Difference between revisions of "Mujahideen-e Khalq"
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==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | Beginning as an anti-Shah movement in the 1950s, the MEK became the most militaristic opposition movement in Iran during the Shah's regime and continues this policy with the current Iranian government. The MEK reportedly conducted attacks on US officials and civilians in Iran during the 1970s, and in 1981 claimed responsibility for the murders of 70 high-ranking Iranian officials | + | Beginning as an anti-Shah movement in the 1950s, the MEK became the most militaristic opposition movement in Iran during the Shah's regime and continues this policy with the current Iranian government. The MEK reportedly conducted attacks on US officials and civilians in Iran during the 1970s, and in 1981 claimed responsibility for the murders of more than 70 high-ranking Iranian officials in the "Hafte Tir bombing." This led to a widespread government crackdown on all opposition movements in Iran during the time, with thousands of people being tortured and executed. After this time surviving MEK members fled to Paris and Iraq where the MEK turned into a completely reactionary movement, embracing the main goal of overthrowing the Islamic government in Iran through violent means. In Iraq the MEK assisted Saddam Hussein's government in suppressing Shias and Kurds and performed "security services" for the Iraqi government until it was overthrown by the US government. The MEK did not resist the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 even though the US government distanced itself from the group shortly after. At present the MEK is mainly supported by pro-Israel advocates and/or those who want regime change in Iran.<ref>MIPT, [http://web.archive.org/web/20080115114802/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3632 "Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) Group Profile"], MIPT Terrorism Knowledgebase, accessed on 24 September 2010</ref> |
==Support from Progressives== | ==Support from Progressives== | ||
Revision as of 22:07, 24 September 2010
The Mujahedin-e-Khalq (translation: People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) is an Iranian exile organization officially declared a 'terrorist' organization both in the United States and Iran. [1] Through its front group,[2][3] National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), it has been the main conduit for publicizing Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear programme. [4]
Other Names for MEK include the National Liberation Army of Iran and the Muslim Iranian Student's Society.
History
Beginning as an anti-Shah movement in the 1950s, the MEK became the most militaristic opposition movement in Iran during the Shah's regime and continues this policy with the current Iranian government. The MEK reportedly conducted attacks on US officials and civilians in Iran during the 1970s, and in 1981 claimed responsibility for the murders of more than 70 high-ranking Iranian officials in the "Hafte Tir bombing." This led to a widespread government crackdown on all opposition movements in Iran during the time, with thousands of people being tortured and executed. After this time surviving MEK members fled to Paris and Iraq where the MEK turned into a completely reactionary movement, embracing the main goal of overthrowing the Islamic government in Iran through violent means. In Iraq the MEK assisted Saddam Hussein's government in suppressing Shias and Kurds and performed "security services" for the Iraqi government until it was overthrown by the US government. The MEK did not resist the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 even though the US government distanced itself from the group shortly after. At present the MEK is mainly supported by pro-Israel advocates and/or those who want regime change in Iran.[5]
Support from Progressives
Even though the MEK has carried out violent attacks on civilians, worked for Saddam Hussein's government for years,[6] and accepted various forms of support from the US government when it was intent on pushing for regime change in Iran through opposition movements,[7] some progressives in North America and Europe have still embraced the MEK as a legitimate resistance movement.
Writes Rostam Pourzal:
- On May 26, 2006, a representative of the violent Iranian fugitives based in Iraq, known as MEK, addressed a forum -- an anti-war forum -- sponsored by the liberal Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists in Berkeley, California, as he had done the year before. Introduced as Ali Mirardal, the speaker lamented human rights abuses in Iran and offered the National Council of Resistance, a Paris-based front group for MEK, as the best hope for a democratic Iran.[2]
Pourzal notes that the MEK's flag-waving for human rights is one reason why audiences invite MEK to events, an ironic result considering how the MEK is known as "Saddam's Private Army"[6] for its part in suppressing Iraqi Kurds and Shias.
- While MEK activists feign humanistic values before mainstream audiences, they work closely with some of the extremist Washington circles that push for preemptive US confrontation with Iran. (Other American unilateralist think tanks prefer to support the rival monarchist Iranian groups here.) For example, the Iranian "security expert" who regularly warns us about Iranian fundamentalism on Fox News television, Alireza Jafarzadeh, is none other than the terror group's former registered Washington representative.[2]
Related Links
- Chris Zambelis, An Iranian voice in the wilderness, Asia Times, June 5, 2008
- Video report on MEK, BBC Newsnight, January 2007
- NPS Terrorist Group Profiles: MEK
- Bronwyn Adcock, "Gunning for Iran", Dateline, SBS , October 4, 2006.
- US Policy Options for Iran and Iranian Political Opposition, Iran Policy Committee, September 13, 2005
- Friends of a Free Iran, "People's Mojahedin of Iran - Mission Report, Friends of a Free Iran - European Parliament, 2005.
- Jorndorff "Who is the MEK? Daily Kos, August 23, 2005.
- "U.S. Congress's support for Mujahedin-e Khalq", OpenDemocracy, July 14, 2005.
- Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization profile, Globalsecurity.org, updated March 2004.
- Justin Raimondo, Richard Perle Supports Terrorism, Antiwar.com, January 28, 2004
- Sam Dealy, Terrorists Plan D.C. Fundraiser., The Hill January 21, 2004
- Connie Bruck, Exiles: How Iran's Expatriates are Gaming the Nuclear Threat, New Yorker, 6 March 2006
Notes
- ↑ Global Security, GlobalSecurity.org "Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization", Global Security.org, accessed on 24 September 2010
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rostam Pourzal, "MEK Tricks US Progressives, Gains Legitimacy", Monthly Review, 26 May 2006
- ↑ Department of State, "Citation: 373 F.3d 152", FTP Resource, accessed on 24 September 2010
- ↑ Claude Salhani, 'Analysis: Israel 'Can Destroy' Iran Nukes', Space War, 11 January, 2006. (Accessed 3 April, 2009)
- ↑ MIPT, "Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) Group Profile", MIPT Terrorism Knowledgebase, accessed on 24 September 2010
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Anne Singleton, "Saddam's Private Army How Rajavi changed Iran's Mojahedin from armed revolutionaries to an armed cult", Iran-Interlink, accessed on 24 September 2010
- ↑ Seymour Hersh, "Preparing the Battlefield", New Yorker, 7 July 2008
