Iraqi Shiites' real voice

Friday, 30 November 2007
By Alireza Jafarzadeh
Fox News

Since the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of Baghdad in April of that year, there was a false consensus created, suggesting that Iraqi Shiites are represented by clerics who are close to Tehran, i.e. the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

During the parliamentary elections, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) won most of the seats in the 275 member Council of Representatives of Iraq. As a result, Tehran claimed victory and sought a bigger share of influence in Iraq.

The reality, however, was otherwise. There were many indications that the majority of the Shiite population in Iraq were secular, independent-minded, and would not endorse Tehran's Velayat-e Faqih system that is based on the absolute rule of clerics. Pro-Tehran Shiites, well funded, trained and armed by Iran, managed to overwhelm the voice of the Shiite majority who did not have the opportunity to stand on its feet before being intimidated or eliminated by Tehran-sponsored Shiite death squads.

There is now a major shift in the balance of power in favor of the more moderate voices of Shiites in Iraq as opposed to the more radicals closely aligned with Tehran.

More than 300,000 Shiites in southern Iraq, believed to be Tehran's stronghold, signed a statement calling for an end to what they referred to as "Iranian terrorist interferences," and demanded the United Nations to investigate the Islamic republic's involvement in Iraq.

Sheikh Jassim Al-Kazim, leader of the Independent National Democratic Tribes' Assembly, in interviews with major Western media in Baghdad, said that the statement’s signatories include 14 clergies, 600 sheikhs, 1,250 jurists, 2,200 physician, engineers, university professors and 25,000 women.

"The Iranians, in fact, have taken over all of southern Iraq," said a senior tribal leader from the south who spoke with the Washington Post on condition of anonymity because he feared for his life. "Their influence is everywhere."

"The most painful stab in the back of the Shiites in Iraq by the Iranian regime has been its shameful abuse of Shiite religion to achieve its ominous end," the sheiks said in the statement. "The only solution and hopeful prospect for Iraq, and in particular the southern provinces, is the eviction of the Iranian regime from our homeland."

Contrary to suggestions in recent weeks that Iran was slowing the flow of bombs, money, and other forms of support to Shiite extremists in Iraq, a top commander of the U.S. forces in Baghdad said on November 26, that there has been no letup in attacks and weapons-smuggling by Iranian-backed Shiite militants in some parts of Iraq's capital.

Despite a 75 percent decline in overall attacks in his area, there was an increase last month in the most lethal kind of roadside bombs — the explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) that come from Iran, said Army Col. Don Farris who is commander for coalition forces in northern Baghdad.

The tribal leaders also told the media that their effort is being supported by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The group is the main Iranian opposition, and has headquarters in Iraq's Diyala province in Ashraf city. Its members enjoy U.S. military protection in Iraq as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Sheikh Al-Kazim, in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV, said that the statement condemned the Iranian regime's allegations against the MEK and declared their support for the organization.

In an interview with the Iraqi daily, Az-Zaman, Ayad Allawi, former Iraqi Prime Minister and current head of the Iraqi National Accord, emphasized the legitimacy of the continued presence of the MEK in Iraq. Allawi, himself a Shiite, added that a section of the MEK, as a political movement, exists in Iraq with limitations on its activities, while other parts of it operate in Iran and the rest of the world. He stressed that eviction or expulsion of MEK members (Tehran's main demand from the Iraqi government) has no place in Iraqi values or principles.

In addition, Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashemi told the Al Hurriyah TV, which is affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the party of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, that "the presence of the Iranian Mojahedin [MEK] in Iraq is based on the international conventions recognizing members of the organization as political refugees."

The new realities of Iraq indicate that the United States should empower the coalition of the more moderate and anti-Tehran Iraqis, which includes both the Sunnis and the Shiites. Iraqis believe that the main Iranian opposition has played a very constructive role in Iraq in order to isolate Tehran and its proxies; U.S. should recognize and enhance this role by removing all restriction from the MEK.

