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http://voiceofrussia.com/us/2013_11_25/Derailing-diplomacy-MEK-weighs-in-on-Iran-nuke-talks-TomRidge-interview-9585/

Derailing diplomacy: MEK weighs in on Iran nuke talks & Tom Ridge interview
Voiceofrussia.com, November 25, 2013 By Sean Nevins WASHINGTON (VOR) Last week while the outlines of a historic interim deal were being hashed out between the P5+1 nations and Iran, a last ditch effort to derail diplomacy and garner support for regime change in the Islamic Republic took place on Capitol Hill organized by the Peoples Mujahedin of Iran, also known as the the MEK. VORs Sean Nevins writes about the event, as well as his one on-one interview with former Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, and a discussion with the MEKs political arm. The MEK, which according to U.S. Department of State, has been involved in the assassinations of American citizens and committed abuse against its own members, held a congressional briefing about a group of MEK members that were kidnapped following an attack on their compound in Iraq on September 1st of this year.

Tom Ridge speking on a MEK ralley in front of the White House. | AP Photo

Prominent US officials, such as John Bolton (Fmr. US Ambassador to the United Nations), Tom Ridge and Brad Sherman (D-CA), attended and spoke on behalf of the MEK. However, rather than focusing on the legitimately tragic events that took place against the MEK and its compound in Iraq, speakers zeroed in on the Iranian nuclear deal and its potential problems while also supporting regime change in the country. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texass 18th District, said, I want to see Iran disarmed, totally disarmed while Randy Weber, a Republican also from Texas, said, We need regime change. Thats pure and simple. None of the speakers over the two-hour time span supported diplomatic efforts taking place in Geneva. A one-on-one with Tom Ridge (Fmr. Secretary of Homeland Security) Following the briefing, Voice of Russia, intercepted Tom Ridge and asked him about his support for the MEK, an organization that has killed American citizens in the past. He denied the veracity of the claims, calling them allegations, and said that, if true, the people at Liberty and Ashraf [the camps in Iraq] werent involved in those assassinations back then. This answer is despite the that fact that the State Department, Human Rights Watch, and the Rand Corporation say that the MEK was involved with those killings. Additionally, Voice of Russia asked the former Secretary about allegations by the same aforementioned organizations that the MEK has abused its own members in the Iraqi camps. Again, the Secretary continues on page 3...

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http://mondoweiss.net/2013/11/interview-former-mojahedin.html

The Cult in the Shadow War: An Interview with a former member of Mojahedin-e-Khalq
Mondoweiss.net, November 26, 2013 By Richard Potter Masoud Banisadr was an active member of the controversial Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK, PMOI) for twenty years, serving as the organizations representative to the United Nations and to the United States during his tenure. The group is largely obscured from public discourse, or more recently veiled in headlines describing them as political dissidents or refugees. To those more familiar with the group the debate tends to focus primarily on their nature. For many MEK is a dangerous terrorist organization, yet for others they are freedom fighters and the only legitimate alternative to the Iranian Government. Theyve been subject to several pieces suggesting they work as assassins for the United States and Israel. Masoud has published a book called Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel about his experience in the organization, which he very candidly describes in detail as a cult, and one that has long lost its strength and vibrance. He now focuses much of his work on the research and understanding of cults, terrorism, and cult behavior within those structures. Richard Potter: How long were you active in MEK? Masoud Banisadr: I left MEK 1996. Before that I was the representative in the United States and the United Nations. You were only in the political arm? Yes. You would have joined in 1976 when it was a more political guerilla movement? Yes at the time I joined them I was a PhD student in UK in New Castle University. I was married and I had a little daughter. Of course I married young, so everything was very fast. We married in UK far from Iran, but the only source of news we had during the Iranian revolution was from MEK. So because of the past history and the number of martyrs the MEK had against the Shah we trusted them. The slogans they gave were about freedom and democracy and equal rights, womens rights, minority rights. All destructive cults are like some lizards and can change colors very rapidly to their surroundings.

