Iraqi Ayatollah calls for end to Iran regime's meddling in his country

Wednesday, 29 November 2006

NCRI – Ayatollah Sheikh Hossein al-Mo’ayed, a distinguished Iraqi Shiite cleric, described the Iranian regime’s role in Iraq as “extremely negative.”

In an interview on the satellite channel al-Jazeera on November 27, he said: “As long as Iran’s meddling in Iraq is not stopped, security and stability there cannot be ensured and a new government based on a national plan cannot be established; because, the formation of a new modern government has to take place according to a national salvation plan which the Iranian regime considers as being contrary to its interests in the region.”

Asked about the possibility of negotiations between the United States and the Iranian regime, he replied: “We do not view this favourably and we say that the fate of Iraq and its people must be determined by Iraqi nationalists, far from regional and international bargaining.”

Ayatollah al-Mo’ayed added: “We are going to announce the Iraqi national charter very soon. It is a political and national program approved by all nationalist forces. This program is made up of important points, notably that not only do we call for withdrawal of the occupation forces, but also emphasize that Iraq has to be liberated from any foreign hegemony, be it international or regional. We are striving to achieve the aspirations of the Iraqi people.”

Support for PMOI is only way to combat Iran’s meddling in Iraq – Iraqi party

Thursday, 23 November 2006

NCRI – In an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab Al-Yom on November 20, the head of the Salvation Front of Diyala in Iraq, Mashan Saadi, stressed that the only way to combat the meddling of the Iranian regime in Iraq was to support the People’s Mojahedin of Iran:

“The Iranian regime seeks to export the revolution in all Arab countries in general, and in Iraq in particular. By creating political and religious trouble in Iraq, this state tries to advance its objective. It thus wants to wear out American troops and to achieve its atomic plan.”

“The most striking element in the presence of the Iranian regime in Iraq is its influence inside this state’s government. The Iranian vice-president directly interferes in Iraqi political affairs. There is evidence of that. Each time a crisis breaks out in Iraq, Iraqi officials go to Iran to get orders and advice.”

“To get rid of the Iranian regime’s interference, we have to follow two parallel paths. One of them is to support the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. The Iranian regime is extremely afraid of the People’s Mojahedin because they have a very strong faith in their objective. It is a civilized organization, which believes in genuine Islam and which is supported by all Iranians through their lives and possessions.”

“The second path is to re-establish bodies and institutions, such as the army, in order to combat the Iranian regime’s meddling.”

Iran Resistance: The scale of support for Ashraf City derives from its perseverance

Thursday, 23 November 2006

NCRI – An interview with Behzad Naziri, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, was broadcast on November 17 on the Swiss television regarding the large support of European parliamentarians for the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) in Ashraf City in Iraq. The following is the text of his comments:

The members of the PMOI in Ashraf City are protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention, a status that the International Committee of the Red Cross recognized. In spite of everything and contrary to international standards and laws, the Iranian regime seeks to expel them from Iraq. Parliamentarians from various European countries voiced their support for the PMOI and its presence in Iraq.

The scale of this support derives from the fact that, despite all the problems and obstacles, they (PMOI) persevere without losing hope.

500 religious leaders in the USA support the People’s Mojahedin of Iran

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

NCRI – During a meeting at the United States Congress, 500 Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian religious leaders from 40 states announced their support for the right to political asylum in Iraq of the members of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran, the main opposition group to the Tehran regime. This meeting was part of a three-day symposium at the Congress on the situation in Iraq and the disastrous meddling of the Iranian regime.

The symposium, initiated by House Representatives, aimed at voicing support for the Iranian people and their resistance against the religious dictatorship.

We have to act carefully against the meddling of Islamic fundamentalism ruled by Tehran’s regime, Reverend John Gibbs from Houston, Texas, said, adding that this regime seeks to set up an Islamic fundamentalist empire in the near future. Reverend Gibbs then said that he supported the third option proposed by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, which rejects any foreign military intervention as well as the appeasement policy to solve the Iranian crisis, and which calls for democratic change by the Iranian people and their legitimate Resistance.