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Alireza Jafarzadeh is a FOX News Channel Foreign Affairs Analyst and the author of "The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

Jafarzadeh has revealed Iran's terrorist network in Iraq and its terror training camps since 2003. He first disclosed the existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and the Arak heavy water facility in August 2002. Prior to becoming a contributor for FOX, and until August 2003, Jafarzadeh acted for a dozen years as the chief congressional liaison and media spokesman for the U.S. representative office of Iran's parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

The main solution to problem in Iraq is to support PMOI - Iraqi Shiite figure

Thursday, 29 November 2007

NCRI – The head of the Independent Association of the Nationalist and Democratic Tribes Sheikh Jassim al-Kadhim, in an interview with Iraqi news agency said, "The catastrophe in Iraq, the Middle East and the world over is the outcome of leaving the grounds open for Iran’s velayat-e faqih regime (clerical rule). He reiterated that the solution to the growing problem is to support the Iranian main opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

"The PMOI acts as the counterbalance in the region, disarming the PMOI and bombing their centers in Iraq caused a tilt in the strategic balance in the region, a move that emboldened the Iranian regime to move forward and dominate Iraq," he added.

Sheikh Kadhim presented a statement on November 22 signed by 300,000 Iraqi Shiites that condemned the Iranian regime's campaign against the PMOI and declared their support for the organization. The statement declared that the Iranian regime is fomenting violence in Iraq.

The statement which was widely covered by the media had been signed by Iraqi Shiite Muslims in the Iraqi southern provinces including 14 clergymen, 600 Sheikhs, 1,250 jurists, 2,200 physician, engineers, university professors and 25,000 women.

Last year in June, some 5.2 million Iraqis including 121 political parties and social groups, 700,000 women, 14,000 lawyers and jurists, 19,000 physicians, 35,000 engineers, 320 clerics, 540 professors, 2,000 tribal sheikhs and 300 local officials signed a petition condemning Iranian regime's meddling in their country. The declaration also lent support to People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran whose presence in Iraq had acted as a major obstacle to mullahs' fundamentalist ambitions in Iraq.

Mullahs' terrorist agents attacked a vehicle carrying Iraqi workers to Ashraf

Sunday, 25 November 2007
One killed and six others wounded

NCRI - This morning, at 8:15 a.m. a vehicle carrying workers was attacked by a roadside bomb fifteen kilometers west of the Ashraf City (home to members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) in Iraq). Amer Mohammad Helale was killed and six others in the same vehicle were injured.

Following the terrorist attack, local residents and the police rushed to the scene and transferred the wounded to nearby Ashraf Hospital. The roadside bomb used by agents of the Iranian regime was the same kind found in storages in Diyala Province in Iraq. The deadly device made by the Defense Industry under direct supervision of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and shipped to Iraq.

The Multi-National Force-Iraq officers emphasize that the device used in this incident is the same kind as the agents of the Iranian regime currently use to make the region insecure and threaten the local residents' safety. The terrorist assault on the vehicle is in line with the same terrorist methods used by the mullahs' agents on Ashraf City's water pipelines last summer.

On Friday, Hadi Al Ameri, commander of Bader Brigade which is a subdivision of the IRGC in Iraq was quoted by Rafidain Television Station as saying, "The PMOI must be expelled from Iraq."

At the same time the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) television, Al Forat, close to IRGC, reported that Ameri was in Al-Khalis, a town 30 kilometer north of Ashraf City (Al-Forat, Nov.2, 2007).

On Saturday, Rear Adm. Greg Smith, MNF-I spokesman in an interview revealed that some of the recent explosions in Baghdad "according to confessions [by four terrorists related to the Iranian regime] and intelligence gathered, point out that it was rigged by Shiite insurgents [close to Iranian regime] to look like the work of al Qaeda," (Aljazeera, Al-Hora, Al Arabiya, networks, Nov. 24, 2007).

In the summer of 2006, a similar terrorist attack on a bus carrying workers to Ashraf near Al-Khalkis Township left eleven workers dead.

The Iranian Resistance holds responsible the Bader Brigade belonging to the IRGC for such terrorist attacks and calls on MNF-I for immediate dismantle of the terrorist group and arrest of its commanders.

Secretariat of National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 25, 2007

Thousands of Iranians rallied in Sweden in support of heroine of the People's Mojahedin Organization

Saturday, 24 November 2007

NCRI - On Saturday, November 24, in a demonstration in Stockholm, Sweden, thousands of Iranians residing in the country, condemned the recent insults to heroine members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) based in Ashraf city (home to the members of the PMOI in Iraq) by the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. The participants expressed their support for the residents of Ashraf city, the PMOI and its struggle against religious fascism ruling Iran.

