Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Jan. 27, 2019 – A debate between former Iranian officials from rivaling factions has been surfacing damning realities about the crimes committed by the mullahs’ regime.
In a public discussion broadcasted by state-run media, Mostafa Tajzadeh, former political deputy of the interior minister during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, and former MP Alierza Zakani, discussed different matters of state and the history of the Iranian regime.
During the debate, Tazjadeh, who is tied to the so-called “reformist” camp, challenged Zakani, a renowned “principalist,” the faction that is close to Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, on two issues that have haunted the regime for decades.
“Regarding the chain murders, Mr. Zakani, who has to be exposed? Who was opposed to keeping the issue silent and solving the issue in another way? They suggested to Mr. Khatami to carry out a scheme just like in Mashhad, find two [MEK members] and say they did it. They wanted to extract confessions in ways that they know, and we would execute them,” Tajzadeh said.
The rare comments have touched on two contentious issues that have been the sources of heated debates between regime officials for decades. The first, the chain murders, was a series of assassinations carried out by government operatives against dozens of Iranian intellectuals in the 1990s. When the murders came to light, the Iranian regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei denied his regime’s involvement and blamed them on “foreign enemies.”
The second event which Tazdeh refers to is the 1994 bombing of the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad. Imam Reza, one of the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, is among the 12 historical leaders of Shiite Muslims. After the bombing, the Iranian regime made several arrests and broadcasted forced confessions from people who claimed to be associated with the PMOI/MEK and had carried out the bombing on the orders of MEK leaders. As Tajzadeh makes clear in his remarks, the entire process was staged and made up by the regime.
Tajzadeh’s remarks reveal a recurring pattern in the Iranian regime’s tactics: committing crimes and blaming them on the MEK to defame the main opposition.
In recent years, Iranian regime officials have made many similar remarks, claiming that the MEK have conducted missile attacks on their own bases and have carried out bombing plots on their own conferences. The mullahs’ regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini even claimed that the MEK set fire on the fields and crops of Iranian farmers. These claims and their absurdity only indicate where the real fears of the Iranian regime lie and who their real opposition is.
