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40Iraqi lawmakers write to US State Department and UNSG representative on Camp Ahsraf

NCRI, 20 June 2010- Subsequent to a decision by the American forces to leave Camp Ashraf, home to the main Iranian opposition, and simultaneous with heightening plots by the Iranian regime and the Iraqi government to annihilate Camp Ashraf, 40 Iraqi parliamentarians wrote separate letters to American and UN officials, expressing concern about the situation in Ashraf.


As American forces prepare to withdraw from Iraq, Iraqi political forces are expressing significant concerns and worries about the Iranian regime’s hegemonic ambitions. Many are saying that if these ambitions are not curbed, Iraq and the region will be faced with catastrophic consequences. In recent weeks, pressures and meddling to influence the results of the March elections against the al-Iraqiya list have peaked. At the same time, there were attempts to meddle in the Judiciary to obtain favorable rulings for recounting votes as well as bombings and creating an unstable and insecure environment.


After these attempts were neutralized upon facing firm political stances and resistance, the clerical regime in Tehran pulled out its last card to forge an alliance between the State of Law and National Coalition. The Iranian regime’s demands and pressures to create this coalition were acknowledged by many observers and politicians, including people involved in the coalition itself. Iraq’s emerging democracy now faces a great challenge and if such attempts are not confronted, the political future of the country and its hard-won achievements of the past years would pale in comparison to a visible dark horizon.


The 40 members of Iraq’s parliament wrote their letters to the Assistant US Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Iraq. In their letters, the lawmakers say, “The Iranian regime is exerting constant pressure [on Iraq] to suppress the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as the regime’s most important and serious opposition. Its members in Camp Ashraf have been placed under a siege by Iraqi government forces. These pressures are such that the situation in Ashraf has turned out to be a yardstick for the degree of the Iranian regime’s influence in Iraq.


“There are indications that by virtue of the current political and legal vacuum, the suppression of Ashraf residents is being pursued in exchange for the Iranian regime’s support for the formation of a government. To implement this plan, hopes have been pinned on the pull out of American forces on June 30. If this takes place before American forces are replaced with an international force under the auspices of the United Nations, it would lead to catastrophic political consequences for all those involved and the cost of forming a government will be exacted with loss of innocent lives. This will also delay and seriously hamper the process of formation of a government, setting off a legitimacy crisis.


“As you know, in a May 2010 report to the Security Council, the UN Secretary General warned about the imperative of “unrestricted access of Camp Ashraf residents ….
“In the context of the International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, as well as Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates the responsibility to safeguard ‘protected persons,’ we call on you to play an active role to provide verifiable assurances with regards to the guaranteeing of the residents’ health and safety and lifting of the siege on Ashraf.”

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