Iranians also called for an end to appeasement policy of the western countries, in particular Sweden, vis-à-vis the clerical regime. They indicated that the appeasement policy has prepared the grounds for freedom of activities of the agents of the clerical regime's dreaded Gestapo in Sweden. The main task of the mullahs' network in Sweden is to pursue a demonizing campaign against the PMOI. By employing the same network, the clerical regime is trying to extent its suppression and dictatorial measures to Sweden.

Dozens of members of parliaments, prominent jurists and political dignitaries from all over Europe and the U.S. participated in the demonstration.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance addressed the demonstration via satellite link from Paris. She referred to recent insults against the women members of the PMOI in the Swedish press and said, "Why the women members of the PMOI are targets of such a vicious campaign of the clerical regime and its lobbyists in Sweden? The answer is clear: "Since these women are struggling against the religious fascism ruling Iran unabatedly with the objective of bringing down the religious fascism ruling Iran."

Mrs. Rajavi reiterated, "The war of the regime against Iranian people and the struggle of Iranian people for freedom against this regime is not limited to uranium enrichment or giving up nuclear weapons or not even Iraq. The war of Iranian people against the regime is against the entire religious fascism. The culture and history of this regime could be summarized in two words: Intrusion and insult to the dignity, honor and rights of all of Iranian men and women. The third option [in dealing with Iranian situation] is to change the religious dictatorship as a whole by Iranian people and their resistance. Members of the PMOI, the women in particular, have vowed to bring down this inhuman regime and this would take place."

Lord Slynn of Hadley, the former Judge of the European Court of Justice and the distinguished jurist from the U.K. reminded that the members of the PMOI in Ashraf city are "protected persons" by the Fourth Geneva conventions. He pointed out that insulting the residents of Ashraf can be pursued legally in relevant courts.

Professor Steven Schneebaum, former member of Board of Directors of International Human Rights Law Group underscored the legal rights of residents of Ashraf and said that both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have reiterated on the rights of the residents of Ashraf.

Morten Høglund, a senior member of the Norwegian Parliament who had visited Ashraf city, recalled the humane and democratic relations he witnessed among the members of the PMOI in Ashraf. He said that the PMOI and its presence in Iraq have acted as a major bulwark against the clerical regime's export of violence and fundamentalism to Iraq. He emphasized that experience of the past four years has shown clearly that the clerical regime and its agents are the only party that is interested in the PMOI leaving Iraq and has resorted to various conspiracies, deceits and fabrications to achieve their goal.

Kenneth Lewis, the President of the Swedish branch of Lawyers Without Borders, and lawyer of some families of residents of Ashraf rejected the unfounded allegations against the PMOI and residents of Ashraf. He said that his personal visit to Ashraf in 2004 proved the fallacy of these allegations. He said in the course of the past four years, it has become abundantly clear that the ultimate source that propagates these allegations is the mullahs' dreaded Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).

In closing the resolution of the demonstration states, "Iranian people, refugees and dissidents who are in exile as well as Swedish democratic forces condemn the shameless insult to women members of the PMOI in Ashraf city by Bitte Hammargren which was published in Svenska Dagbladet. This was not only an 'insult to human dignity' of 1,000 free women in Ashraf city, but also was an insult to human dignity of all free and freedom seeking Iranian women. This insult arouses the repulsion and rejection of all conscientious individuals, human rights, and women rights advocates."

Secretariat of National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 24, 2007

Iraqi Shiites declare support for Mojahedin of Iran

Friday, 23 November 2007

NCRI - Sheikh Jassim Al-Kazim, leader of the Independent National Democratic Tribes' Assembly, in an Interview with Al-Jazeera TV, said that the statement signed by 300,000 Iraqi Shiites condemned the Iranian regime's allegations against the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and declared their support for the organization.

The statement that was published on Thursday and widely covered by the media had been signed by Iraqi Shiite Muslims in the Iraqi southern provinces including 14 clergies, 600 Sheikhs, 1,250 jurists, 2,200 physician, engineers, university professors and 25,000 women.

Sheikh Jassim said that the petition condemned the Iranian regime's terrorist activities in Iraq and in particular spread of insecurity by Iranian regime's Qods Force that is enlisted as a terrorist entity. Sheikh Jassim added,

"The Signatories condemned the Iranian regime's allegations against the PMOI such as participation in the killing of Iraqi Shiites. These allegations are only aimed at covering up the crimes of the Iranian regime and its mercenaries in Iraq."