Professor Daniel Zucker, chairman of the Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East (ADME), was next to take the floor on behalf of the American rabbis who had signed the declaration. He stressed the dangers represented by the Iranian regime and the importance of the role of the People’s Mojahedin in the establishment of democracy in Iraq and stability in the region. By using its agents in a weakened Iraqi government, the Iranian regime seeks to put pressure on the 3,800 members of the People’s Mojahedin based in Ashraf City. These people enjoy refugee status under the Geneva Conventions and have been considered as political refugees in Iraq for twenty years, he said.

He also underlined that the PMOI in Ashraf City had large support from the Iraqi population. 5.2 million Iraqis think that with a regime change in Iran, it would be possible to establish democracy in Iraq, he said.

5.2 Million Iraqis Issue Declaration on Iranian Regime's Threats

US Congress must take the initiative for a firm policy on Iran regime - Rajavi

Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Three-day symposium on Iran and Iraq at the US Congress

NCRI – For three days, from November 15 to November 18, lawmakers from both political parties and members of international relations and armed forces committees took part in a symposium on Iran and Iraq at the American Congress.

Its purpose was to examine the disastrous consequences of the Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq and to give support to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and its members' right to political asylum in Iraq as they constitute the main impediment to the progress of fundamentalism in that country.

In a message to the symposium, Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, said: “The only way to stop escalating civil war and crisis in Iraq is to cut off mullahs’ regime interference in that country. The consequences of the current conflict, if not stopped, would not be limited to Iraq."

Her message was read out by Mrs. Sona Samsami which continued by saying: “Today, the main problem in Iraq is the sectarian war. On the one hand, there are agents of the mullahs’ regime who want to establish a regime similar to the one in Iran. They take advantage of ethnic and religious differences to advance their policy”.

“On the other hand, there are democratic, nationalist and secular groups which categorically oppose the Iranian regime's meddling in Iraq. These groups rightly identified the major threat in Iraq which is the occupation of this country by the Iranian regime. They want the United States to help them force Tehran regime out.”

The President-elect of the Iranian Resistance added: “So far the American Congress has been in favour of a firm policy against the religious fascism ruling Iran. By supporting the Iranian Resistance on several occasions and by questioning the terrorist label of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran, the majority of the Congress rejected the appeasement policy towards the mullahs”.

“Now, the time has come for the US Congress to take the initiative for a firm policy towards the Iranian regime and its terrorist and fundamentalist interference in the region, particularly by demanding its total eviction from Iraq and strengthening of democratic and nationalist forces in the country.”

“The defense of the People’s Mojahedin's rights in Iraq as a democratic and tolerant Muslim force will certainly be very helpful in this regard. As European, American and Arab lawmakers from the International Committee in Defence of Ashraf City have stressed, support for the Mojahedin is not only required for the establishment of democracy in Iran, but also for the establishment of democracy in Iraq.”

Iranian Mojahedin's rights in Iraq should be recognized

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

NCRI – In an interview with the Iranian National TV (Resistance's TV network), Lord Corbett of Castle Vale called for the reaffirmation of the People's Mojahedin's refugee status in Iraq.

Lord Corbett, leader of the Labour Piers and chairman of the British Parliamentary Group Iran Freedom, reiterated that 330 British MPs and 160 members of the House of Lords emphasize the political refugee status of the People's Mojahedin of Iran in Iraq. In view of the critical security situation in Iraq, he called on the British government and the Iraqi authorities to guarantee safety of the residents of Ashraf City, northwest Baghdad.

He also underlined the responsibility of the UNHCR in these circumstances and called on the world body to take a more active role.

Lord Corbett spoke to the INTV after addressing participants in the sit-in outside the UNHCR headquarters which has been going on for just over 100 days since August. The aim of the sit-in is to get the UNHCR to reaffirm the refugee status of the PMOI members in Iraq and safeguard their rights in Iraq. He also met with UNHCR officials to express his concerns over the state of the PMOI in Iraq.