Masoud Banisadr How did this change? What happened in 1981 is that Massoud Rajavi (The head of MEK until 2003. Currently believed dead or in hiding) saw that he had attracted so many students and he thought he could repeat the Bolshevik revolution of Russia in Iran. So what he did was he suddenly on 20 June 1981 asked all members and supporters to come to the streets of Tehran and overthrow the new establishment. MEK says that 500,000 people came to the streets. They failed. They failed and they couldnt do anything and from the next day they changed into a clandestine organization. Between the summer of 1981 the MEK went through many terrorist actions. They bombed the Islamic revolution party buildings. They killed the new President and Premier of Iran, and then they killed at Friday prayers in different cities through suicide operation, they killed different imams through suicide operations. They themselves claim that within one year that they killed almost 1400 people, high officials and supporters of the new establishment in Iran. At the same time they claimed 2000 of their members were killed in street clashes with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. In Iran what

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they were doing was what they called heroic terrorism operations later they thought the word terrorism had a bad connotation, especially in the west and they changed it to heroic actions. Most of their supporters in Iran were those who joined this group because of its peaceful nature. For the democratic liberal and pro social justice nature, so they were not ready to change into terrorist or even guerrillas. People are ready to vote for a party, but not to fight for that party. You refer to MEK as a destructive cult, when do you believe they transformed from a political group or a guerilla group to a cult? What happened was within Iran they were left losing 99% of their member. Only 2,000 to 3000 members left in Iran. Most of them were gone because of change of policy from peaceful demonstration to terrorist activities and street fighting. Even those who could become radicals were either killed in street clashes or by execution by the government. They lost the battle in Iran. Outside of Iran they were portraying themselves as the democratic alternative to the Iranian government. Two of the most important allies of theirs were ex Iranian President Banisadr and the Kurdish democratic party of Kurdish Iran. These two left the National Council of Resistance in 1984, suddenly this coalition of Rajavi and others turned into the pseudonym MEK. In 1983 they could get support from the labor party of UK and the socialist party of France, but after this they did not have it anymore. MEK was on the verge of disintegration, so he had to do something, which is why I think he did what was called the ideological revolution, which is when it became a destructive cult. Youve written about the organization forcing you to divorce your wife at this point, can you elaborate? At this time they were telling me that my wife was what they called revoluted- meaning that she had accepted the ideological revolution and she was now a disciple of Mr. and Mrs. Rajavi and if I wanted to leave the group I had to leave my wife and my children as well. This was my main problem. It wasnt just leaving the group it was leaving my children and the love of my life. I tried to rationalize it and I tried to stay in the group. Then there was some time later when they asked me to divorce my wife, again it was the same problem. Then I was in the United States and everything was wrong and slogans were wrong and meaningless, everything they said was meaningless. How did you rationalize all of this?
continues on page 4 ...

continued from page 1 - Derailing diplomacy...

challenged the veracity of the claims. He said, I think the Rand report, Im not sure about the Human Rights [Watch report], has been discredited for many, many years. This answer also came despite the fact that the State Department has said, the Department does not overlook or forget the MEKs past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of U.S. citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on U.S. soil in 1992. The Department also has serious concerns about the MEK as an organization, particularly with regard to allegations of abuse committed against its own members. With regards to the talks going on in Geneva at the time, Ridge told Voice of Russia, I think a bad deal is worse than no deal. During his presentation, he also emphasized that he did not support negotiations. My own encounter with the MEK Following my discussion with Tom Ridge, two people named Ali Safavi and Ben Borhani, from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is a political arm of the MEK, approached me to inquire about my questioning of the Secretary. They claimed that my concerns were part of a massive propaganda campaign targeted against the MEK by the Iranian regime. I invited Mr. Safavi to come into the Voice of Russia studio on another date to voice his organizations views, and so I could moderate a debate between himself and, if possible, a member of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). I have no idea if a member of NIAC would agree to such a debate but will not have to find out as Mr. Safavi declined the request. He then alleged that Trita Parsi, the president of NIAC, is acting as a lobby for the [Iranian] regime, which is laughable as NIAC is stalwart in their criticisms of human rights violations by the Ayatollah and other government officials in Iran. For example, NIAC frequently criticizes the Iranian governments treatment of Bahais, who are not allowed to attend university in Iran, and are frequently murdered and imprisoned for their beliefs. However, Mr. Safavi did invite VOR into the NCRI offices to further discuss his organization and its plans, which we will do in the near future. The 2009 Rand report on the MEK says they are skilled manipulators of public opinion. It says that the group has a long history of deception. Included in the report is an account of how the MEK has lied to the US government in the past in order to achieve favorable status as detainees at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.

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continued from page 3 - The Cult...