The group called for dispatch of a U.N. delegation to investigate what they called the "Iranian's crimes" in the southern Iraqi provinces, Al-Jazeera reported.

Mojahedin of Iran support Iraqi Sheikhs' petition - Washington Post

Thursday, 22 November 2007
Petition Calls for U.N. Probe Into Iran's Influence

NCRI - More than 300,000 Shiite Muslims from southern Iraq signed a petition condemning Iranian regime for fomenting violence in Iraq, Washington Post reported today.

"The Iranians, in fact, have taken over all of south Iraq," said a senior tribal leader from the south who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his life. "Their influence is everywhere."

"Their effort is being supported by the People's Mujaheddin Organization of Iran, or Mujaheddin-e Khalq", the Post added.

The report added, "The unusually organized Iraqi rebuke illustrates the divisions that Iran has provoked among Iraq's majority Shiites. The prime minister and major political blocs are closely tied to Iran, but the petition organizers said many citizens are fiercely opposed to Iranian meddling in Iraqi affairs." It further said, "The campaign echoes repeated pronouncements by U.S. officials that Iran has been instigating violence in Iraq and allowing weapons to flow across the border."

In a similar effort last year in June, some 5.2 million Iraqis including 121 political parties and social groups, 700,000 women, 14,000 lawyers and jurists, 19,000 physicians, 35,000 engineers, 320 clerics, 540 professors, 2,000 tribal sheikhs and 300 local officials signed a petition condemning Iranian regime's meddling in their country. The declaration also lent support to People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran whose presence in Iraq had acted as a major obstacle to mullahs' fundamentalist ambitions in Iraq.

Petition condemns Iran for "disorder" in South Iraq

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 300,000 Iraqis including 600 Shi'ite tribal leaders have signed a petition accusing Iran of sowing "disorder" in southern Iraq, a group of sheikhs involved in the campaign said.

The sheikhs showed Reuters two thick bundles of notes which contained original signatures. The sheikhs said more than 300,000 people had signed the pages.


Such a public and organized display of animosity toward neighboring Shi'ite Iran is rare in Iraq. Iranian influence has grown steadily, especially in the predominantly Shi'ite south, since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

"More than 300,000 people from the southern provinces condemned the interference of the Iranian regime in Iraq and especially in spreading security disorder in the provinces," the sheikhs said in a statement…

"The most poisonous dagger stabbed in us, the Iraqi Shi'ites, is the (Iranian) regime shamefully exploiting the Shi'ite sect to implement its evil goals," the statement said.

"They have targeted our national interests and began planning to divide Iraq and to separate the southern provinces from Iraq."

The statement said that besides 600 Shi'ite tribal leaders, the petition was signed by a number of lawyers, engineers, doctors and university professors.

The group of sheikhs is the same one that told Reuters last month that Shi'ite Islamist political parties were imposing strict Islamic rules in southern Iraq and using their armed wings to create a state of fear.

Such fears are not unfounded -- two provincial governors were blown up by roadside bombs in August, apparent victims of infighting between the Shi'ite parties for political dominance in the region, source of most of Iraq's oil wealth.

PMOI’s presence in Iraq is legal and in accordance with international treaties – Kuwaiti daily

Sunday, 18 November 2007

NCRI - In an article by Iraqi author and journalist, Safi Al-Yaseri, in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa, the terrorist meddling of the Iranian regime in Iraq as well as the conspiracies against People's Mojahedin Orgnization of Iran (PMOI aka Mek) were condemned. He wrote, "Mojahedin’s presence in Iraq is legal and in accordance with International treaties."

"The Iraqi government is not allowed to move them within Iraq, let alone giving in to the demands and pressures by the Iranian regime to expel or hand them over. They are considered protected persons under the 4th Geneva Convention."

The article continued, "The nonsense coming from the rulers in Tehran has no bearing but to add to the Iraqi peoples’ anger. Our doors are open to all the residents of Ashraf. We welcome them because we want to express our appreciation to their revelations of detailed plans by the Iranian regime to annex Iraq, their attempt to join Iraqi people to expose the mercenaries of the Iranian regime among Iraqis whose days are numbered."

Iranian government considers People's Mojahedin as the alternative to its rule - Iraqi Analyst

Saturday, 17 November 2007

NCRI - In an interview with the Al-Rafedin TV in Iraq on Tuesday, a political analyst from the Iraqi Center for Strategic Research, Nezar Sameraie, said, "The Iranian government considers the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI aka MEK) as the alternative to its rule."