Iran regime and its agents are real saboteurs

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

NCRI – Last week, a three-day symposium took place at the US Congress to examine the situation in Iraq and the negative consequences of the meddling of the Iranian regime in that country.

A number of lawmakers and their assistants and experts took part in this conference. In a message to the symposium, Maryam Radjavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, called on the Congress to take the initiative for a firm policy towards Tehran by demanding its eviction from Iraq and by supporting the People’s Mojahedin of Iran based in Ashraf City, Iraq, as they constitute the main impediment to the progress of the mullahs’ fundamentalism.

Dr Saleh Motlaq, chairman of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, addressed the meeting from Iraq via telephone. Dr Motlaq, who represents a major part of the Iraqi society, drew a picture of the problems caused by Tehran to prevent the establishment of an independent, democratic government in Iraq. He said that the mullahs’ regime and its agents in Iraq were the real saboteurs who strove to trigger a civil war in this country. “Iraq will never be ruled by an Islamic regime. Fundamentalists want to take over Iraq. The problems we experience will get worse and worse with the increasing meddling of the agents of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. The infiltration of this ministry in south of Iraq is so obvious that in Basra, when the residents want to give an address, they use the office of the Iranian Intelligence ministry as a landmark.”

Regarding the People’s Mojahedin of Iran based in Ashraf City, Saleh Motlaq said: “I have known them for years. Their relationship with the Iraqi population is exemplary. At present, they bring relief to the poor and help Iraqis who need medical assistance. The People’s Mojahedin have been in Iraq for more than twenty years, and according to the law, as in any other country, they have the right to stay in Iraq, to live there and to enjoy political asylum.”

1,665 tribal leaders from thirteen provinces in Iraq condemn plots against PMOI members

Saturday, 18 November 2006

NCRI - 1,665 Iraqi tribal leaders, including 164 senior leaders from Baghdad, Basra, Qadesieh, Zeqar, Diyala, Salahiddin, Kirkuk, al-Anbar, Neinawa, Mosana, Karbala, Najaf, and Babel signed a statement condemning the Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq. They denounced inhuman restrictions imposed upon the residents of Camp Ashraf, home to the members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), as an indication of succumbing to the regime in Iran. They described the PMOI members as political refugees and honorary citizens and part of their tribal society in Iraq.

Text of the statement is as follows:

“For two decades, the PMOI members have lived in peace and tranquility in our society. We consider them as part of our tribes and as such any remonstrance or infringement against them is deemed against us. It is our responsibility to defend their lives and belongings at all times. The solidarity statement singed by 5.2 million Iraqi citizens is a testament to that fact.

This is a covenant with the PMOI that until their country is freed from the mullahs’ regime which is an underlying factor to the freedom of Iraqi people; they are considered as political refugees and honorary citizens in Iraq.

Putting inhuman pressures on the PMOI members by cutting their food, fuel, medicine, and electricity under any pretext is strongly condemned. We consider such acts as bowing to the orders of the Iranian regime. In the past 20 years, the PMOI has provided the residents of Diyala Province with the necessary services they needed. Depriving the Ashraf residents from their basic necessities is a crime and not acceptable by the Iraqi people.

The Iraqi society, before anything else, is suffering from criminal actions undertaken by various security apparatus of the Iranian regime and its lackeys. The regime’s agents are involved in murder, terror, and dispatching arms and munitions as well as instigating sectarian violence in Iraq. The degree of patriotism by anyone in Iraq, is measured by his opposition to the meddling in Iraq and therefore by his respect and friendship with the members of the PMOI.”

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 18, 2006

Support for Iranians demonstrating outside UNHCR in Geneva for 100 days

Agence Télégraphique
November 16, 2006

Suisse, Genève – Swiss and British deputies and French personalities expressed their support to the claims of Iranian opponents, threatened with expulsion by Iraq, in Geneva on Tuesday, November 14. They called on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the ICRC to guarantee their protection.