There is an experiment where they put a live frog in a pot and they turn the heat up degree by degree. Outside the pot is cold, inside the pot is warm. The frog wont jump out of the pot. It can but it wont. Its because the outside is cold. But when its realized that it is boiling and it is cooking the opportunity is gone because all of his muscles have been cooked. This is what happened to us. When the ideological revolution changed and we could see the pot was boiling, all of our muscles were cooked. All our self confidence or individuality that would help us jump out of the pot were gone. MEK was originally aligned with some of the Kurdish groups but later on there was a great deal of fighting between MEK and Kurdish groups. What caused this change? After the gulf war when Saddam lost the war the Kurds in the north and Shia in south thought they could revolt against Saddam Hussein and get rid of him. Unfortunately the US didnt help and this is why they lost. Since Saddams army wasnt in good shape after the war they asked MEK to attack some of the Kurdish guerillas in the north and MEK committed many atrocities. Of course then I was outside of Iraq and I couldnt believe that we did this. After I left the group and I met other who left I realized it was true. What we were told was we were fighting Iranian revolutionary guards who had Kurdish guards, and this is what I was believed. When the accusation was brought up at the UN or anyone I would deny it vehemently, but when I left the group and met ex MEK from that war I realized this wasnt an accusation, but a fact. They say they even killed women and children. Saddam was probably one of the only allies in the Middle East MEK had at that time, no? No. At this time Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were helping as well. As a matter of fact, Rajavi at one juncture traveled to Saudi Arabia and met the king. In MEK they showed us a video of him meeting the king. It was secret, the KSA and UAE support. Everyone knew about Saddam, but even within the group they didnt speak about KSA or UAE. I saw the video when I reached the highest rank men could go in MEK. When MEK had their last battle, Forough Javidan, which means eternal light, the plan was that MEK, with the help of Saddam Hussein, would take part of Iran and announce the government order over it, calling it the democratic Islamic government of Iran- Theyd go and capture western Iran and establish a government and immediately Saddam Hussein would recognize it and Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates would support it, and there were others. They were hoping Kuwait would join and

the United States could be pressured to acknowledge them and they could create a situation of pressure on Iran like North and South Vietnam, or Korea. This was their tactic. This one of the bloodiest incidents during this period, no? They failed. They lost a third of the members. As a matter of fact I was in that battle. I lost some of the muscles in my right soldier because I was shot. Of course, we were not trained, not for that battle. They said everyone had to attend, even representatives who werent in Iraq. So I had to go back to fight. I had no military training but I had to go. Rajavi wanted everyone to attend but himself and his wife. Im sorry to hear about this It was very horrible. There were 15 students who were from the United States, they were supporters. They were brought to Iraq and in the same night they were moved to the battle field. Because of my political rank I was a commander even though I had no military background. I didnt know anything about fighting. Only a few days before for the first time I saw a machine gun, and I only shot it once. So in the first battle I almost lost my life, I was shot and went unconscious and was take back to the hospital. Unfortunately I learned all 15 died because they didnt have any training, and because it was done so quickly no one asked them their names and nothing was recorded. I didnt even know their names. It was horrible. How did you eventually get out? In 1996 Maryam Rajavi (Wife of Massoud Rajavi and current head of MEK) was speaking in London and they asked me to come and mobilize supporters, and talk to British politicians and arrange meetings for Mrs. Rajavi, including Margaret Thatcher. So in London after five or six years I met my daughter. Before that she was 13 and now she was 18. I was faced with a lady. Emotions and feelings are very important in destructive cults. They isolate you from your loved ones, so you dont turn your emotions to your loved ones. In London I could see my daughter and my sister and my old friends. From early morning to midnight I had to see old friends, ex-supporters of MEK, and answering thousands of questions which internally I had no rational answer for any of them. So these things, my feelings between my friends and family helped me change. And also luck. I had an accident and back problems, and I was so active in London that I had to go to the hospital. My back gave out. Fortunately for me MEK was very busy then for Maryam Rajavi with different meetings, so they didnt care about me. If it was another juncture theyd make sure someone was with

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me, because MEK never leaves a member without a chaperone, always at least two with each other they watch and look after each other. So in the hospital I was alone for the almost a month and I could see normal relationships of people with each other. There was a guy beside who had an accident and I was helping him to shave his beard, or to feed him and so on, and this revived my individuality and my humanity and self confidence. All gradually it came back. When it came that I left the hospital I left MEK. I didnt reject them fully yet, but I realized I couldnt be with them anymore. There are many who believe MEK serves as proxy for the West and that they are allied, do you believe this? I dont think so. Another problem MEK has is that Americans and Europeans know MEK has no support. In the early eighties there was an illusion of support but it was realized there was no support. There are no demonstrations for MEK and no one comes to support them. Even in Iran anyone who hates the government, hate the mullahs, even the old supporters, if you ask them theyll say MEK is worse than the Mullahs. Western governments know this. Would the US repeat the same mistake they made in Afghanistan by supporting MEK where in Afghanistan they supported the Taliban but now they fight them. All of this aside it isnt said that they dont use MEK, because they do. As long as there is a bad relation with the United States and Iran they will use MEK. The Israelis, they also use MEK very much. But it doesnt mean that even the Israelis trust them. There was an accusation that the US was training MEK in Nevada to be used as assassins. Do you believe this? No I dont believe this. What is the average age of MEK members now/ I think it is about eighty. What do you want to do with people this old? I dont think so. Probably not even spying. The only use they might have for them may be in relation to some terrorist activities in Thailand and in Europe where they say Iran or Hezbollah are committing terrorist attacks against Israeli embassy or the personnel of the Israeli embassy. Probably they could use MEK to discredit the Iranian government or even Hezbollah because Politically I dont believe they use these tactics at this point, it would be political suicide for them. There was a story in the United States that came to the media and vanished about someone who was going to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States. Its possible they can create this news with MEK members to work against the Iranian government, but no real action.

