Editing by Carolyn Bennett
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO)
According to a news report at the Press TV website today, “Much
of the international community lists the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO)
as a terrorist organization.”
But the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) on April 11,
2013, officially opened an office a block from the White House in Washington (USA),
this for the first time in 11 years; and only months after the United States in
September 2012 formally removed the anti-Iranian group from the U.S. list of
terrorist organizations.
“Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist
attacks since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979,” Press TV reports,
“some 12,000 have fallen victim to acts of terror carried out by the Mujahedin-e
Khalq Organization.”
 |
| MKO or MEK Friday September 28 “In an act of unequivocal and explicit hostility toward Iran the United States took the name of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) off its list of foreign terrorist organizations showing its unconditional support for the sworn enemies of the Iranian nation” wrote award-winning Iranian journalist peace activist Kourosh Ziabari |
T
|
errorist Files website posts this background on the Mujahedin-e Khalq
Organization (MEK or MKO).
It was formed “in the 1960s by college-educated children of
Iranian merchants.” Referred to as “the MEK or MKO,” the group “sought to
counter what it perceived as excessive Western influence in the Shah’s regime. Pro-Western
leader, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, eldest son of Reza
Shah Pahlavi, was shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979.
“Following a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam,” the
Terrorist Files entry continues, the MEK or MKO “has developed into the largest
and most active armed Iranian dissident group. Its history is studded with
anti-Western activity and, most recently, attacks on the interests of the
clerical regime in Iran and abroad.
Pejoratives of convenience
I
|
n its “Country Reports on Terrorism” released last week, the
United States accused Iran of supporting terrorism; and an Iranian lawmaker
responded.
 |
| Persia Islamic Republic of Iran Flanked by Caspian Sea (north) Turkmenistan (north/northeast) Afghanistan, Pakistan (east) Turkey, Syria (northwest) Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar (west) Gulfs, Seas, Indian Ocean (south) |
The open support for terrorists by Western countries is
widely known, he said, so the United States “cannot alter the situation in the
region by publishing ‘false reports’ − any country that stands up to the United
States is labeled as terrorist.”
 |
| American Eleanor Roosevelt 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
The member of the National Security and Foreign Policy
Committee of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), Seyyed Baqer Hosseini, threw back
former U.S. President George W. Bush’s incendiary words, saying, “‘The United
States is the axis of evil and the
supporter of terrorism in the world” and that the U.S. report’s accusation of Iran
as a supporter of terrorism “is aimed at covering up its recent measures in
supporting the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).”
The U.S. violation of human rights, Hosseini said, is
indicative of “Washington’s disregard for the principle” of human rights. “The issue
of human rights,” he countered, “is not consistent with the performance of
Western countries”; and claims made in reports such as the U.S. Country Reports
on Terrorism “are only used as a tool to put pressure on the world countries.”
Sources and notes
“U.S. axis of evil, supporter of terrorism: Iranian lawmaker
─ An Iranian lawmaker has criticized the U.S. policy of using terrorism as a
tool, labeling Washington as the axis of evil and a supporter of terrorism
across the globe,” June 1, 2013, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/01/306677/us-axis-of-evil-supporter-of-terrorism/
Terrorist Files on the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO),
http://www.terrorismfiles.org/organisations/mujahedin-e-khalq_organization.html
TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO)
Other Names: Mujahedin-e Khalq; the National Liberation Army
of Iran (NLA, the militant wing of the MEK); People's Mujahedin Organization of
Iran (PMOI); National Council of Resistance (NCR); Organization of the People’s
Holy Warriors of Iran; Sazeman-e Mujahedin-e Khalq-e Iran; Muslim Iranian
Student’s Society (front organization used to garner financial support)
Description: Formed in the 1960s by the college-educated children of
Iranian merchants, the MEK sought to counter what it perceived as excessive
Western influence in the Shah’s regime. Following a philosophy that mixes
Marxism and Islam, the group has developed into the largest and most active
armed Iranian dissident group. Its history is studded with anti-Western
activity and, most recently, attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in
Iran and abroad.
Activities: Worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses
propaganda and occasionally uses terrorist violence.
During the 1970s, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside
Iran and killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians working on
defense projects in Tehran.
The group supported the takeover in 1979 of the U.S. Embassy
in Tehran.
In April 1992, it conducted attacks on Iranian embassies in
13 different countries, demonstrating the group’s ability to mount large-scale
operations overseas. The normal pace of anti-Iranian operations increased
during the ‘Operation Great Bahman’ in February 2000, when the group claimed it
launched a dozen attacks against Iran.
During the remainder of the year, the MEK regularly claimed
that its members were involved in mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids on
Iranian military, law enforcement units, and government buildings near the
Iran-Iraq border. The MEK also claimed six mortar attacks on civilian
government and military buildings in Tehran.
Strength: Several thousand fighters
based in Iraq with an extensive overseas support structure. Most of the fighters
are organized in the MEK’s National Liberation Army (NLA).
Location/Area of Operation: In the 1980s the ME’'s leaders were
forced by Iranian security forces to flee to France. Most resettled in Iraq by
1987.
In the mid-1980s, the group did not mount terrorist
operations in Iran at a level similar to its activities in the 1970s.
In the 1990s, however, the MEK claimed credit for an
increasing number of operations in Iran.
External Aid: Beyond support from
Iraq, the MEK uses front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate
Iranian communities.
http://www.terrorismfiles.org/organisations/mujahedin-e-khalq_organization.html
See also
“Killing Iraqi Muslims, crime against humanity: Iran MP − Iranian
lawmaker Seyyed Baqer Hosseini says the lackeys of the West are committing
crime against humanity by killing the Muslim people of Iraq,” Saturday, 02
March 2013 22:34, http://english.irib.ir/radioislam/news/top-stories/item/85967-killing-iraqi-muslims-crime-against-humanity-iran-mp
“Delisting MKO: U.S. officially taking up arms against Iran”
(by Kourosh Ziabari), Voltaire Network, November 9, 2012, http://www.voltairenet.org/article176513.html
“In an act of unequivocal and explicit hostility toward
Iran, the United States took the name of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO)
off its list of foreign terrorist organizations on Friday, September 28,
showing its unconditional support to the sworn enemies of the Iranian nation
straight from the shoulder,” award-winning Iranian journalist, peace activist and media correspondent Kourosh Ziabari
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