Gathered outside the headquarters of the office of the UNHCR since the beginning of August, which corresponds to one hundred days, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin demand the reaffirmation of the refugee status of 3,500 members of their movement living in Ashraf, near Baghdad. More than 20,000 Geneva residents have signed a petition in their favour in three months.

Under the pressure of Tehran's leaders, the Iraqi authorities threaten them with expulsion at the end of the year. On Tuesday, a delegation of parliamentarians, led by two English deputies, Lord Corbett of Castle Vale and Andrew MacKinlay, spoke in their support to the representatives of the UNHCR and of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

At a press conference, the national adviser of the Geneva Press Club, Luc Barthassat (PDC/GE), expressed his solidarity with Iranian opponents. He also called on them to expand their international support in respect of democratic rights in Iran.

Protected by Fourth Geneva Convention

“It is extremely important that international institutions mobilize and give guarantees so that no abuse is committed”, pleaded Erika Deuber-Ziegler, former member of Swiss Parliament.

The United States acknowledged in July 2004 that Iranian refugees in Ashraf, some of them living in Iraq since 1986, were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

A systematic interrogation of the 3,500 Ashraf inhabitants carried out by the Americans did not lead to any evidence of terrorist activities, reminded Gilles Paruelle, a Parisian lawyer who also testified in their support along with Mgr. Jacques Gaillot.

A Mojahedin official, Mohammed Mohaddessin, explained that the Iranian regime was reinforcing its influence in Iraq and was seeking to eliminate its opponents. “If they were sent back to Iran, they undoubtedly would be executed”, warned the representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

The movement, led by Maryam Rajavi, appealed to the Court of Luxemburg against its inclusion on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations. France allows opponents to be free to do what they please.

ADME Holds Congressional Briefing on Iran and Iraq

ADME Holds Congressional Briefing on Iran and Iraq
November 14, 2006

NEW YORK, Nov. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On Tuesday, November 14, 2006, the Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East (ADME) held a briefing in the United States House of Representatives under bipartisan sponsorship of Members of Congress to support the efforts of the United States Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents. The ADME panel consisted of founder and chairman Professor Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker of New York, Pastor John Gibbs of Houston, and Deacon Shane Hornbuckle representing ADME board member the Reverend Dr. Lames Lee Collins of Atlanta.

The briefing was organized to demonstrate the nation-wide support of religious and civic leaders for the rights of Camp Ashraf's residents to reside in Iraq as political refugees from their native Iran, protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention guaranteed right of asylum.

Ashraf's 3800 residents, as members of the Iranian resistance Mohajedin-e Khalq (MEK), have been threatened with expulsion from Iraq and extradition to Iran where they would face execution. The theocratic Tehran regime has been pressuring Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to expel the residents of Ashraf who have resided in Iraq for over twenty years.

Rabbi Zucker presented a collection of 570 petitions from religious and civic leaders from around the country on behalf of the asylum rights of the residents of Ashraf. Members of Congress also were being asked to lend their support for these humanitarian efforts on behalf of Camp Ashraf.

All three members of the panel called attention to the abysmal record of human rights violations by the Iranian regime, and the threat to regional security and world peace that the Iranian nuclear quest has created.

Pastor Gibbs said: "It is the residents of Ashraf City who are fighting in the frontline battle with Islamic extremism. Although they have no weapons, it is their ideology that offers the antithesis to the warmongering, terrorist vision of Tehran's regime. ...The men and women of Ashraf City have developed a people to people network between Iranians and Iraqis to defeat the thrust of Islamic fundamentalism."

Dr. Collins' letter quoted the July 26, 2006 Congressional Record which reported the declaration of 5.2 million Iraqis that described the Iranian opposition in Ashraf as the most important cultural and political impediment to the Iranian regime's infiltration into Iraq. They called for an end to the Iranian regime's meddling in Iraq and emphasized the political refugee status of Ashraf residents in that country.

