided the US with information about Iran's nuclear programme.

Has the MEK changed?

It has certainly abandoned violence, at least for now. But that is in part because it was forcibly disarmed by the US army in Iraq. It also recognises that since 9/11, bombing attacks by a mostly Muslim organisation are not likely to win it friends in the west.

In exile, the MEK leadership established the National Council of Resistance which has evolved into what the group calls a parliament in exile.

But the MEK is far from democratic. It is autocratically run by a husband and wife, Masud and Maryam Rajavi, who the state department say have "fostered a cult of personality".


In its 1992 report on the MEK, the state department said the group's leadership "never practices democracy within their organisation".


"Many Iranians who have dealt with MEK members assert that the [MEK] suppress dissent, often with force, and do not tolerate different viewpoints. The [MEK's] credibility is also undermined by the fact that they deny or distort sections of their history, such as the use of violence or opposition to Zionism. It is difficult to accept at face value promises of future conduct when an organisation fails to acknowledge its past," the report said.

So what is the likelihood of the MEK being unbanned?

As part of their campaign, the MEK's supporters have won a federal court order requiring the state department to make a decision on whether the group should remain on the designated terrorist list by October 1.

Some pro-MEK activists have interpreted that as a foregone conclusion that the state department will have to delist the organisation. They have been bolstered by its unbanning in Europe.

The MEK's well financed and organised lobbying campaign has placed enormous pressure on the state department to delist the group. But the state department has warned the MEKthat its status will in part be decided over whether it obeys a demand to leave its main camp in Iraq. Its refusal, so far, to move remaining supporters from Camp Ashraf – where it used to train its paramilitary fighters – to a former US military base near Baghdad is said by the state department to be a significant obstacle to delisting the group.

The MEK has moved 2,000 of the 3,200 people who were living in Camp Ashraf but refuses to shift the rest. The MEK has portrayed the issue as a humanitarian one to its sympathisers in Washington, saying that all that remains in Camp Ashraf are families and that conditions in the Baghdad camp are inadequate. They say it is effectively a prison – even going so far as to call it a concentration camp – and alleged they will be vulnerable to violence from the Iraqi government and forces.

Some US officials say that those refusing to leave shows that the MEK has not really abandoned its past.