http://www.unhcr.org/528b72259.html

UNHCR urges states to relocate former residents of Camp Ashraf

UNHCR.org, November 19, 2013 The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) calls for renewed efforts from states to relocate former Camp Ashraf residents, also known as Camp New Iraq. Since the 1 September 2013 attack on Camp New Iraq where 52 residents died, there has been limited progress in moving the remaining residents to a third country. UNHCR encourages all Member States to share in the international efforts, admit residents and offer them a long-term solution. UNHCR and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) also call upon the Government of Iraq to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of the residents. UNHCR and UNAMI remain gravely concerned about the fate of seven missing individuals formerly residing in Camp New Iraq who disappeared on 1 September and call on the authorities to locate them, ensure their wellbeing and safeguard them against any forcible return. Since 2011, UNHCR, together with UNAMI, has been engaged in an effort to find relocation opportunities outside Iraq for some 3,200 former residents of Camp New Iraq. In total, UNHCR has so far been able to secure the relocation to third countries of 300 residents.

UNHCR visit in Camp Liberty in September 2013 | AP Photo

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/11/26/uk-iraq-violence-mek-idUKBRE9AP0NH20131126

Iraq says no success tracing killers of Iranian dissidents

Reuters.com, November 26, 2013 By Suadad Al-Salhy (Reuters) - Iraq is hunting militants, still unidentified, who led a deadly attack on anI ranian dissident camp near Baghdad and dismisses suggestions its own security forces were behind the violence, a senior government official said. More than 50 people were killed at the dissident Mujahadine-Khalq (MEK) group's Camp Ashraf in September in an attack the United Nations described as "an atrocious crime" and which drew condemnation from the United States and Britain. Assailants took time to conduct execution-style killings and plant bombs. MEK, which the U.S. State Department removed from its list of terrorist organisations last year, wants Iran's clerical leaders overthrown and fought on former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's side during the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s. The group, which has accused Iraqi security forces of being behind the attack, is no longer welcome in Iraq under the Shi'ite Muslim-led government that came to power after U.S.led forces toppled Saddam in 2003. "The main thing that the investigations have revealed so far is that the Iraqi security forces were not involved in that attack and an unknown militant group was behind it," said Haider al-Akaili, who is part of a government committee overseeing the investigation, which was demanded by the U.N. Iraqi authorities have repeatedly denied involvement in the attack, in which camp residents also went missing. MEK says they were taken hostage by Iraqi forces and were flown to Amara province to be extradited to Iran. Akaili, who is an official in Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights, denied this: "Pictures of the alleged missing persons have been circulated to airports and checkpoints and we have not received any news about any of them," he told Reuters. The committee is headed by Iraq's national security chief and includes representatives from government ministries and the intelligence service as well as the U.N. Akaili added that 53 people had been killed, not 52 as originally reported by the U.N. which said its representatives had seen corpses with gunshot wounds and some with their hands tied. The additional victim had not been reported until now because his face had been burnt and he had not been previously identifiable as a camp member, Akaili said. The last residents moved out of the camp to a new base in September. The camp had housed around 100 MEK members at the time of the attack. Iraqi authorities have issued 148 arrest warrants for MEK members for crimes against Iraqis since 1991 but none have been arrested, according to officials. The group which attacked the camp appeared to have had ample time to execute the victims as well as plant bombs in cars and buildings which it detonated remotely, Akaili said. "The operation was elaborate, complicated and big," he said, adding that MEK members who had seen the attack had shown a "serious lack" of cooperation with investigating authorities. He raised the possibility that there had been a dispute within the camp and some of the attackers had come from inside it. Another scenario was that the seven missing people were behind the assault, he said. MEK numbered 4,174 members in Iraq up to 2003. The U.N. has resettled some 1,000 while 1,600 have declined to meet with officials, Akaili said. The rest are being resettled. (Editing by Sylvia Westall; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Iraqi policeman searches MEK-member at Camp Ashraf |AP Photo

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continued from page 8 - Lindsey Graham ...

