National Council of Resistance of Iran
According to its website, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) is a "a broad coalition of democratic Iranian organizations, groups and personalities."[1] Made up of Iranian exiles and minorities with pro-Israel, anti-Iranian views, several analysts consider the NCRI a Paris-based front group of the Mujahideen-e Khalq.[2]
Mission: Overthrow the Iranian Government
The NCRI claims to have created a "Parliament in Exile,"[1] with "500 members"[1] ready to replace the current Iranian government once it has been overthrown. "President-elect" Maryam Rajavi will head the parliament until the NCRI decides to hold "free" elections.
The NCRI openly advocates overthrowing the current Iranian government. In a section titled the "National Solidarity Front" on its website, the NCRI describes its hopes for the overthrow of the current Iranian government:
- In its two-day plenary session in November 2002, NCRI adopted a plan to form the "National Solidarity Front to Overthrow Religious Dictatorship in Iran." The front was designed as a platform to encompass all Iranian republicans who "are campaigning for a democratic, independent and secular regime."
- The Council noted that brightening prospects for overthrow of the regime necessitate ever-greater national solidarity among Iranians; a fact that prompted the NCRI to ratify the formation of the Front.
- Mrs. Maryam Rajavi described the Front as "a reflection of the most profound democratic yearnings of all the people of Iran, regardless of ideology, belief, religion and ethnicity that transcends all partisan and political interests." She said the Front "embodies the unshakable resolve of the Iranian people to overthrow the mullahs' inhuman regime."[1]
People
- Maryam Rajavi - "President-elect" since 1993[1]
Contact
- Website: http://ncr-iran.org/index.php
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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 NCRI, "Introduction to the National Council of Resistance of Iran ", NCRI Official Website, accessed on 24 September 2010
- ↑ Rostam Pourzal, "MEK Tricks US Progressives, Gains Legitimacy", Monthly Review, 26 May 2006
