April 6, 2010

Huffington Post - One of the unsubstantiated allegations against the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) is that it was involved in the suppression of Iraqi Kurds and Shiites in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The source of this allegation, which later found its way into a 1994 Department of State report on the MEK,[1] and subsequently in the Department's Country Reports on Terrorism, is none other than the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).

The fact is that in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Iranian regime launched an extensive propaganda campaign alleging that the MEK had played a role in putting down the Kurdish uprising in northern Iraq. The propaganda blitz specifically meant to overshadow Tehran's dispatching of thousands of troops into Iraq in March and April 1991 to destroy MEK bases close to the Iran-Iraq border.

March 31, 2010

Huffington Post - The Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) has figured prominently in policy equations between Tehran and Washington since at least 1985. As recently as June 2007, in talks with the United States over Iraq's security, the Iranian regime's ambassador to Baghdad pressed the issue of the MEK and the presence of some 3,400 of its members in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, as one of the most sensitive items on the meeting's agenda.[1]

Aside from the unsubstantiated and bogus allegations against the MEK -- essentially fabricated by Iran's notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and recycled by Tehran's foreign apologists over the past two decades -- the issue of MEK's resorting to armed action against military targets in Iran until summer of 2001 has been cited by some Western government agencies, including the US Department of State, as evidence to invite the designation of the group as "terrorist." [2]

March 25, 2010

Huffington Post - On Tuesday, March 16, Iran was once again the scene of boisterous anti-regime protests nationwide, this time in celebration of an ancient occasion, Chaharshanbeh Souri (Festival of Fire). Despite a flurry of threats and a hodgepodge of suppressive measures arranged by flustered authorities, Iranians, led by youths, came out in force in defiance of the regime and its Supreme Leader.

Festival of Fire is a ritual leading up to the New Year on the first day of spring on March 21. To celebrate, people light up bonfires on the last Tuesday night of the year and jump over the fires singing a popular verse hoping for the deflection of the "yellowy paleness" of last year's ills and inviting the "red vitality" for the coming year. For most, this year, the paleness represented the brutal ruling regime and the vitality pictured the nine-month-old popular uprising against it.

March 15, 2010

Huffington Post - On the eve of Chaharchanbeh Souri (Festival of Fire), on the last Tuesday of the Iranian year, which is another occasion for the Iranian people to vent their anger at the regime and express the yearning for change, a review of what happened on the anniversary of the anti-Monarchic revolution on February 11 might offer some insights as to what to expect next as far as the post-June uprisings in Iran is concerned.

This is important because in the aftermath of February 11, a day widely expected to witness the continuation of massive opposition protests in Iran, some in the U.S. media lamented "the relative silence of the opposition"[1] and its "... fail[ure] to mount a presence."[2] At times, this typical perplexity, which gripped the minds of many Iran observers and reporters, even came to the conclusion that, "activists in Iran's political opposition have been left demoralized."[3]

March 2, 2010

Huffington Post - The Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) was founded in 1965 by three Muslim university graduates and sought to replace the Shah's dictatorship with a representative government that respects human rights. But after the 1979 revolution, it fell victim to the new dictatorship's onslaught. So far, it has lost tens of thousands of its members and supporters to the ruling regime, most famously during a massacre in 1988, which Amnesty International has dubbed "a crime against humanity."[1] Though a Muslim organization, the MEK seeks a secular republic in Iran based on democracy and political pluralism.

Given that despite an unprecedentedly harsh crackdown, the Tehran regime has failed to extinguish the freedom cry in Iran which erupted more than eight months ago, it is imperative to get a better understanding of the organized opposition, whose role in future developments will continue to be of critical importance. In virtue of its significant impact on Iranian affairs over the past 45 years, especially following the 1979 revolution, the MEK has long been targeted by the regime and its foreign apologists with a plethora of accusations meant to vilify the organization and diminish its influence now and in the future.