Republicans hard-line stance on sanctions against the Iranian government and his denunciation of its human rights abuses. To me, Abooali added, the politics of appeasement is hurting us. Graham is very much a hard-liner on the issue. The outspoken member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who faces several conservative primary challengers back home, is pressing for stepped-up sanctions against the Islamic Republic even as the Obama administration works to clinch a deal to curb the countrys nuclear program. Grahams push for tougher sanctions an issue that could become a sticking point this week with the Senate expected to take up its annual defense authorization bill has won him the backing of a number of supporters of the MEK. His roster of donors last quarter includes two names that match those listed as having signed a 2011 letter urging then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to overturn the groups terrorist designation. Others match the names of those listed as having commented in support of the group in online forums or signed pro-MEK petitions. Each of the contributions was refunded. During routine due diligence by campaign staff, it was discovered that a few donors had associations the campaign was uncomfortable with, said campaign spokesman Tate Zeigler, who declined to provide further details. In an abundance of caution, he said, the contributions were refunded. Last quarter, the Graham campaign sent refunds to 24 donors totaling $44,825 according to its latest filings with the Federal Election Commission. But not all of the refunds were because of the contributors associations, Zeigler said. A significant number were because the donors had exceeded their federal limit. In all, Grahams campaign hauled in $1.2 million in the past quarter and has raised $6.2 million this election cycle. His recent donors include the political action committees for a number of top defense contractors Raytheon, General Atomics and BAE Systems, among others along with a personal contribution from former President Bush. Abooali said he had no hard feelings over his rejected contribution, noting that Graham never asked for his

support. He also said he would donate again to any politician who takes sides with the Iranian people and works to strengthen sanctions against the regime. Earlier this year, Abooali contributed to two other Iran hawks, giving $2,600 to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and $1,000 to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Neither campaign reported sending Abooali a refund, nor did either respond to questions about whether they have concerns about accepting donations from a supporter of the MEK. The State Department revoked the groups designation as a foreign terrorist organization in September 2012, saying its decision was based on three factors: The MEK had renounced violence, its members hadnt committed any confirmed acts of terrorism in more than a decade and it had cooperated in the peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf, a refugee camp in Iraq where thousands of members of the MEK had lived in exile since the 1980s. The department does not overlook or forget the MEKs past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of U.S. citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on U.S. soil in 1992, a senior State Department official said last year, speaking to reporters on background. The decision came after a lobbying blitz complete with television ads, speaking gigs and columns in a number of major newspapers urging Clinton to overturn the terrorist designation, which dated to 1997. Last year, for example, Ridge co-wrote a pro-MEK op-ed with retired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Hugh Shelton and former Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island. The regime in Tehran views MEK as an existential threat because MEK strives to replace the unelected, clerical regime with a liberal democracy that champions a nonnuclear Iranian future, equal rights for women and minorities, and a free press, they wrote in the op -ed, published online by Fox News. But, they continued, the major opposition to the mullahs is being prevented from realizing these dreams of freedom for the Iranian people because both Iran and the U.S. designate them as a terrorist organization.

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http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/lindsey-graham-donation-iranian-exile-group-99752.html#ixzz2mV5isewh

Lindsey Graham returns donation to Iranian exile group

politico.com, September 13, 2013 By Austin Wright Masood Abooali contributed $2,600 in August to Sen. Lindsey Grahams reelection campaign. The next month, the Iranian-American received a refund, along with a terse explanation: The campaign was uncomfortable with some of his associations and had rejected his contribution. Abooali, a 56-year-old engineer who lives in Northern Virginia, left Iran 30 years ago and is now a U.S. citizen. He said in an interview hes a former political prisoner detained three times for a total of two years of the regime in Iran that came to power in its 1979 revolution. Hes also a supporter but, he emphasized, not a member of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, known as the MEK, a leftist group of Iranian exiles pushing for the overthrow of the regime. Grahams push for tougher Iranian sanctions has won him many MEK supporters. | AP Photo

Last year, the State Department removed the MEK from its list of designated terrorist organizations after a number of defense heavyweights spoke out on the groups behalf, including former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Frances Townsend, who was a homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush. For his part, Abooali said his past is clear of any violence or any activity against the United States, which I am proudly a citizen of. Im a hardworking family man concerned for my family that I left behind, concerned for my mother who I havent seen in 30 years, he said, explaining that he contributed to Grahams reelection campaign because of the South Carolina
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