US media and MKO terrorists who cried wolf

The US in its futile bid to undermine the Islamic Republic of Iran has now made common cause with the MKO terrorists, who were once on Washington’s list of terror outfits, and are again trying to deceive the West by making false accusations that Tehran is violating the nuclear accord that was finalized in Geneva in 2015 acknowledging Iran’s right to use peaceful nuclear energy.

Following is an analysis by New York-based Caleb Maupin titled “US Media and MKO Terrorists Who Cried Wolf”.

Right-wing anti-Iranian figures and media in the United States have begun circulating claims that Iran had violated the JCPOA that resulted from the P5+1 nuclear negotiations, and has a nuclear weapons program. Various pro-Israeli and anti-Iranian voices in the US echoed this claim. Mark Toner was even asked about the allegations during a press briefing in April.

The source for this allegation was the so-called National Council of Resistance of Iran, a front group for the MKO terrorists. Putting aside the group’s shady history, terrorism, and bizarre cultish practices, the claims should have immediately been discredited. Why? These exact same forces were caught lying back in 2015, with similar claims.

In 2015, as the nuclear negotiations were nearing their completion, the MKO circulated photos of an alleged safe, claiming it was in Iran and contained materials related to a secret nuclear weapons program. The photo was proven to have been taken from a French website selling safes. The group was caught in an obvious lie.

Iran’s nuclear energy program has never been proven to have any military uses. The International Atomic Energy Agency has watched over all of Iran’s nuclear activities, and following the negotiations in 2015.

The 2015 photo flub was not the first time the MKO has been caught lying about Iran. Over the last ten years they have continued to make claims that they have proof of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. None of their claims have ever been verified. MKO did, however, cooperate with Israel’s Mossad to assassinate peaceful nuclear scientists teaching at Iranian Universities.

Who is the source of all these fraudulent claims that continue to be treated with credibility in the US media? So, who is the MKO?

The MKO – which Iranian call Monafeqin or Hypocrites – is a political cult formed in Iran during the 1970s. At the time Iran was led by a US backed dictatorial Pahlavi regime. While various groups organized resistance to the Shah in the form of guerrilla warfare, strikes, and protests, the MKO conducted adventurist acts of violence and terrorism. In addition to Iranians, Americans were also victims of MKO’s terrorism prior to the revolution in Iran before1979.

The MKO calls its belief system “Islamo-Marxism.” The cult leader, Masoud Rajavi, claims to be a prophet brought to earth in order to usher in some kind of Islamic Communist revolution. MKO’s beliefs could almost be described as similar to Reverend Jim Jones “People’s Temple,” which reached its peak during the same time period. Like Rajavi, Jones also claimed to be some kind of prophet who could spiritually combine the world’s religions with soviet-style Marxism in order to foment global revolution. Also like the People’s Temple, many people have died as a result of Rajavi’s fanatical and violent organization.

After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the MKO briefly pretended to support the Islamic Republic, hoping they could influence the government from within. After one of their allies was deposed, the MKO launched a bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic. In 1981, the MKO bombed a meeting of the Islamic Republican Party, resulting in the death of 72 senior officials – including Chief Justice Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hussaini Beheshti, several ministers and a number of parliamentarians; and then followed it up with another terrorist bomb blast that claimed the life of newly elected President Mohammad Ali Rajaie and Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar.

During the 8-year Iraqi war, Saddam began funding and arming the MKO. The MKO formed an armed body in Iraq called the Iranian National Liberation Army. In 1988, MKO fighters were airdropped into Iran by Iraqi aircraft. Its members proceeded to raze villages, slaughtering, men, women, and children, before ultimately being defeated by the Iranian military. It is estimated that tens of thousands of civilians were killed by MKO during the 8-year Iraqi war against Iran.

After the war, MKO totally allied itself with Saddam, who used the MKO as shock troops to suppress the Kurds and the Shi’a Arab uprisings against him during the 1990s. MKO is now headquartered in France, with Maryam Rajavi, the wife of the cult’s founder, claiming to be Iran’s President in exile. During the 1990s, the cult ordered all members to divorce their spouses, as marriage was considered a distraction from achieving the cult’s goal of toppling the Islamic Republic.

MKO’s base of operation, Camp Ashraf in Iraq – now closed by Iraq – had operated as a kind of mini-police state. According to Human Rights Watch, within Camp Ashraf, the death penalty and torture is frequently used against residents. Reports described individuals being dragged by ropes around their necks, among other routine atrocities.

Throughout his presidency, the Tea Party and Republicans frequently accused Barack Obama of being a “Muslim” and a “Communist.” Ironically, however, the MKO is a favored group of the Republican Party, despite being self-described as “Islamo-Marxists.”

With the support of Hillary Clinton, the MKO was removed from the list of designated foreign terrorist organizations in 2012 by the US State Department. The decision was based on claims that MKO had “renounced violence.” However, at the very time the process of delisting was in the works, MKO assassinated Iranian Nuclear Scientists.

The fact that the group was caught intentionally using a fake photograph against Iran in 2015, in addition to all of its terrorism and war crimes, should discredit its recent statements about Iran in the US media. However, despite their previous lies and horrendous record, certain US media outfits remain so biased and hostile to Iran, that they still repeat their claims.

AS/ME