Rabbi Zucker called upon President Bush and Secretary of State Rice to recognize that the problem of Iraq cannot be solved until the problem of Iran is resolved. The Tehran regime's meddling in Iraq will only be stopped by forcing the regime to change itself or be changed from fundamentalist Islamic to a secular democracy. Iran's parliament-in-exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which has 27 years of experience and expertise in combating the regime's fundamentalism is prepared to help make those changes because it realizes that religious rule is incompatible with genuine democracy. It is time to recognize and cooperate with the NCRI so as to nullify the efforts of Tehran to spread extremist Islam.

The petition of the International Declaration in support of Ashraf City stated the following three points:

1. Immediate investigation of the situation of human rights in Iran particularly the rights of religious minorities and women, and inspection of the prisons by the United Nations Human Rights Council;

2. Decisiveness on the part of the world community against the Iranian terrorist regime's nuclear projects and meddling in Iraq and the Middle East;

3. Iraqi government's full commitment and respect of international Conventions including the reaffirmation of the rights of Ashraf residents to political asylum in Iraq; protection and respect to the rights of these political refugees under the Fourth Geneva Convention by the Multi-National Force -- Iraq (MNF-I). International Committee of the Red Cross, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Secretary General.

United front in the Iraqi Province of Diyala in support of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran

Thursday, 12 October 2006

NCRI –The Iraqi newspapers al-Iraq al-Yom, al-Haqayeq, and al-Siada published on October 9 the positions of Iraqi political parties and parliamentarians against the meddling and terrorism of the Tehran regime and in support of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) in Ashraf City, in Diyala Province, north-east of Baghdad.

The newspaper al-Siada stated: “The Islamic Party, the National Dialogue Front, the Iraqi National Movement, the National Independent Cadres and Elites, the National Front for Iraq’s Tribes and the Iraqi National Dialogue Front from Diyala Province signed a statement in which they indicated that the Iranian regime’s accusations against the People’s Mojahedin are false.”

The daily al-Iraq al-Yom published the declaration which in particular stated: “We seriously condemn the surrounding and the inhumane pressures against the residents of Ashraf and we assure the People’s Mojahedin that we defend them as political refugees. We announce that we are opposed to efforts aimed at turning Diyala Province into a theatre for meddling by the Iranian regime and pressures against the PMOI. We consider the People’s Mojahedin to be an integral part of our society.”

The al-Haqayeq daily wrote a commentary, stating: “Iraqi political parties condemn the plots of the Iranian regime’s agents in the Diyala provincial council against the presence of the People’s Mojahedin.”

Maryam Rajavi calls on international jurists to defend Iranian Mojahedin's rights in Iraq

Saturday, 04 November 2006

NCRI – On October 25, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi addressed in Brussels a meeting by international jurists and lawyers in defense of People's Mojahedin's rights in Iraq. The following is the full text of her speech:

I am pleased to be here with you. You are the voice of law and justice. I would like to express my gratitude to all the jurists, parliamentarians and advocates of human rights who have been supporting the People’s Mojahedin in Ashraf City for three years and a half.

Ashraf is not simply a base or a city for Iranians, it is the center of hope for victory and the establishment of freedom and democracy in Iran. Ashraf is the city of those who want the liberation of Iran. The city of those who chose to sacrifice their lives for freedom. Women and men determined to liberate their people from the religious fascism and to stand in the way of Islamic fundamentalism.

Nearly 3,500 people among the best children of the Iranian people live in Ashraf. Many of them spent several years in the prisons of the mullahs’ regime under torture. Others still bear the scars of torture inflicted in prisons of the shah’s SAVAK (secret police). Almost one thousand residents of Ashraf are women. These women helped Ashraf become the bastion of freedom and equality of tomorrow's Iran. That’s the reason why the religious dictatorship does not hesitate to conspire against them and resorts to anything to dismantle Ashraf.

Last year, Tehran’s agents at the Iraqi Interior Ministry kidnapped two members of the People’s Mojahedin, and we do not have any information about them. Recently they blew up a bus carrying Iraqi workers to Ashraf killing 11 of them.

In the summer’s heat of 50 degrees, mullahs' agents blew up Ashraf’s water pipelines twice.

