Protests have continued across Iran for more than two months and Iranians are calling for regime change. However, instead of siding with the Iranian people, Robert Malley, the United States Special Envoy for Iran, chose to slander Iran’s principal opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). In response, 23 renowned American politicians issued a statement condemning Malley’s statement, describing it as desperate attempts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). They also accused Malley of parroting “the same falsehoods made by the religious dictatorship that rules Iran” and rejected this action “taken while tens of thousands of Iranian women and men are fighting and dying for freedom from tyranny, is a flagrant betrayal of both the Iranian people and a foundational principle which our country has long honored.”
“Mr. Malley’s statement, at least on the surface, was a response to the Iranian regime falsely accusing the US Government of training members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in cyber communications at their compound in Albania. Rather than being content with denying the Iranian claim, Mr. Malley saw an opportunity to appease the regime by making these false and disparaging allegations,” the statement reads in part.
Referring to Malley’s statement accusing MEK of “allegations of abuse against its own members,” the U.S. dignitaries, who have visited the MEK’s compounds in Iraq and most recently in Albania, wrote: “Mr. Malley’s comment about allegations of mistreatment of MEK members at the hands of their own leadership is another blatant repetition of Iranian regime propaganda. Multiple US Army senior officers assigned to the original Ashraf camp in Iraq heard the same slander, conducted unannounced inspections and investigations into the allegations, and determined them to be lies generated by Tehran.”
The statement adds, “U.S. diplomatic personnel visited the two MEK camps in Iraq before they relocated to Albania and have since visited the compound in which they now reside. Likewise, most, if not all, of the signatories to this statement have visited the Albanian camp and interacted directly with MEK members. In Albania, as before in Iraq, there is no credible evidence of any human rights problems within the MEK.”
The U.S. politicians also reminded Malley that the MEK “is but one organization within the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Led by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI platform is based on the principles of democracy and religious freedom.
“Mrs. Rajavi has been publicly advocating for a free, democratic Iran in the face of regime assassinations, kidnappings, terrorist bombings, and disinformation. Mrs. Rajavi and the NCRI have been relentlessly calling for the creation of secular democratic institutions with universal suffrage in Iran, the full empowerment of women and minorities, and a non-nuclear nation reconciled with a peaceful international community. These are the same goals now echoing through the protests and gunfire across Iran.”
While referring to the MEK’s leading role in the current nationwide uprising, the statement reads: “among the legions of brave Iranians who have risen against the regime over the last weeks are MEK members operating in resistance cells. Iranian authorities have identified them as ‘leaders’ of the protests. Many have been arrested, and many have been killed. The Iranian regime has consistently blamed MEK agents as provocateurs and claimed that the rising tide of unrest is related to MEK cyber, media, and direct organizing activities.”
The Iranian Resistance has been leading the struggle for freedom in Iran for the past four decades, and as highlighted by the American dignitaries, the movement “does not need Mr. Malley’s endorsement to continue its heroic freedom struggle.”
What is rather appalling is Malley’s attempt to cajole the regime, which, according to American personalities, hasn’t been held accountable for “the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, which killed 19 American airmen.”
“In 2018, the U.S. Department of Defense released a report that directly attributed to the IRGC the deaths of over 600 American service members in Iraq. In 2020, an Iranian missile attack targeted a US military facility in Iraq and severely injured American uniformed personnel,” the statement adds.
The statement also refers to the Iranian regime’s terrorist plots against the Iranian Resistance, such as the foiled bombing of the NCRI’s rally in France in 2018, which resulted in the incarceration and conviction of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi. Besides, Tehran has attempted to bomb the MEK’s gathering in Albania, resulting in the expulsion of the regime’s ambassador to the country. “The Albanian Government has expelled Iranian diplomats over terrorist plots against MEK members living in its country. German, French, and Belgian authorities have investigated, tried, and convicted an Iranian diplomat of an act of state-sponsored terrorism for his attempt to bomb an NCRI rally outside Paris in 2018 at which many Americans and European Union members were present.”
“If Mr. Malley mistakenly believes that adopting the regime’s false, anti-MEK propaganda will persuade the terrorists to revive JCPOA negotiations, he needs to be relieved from this important mission. The Administration and Secretary Blinken must reach out with support, and not condemnation, to the thousands of freedom fighters being killed and imprisoned in Iran. Mr. Malley’s reckless action aids and abets the suppression of liberty,” the statement concludes.