Two weeks ago, they murdered Ayatollah Mohammad Moussavi Ghassemi, an eminent religious Shiite personnality in Iraq, and Abdol Rahim Nasrollah, chairman of the Party for justice and democratic progress in Iraq, along with ten journalists and employees among his colleagues at the television channel Al Shabia for their opposition to the meddling of the Iranian regime and especially because of their support to the People’s Mojahedin’s presence in Iraq and their right to asylum.

Under pressures from Tehran, the Iraqi government cut off supplies of fuel, food, medication and other elementary goods to Ashraf City. In a letter to the PMOI, the Iraqi Oil Ministry announced that it would no longer supply the fuel necessary to Ashraf’s hospital.

Yet, Ayad Alawi, former Iraqi Prime Minister, had formally announced that the government would provide the residents of Ashraf with the basic services, up to the same level of the inhabitants of the Diyala Province, in the same way and at the same rates. Mr Alawi stated in September 2005: “The members of the PMOI in Iraq are political refugees protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention and international laws.”

Yet surprisingly, last month, during a trip in Iran, the Prime Minister Maleki pledged to expel the People’s Mojahedin from Iraq within six months. It was announced at that time that a committee had been created to deal with this matter.

Everybody knows that the Iranian regime is the only one which, in the past and today, has sought the expulsion of the PMOI from Iraq. You know that all members of the Mojahedin have been sentenced to death by a fatwa in Iran. The penal code drafted by the Iranian regime clearly decrees that all those with links to the Mojahedin are considered as being at war against God. In 1998, 30,000 prisoners were executed in a matter of few months for having refused to deny their affiliation to the PMOI.

Consequently, in view of what is happening in Ashraf we need to examine four points:

First, the issue of Ashraf is a humanitarian one linked to the more global issues of human rights, international conventions and rights to asylum. Thus international organizations and particularly the UN Refugee Agency and the International Committee of the Red Cross have heavy responsibilities in this respect. Any act of negligence on their part may lead to a disaster.

The PMOI members settled in Ashraf have been living in Iraq as refugees for twenty years. A firm and clear position of the UNHCR and other international organizations confirming their refugee status and their rights as members of the PMOI in Iraq would send a clear message to the mullahs' regime that the international community would not allow the regime to achieve its ominous goal.

It would also send a message to the Iraqi government that failure to respect the rights of Ashraf residents and any collaboration with the mullahs would seriously undermine the credibility and the independence of this government.

Second, from a political stand point, the People’s Mojahedin play a key role in the developments in Iran. The PMOI is the biggest political force in Iran and the central force within the National Council of Resistance of Iran. They are largely supported by the Iranians and embody the hope of the nation. Thus the residents of Ashraf, even deprived of their weapons and in spite of all the restrictions, are considered as the most important threat to the survival of the mullahs, who seek to destroy them.

Every resident of Ashraf has signed a declaration with the multinational forces condemning violence, terrorism and which commits them to respecting Iraqi laws and UN mandates.

Third, by its attachment to a tolerant and democratic Islam, the PMOI is the anti-thesis of the mullahs’ fundamentalism. Last June, five million and two hundred thousand Iraqis opposed to the rule of fundamentalism in their country stated that the most effective solution regarding the meddling of Tehran regime and its agents was to support the PMOI as the only barrier against this invasion.

Fourth, international laws protect the rights of the People’s Mojahedin. In July 2004, after sixteen months of investigations by several American official services on every member of the Mojahedin of Ashraf, the Multinational Force - Iraq recognized their status as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Since then different commands of the Multinational Force have always stressed the rights of the residents of Ashraf.

Moreover, although Iraq is not a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention on the right to asylum, members of the PMOI have been considered as refugees since 1986 under Iraqi laws. Consequently, under the principle of the continuity of the state, the present Iraqi government has a responsibilty towards the commitments of the former regime.

The chairman of the Union of Iraqi Jurists and the chairman of the Iraqi bar have recently announced that the right to asylum in Iraq of the People’s Mojahedin members was based on Article 34 of the 1970 Constitution and the Iraqi law number 51 of 1971.

Moreover, under paragraph 4 of Article 210 of the law on the stay of foreigners passed in 2000, the People’s Mojahedin are considered as political refugees.

Last year, 12,000 Iraqi lawyers and 6000 European lawyers confirmed in their statements the right to asylum of the PMOI members in Iraq.

Furthermore, the most eminent political personalities and Iraqi leaders as well as many members of parliamentary groups from this country, such as Dr Adnan Doleimi, chairman of the Congress of the Inhabitants of Iraq, Sheikh Khalaf Al-Alyan, general secretary of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council, reaffirmed the right to asylum of members of the PMOI and condemned the attempts by Iranian regime against them.

I have to remind you that Prime Minister Jafari, along with Iraqi Foreign and Defense ministers, acknowledged the right to asylum of the People’s Mojahedin in Iraq. Consequently, the plots by the Iranian regime to expel or to force the Mojahedin to leave Ashraf constitute a violation of the international law. Keeping silent regarding the mullahs can only embolden them to ignore international laws.

Today, defending Ashraf amounts to defending humanity and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is the defense of the Iranian people’s basic rights. This is the defense of the 1967 Declaration of the United Nations on territorial asylum. Defending Ashraf is defending international law. Defending Ashraf is a policy of defending principles against Islamic fundamentalism.

I call on the jurists and lawyers here today to do everything possible to safeguard the rights of Ashraf residents in Iraq as political refugees protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention and by international laws, and to demand the Iraq government to reaffirm their status and to commit itself to the principle of non-refoulement.

Texas Religious and Civic Leaders Condemn Iran's Rights Violations and Meddling in Iraq, Support Rights of Camp Ashraf Residents

Texas Religious and Civic Leaders Condemn Iran's Rights Violations and Meddling in Iraq, Support Rights of Camp Ashraf Residents
November 2, 2006

HOUSTON, Nov. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As Iran's ruling regime intensifies its nefarious campaign to thwart efforts for a unified, democratic and stable Iraq, nearly sixty religious and civic leaders in Texas endorsed a declaration to condemn Tehran's meddling in Iraq and the mounting human rights violations in Iran. They also supported rights of Iranians opposition group living in Camp Ashraf, Iraq.

1. In light of the rising suppression of Iranians since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, the declaration calls for "Immediate investigation of the situation of human rights in Iran particularly the rights of religious minorities and women."

2. Tehran's secret drive for nuclear weapons is the flip side of its squashing of Iranians' human rights at home, meddling in Iraq and sponsorship of terrorism. The declaration calls for "Decisiveness on the part of the world community against the Iranian terrorist regime's nuclear projects and meddling in Iraq, and the Middle East."

3. In Iraq, Tehran is pursuing a multi-pronged agenda aimed at fulfilling Khomeini's dream of an Iranian-style Islamic Government in Iraq. On one hand, Tehran inflames the sectarian conflict and, on the other; it targets prominent anti- fundamentalist Iraqi figures and conspires for the expulsion of thousands of Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf.

Recognizing the strategic importance of Camp Ashraf as a vital counterbalance against Iran, according to U.S. Congressional Record, nearly 5.2 million Iraqi Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds of different political affiliations have signed a declaration supporting the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran's continued stay in Iraq.

They stressed that only party which would benefit from the expulsion of Ashraf residents is Iran's ruling tyranny. These dissidents have provided help and information to the Iraqi people and the Multi-National Force -- Iraq, revealing the aims and extent of Iran's meddling and ways to block it.

Recognizing the evil nature of Tehran's scheme, nearly sixty Ministers, Pastors, Rabbis, and civic leader in Texas call for "Iraqi government's full commitment and respect of international conventions including the reaffirmation of the rights of Ashraf residents to political asylum in Iraq; Protection and respect for the rights of these political refugees under the Fourth Geneva Convention by the Multi-National Force -- Iraq (MNF-I), International Committee of the Red Cross, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Human Rights Council and UN Secretary General."