"PMOI's stay in Iraq is based on international treaties. I think the Iranian regime does not like to accept the fact that Iraq has given asylum to the PMOI members because it considers the PMOI as an alternative to its fascist regime. Therefore, as Ayad Allawi, former Iraqi Prime Minister, notes, the presence of this organization in Iraq is an excuse for relentless meddling of Iranian regime in Iraqi affairs," said Sameraie.

He continued, "The Iranian regime does not have the right to demand this because the PMOI opposition represents all the Iranian people. This movement represents all Iranians and is an important factor in the Iranian political equation. Its presence on the Iran-Iraq border region is a direct threat to the Iranian regime. Therefore, the Iranian regime is pressuring the Iraqi government to either expel PMOI members or return them back to Iran. As a result we could conclude that the Iraqi government is a surrogate of the Iranian regime."

Iranian government considers People's Mojahedin as the alternative to its rule - Iraqi Analyst

Saturday, 17 November 2007

NCRI - In an interview with the Al-Rafedin TV in Iraq on Tuesday, a political analyst from the Iraqi Center for Strategic Research, Nezar Sameraie, said, "The Iranian government considers the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI aka MEK) as the alternative to its rule."

"PMOI's stay in Iraq is based on international treaties. I think the Iranian regime does not like to accept the fact that Iraq has given asylum to the PMOI members because it considers the PMOI as an alternative to its fascist regime. Therefore, as Ayad Allawi, former Iraqi Prime Minister, notes, the presence of this organization in Iraq is an excuse for relentless meddling of Iranian regime in Iraqi affairs," said Sameraie.

He continued, "The Iranian regime does not have the right to demand this because the PMOI opposition represents all the Iranian people. This movement represents all Iranians and is an important factor in the Iranian political equation. Its presence on the Iran-Iraq border region is a direct threat to the Iranian regime. Therefore, the Iranian regime is pressuring the Iraqi government to either expel PMOI members or return them back to Iran. As a result we could conclude that the Iraqi government is a surrogate of the Iranian regime."

Iraqi daily calls for cleansing Iraq from IRGC members

Thursday, 15 November 2007

NCRI - The Iraqi daily, Al-Zaman, called on Iraqi political groups to demand from the Multi-National forces to prosecute the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iraq.

On November 10, the Iraqi daily Al-Zaman published an article about the meddling of the Iranian regime in Iraqi affairs and wrote: “In the first 3 months of the occupation of Iraq, the Iranian regime dispatched 32,000 of its proxies who were on their payroll into this country. Most of these people hold Ministerial, Parliamentarian and other high position in various Iraqi offices. Of these people 1500 are placed in very sensitive posts and 490 are spread all over Iraq as the representatives of the Iranian regime's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

Al-Zaman noted the infiltration of the Qods force in the Iraqi government as well as murder and terror of the Iraqi nationalist forces. It continued: "We ask the political groups to demand from the occupying forces to prosecute the members of the IRGC in Iraq to demonstrate their resolve in terrorist designation. They should detain and prosecute these elements according to the laws. Based on international treaties, maintaining security in Iraq is the responsibility of the occupying forces, therefore eradicating Iraq of terrorism, especially the terrorism by the IRGC is their job.

Ayad Allawi: PMOI's presence is in accordance with Iraqi values and principles

Thursday, 15 November 2007

NCRI - Mr. Ayad Allawi, The former Iraq prime minister, and leader of the Iraqi National Accord in an interview with Al-Zaman daily, said that Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq are dangerous and emphasized on the legitimacy of presence of the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI aka MeK) in Iraq. Ayad Allawi added that pressure imposed by the Iranian regime is an evidence of Iraqi government’s weakness toward the regime in Iran.

He said that all common laws, Islamic, Arabic, international, and United Nations principles permit the acceptance of the political refugees. The PMOI as a political movement is partly in Iraq with limitations in their activities, another part in Iran, and a part in all over the world, he said.

Ayad Allawi added: sending off or deporting Mojahedin has no place in Iraqi values or principles. The Iraqi government must have the courage to talk with Iran about the matter and demand that Iranian regime should not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs.

Al-Zaman added: former prime minister said that statements made by Ahmadinejad to fill Iraq's security vacuum is a worrisome and dangerous proposition and also expressed concern over Maliki’s government holding back from any reply or reaction to such statement made.

Ayad Allawi said: such statements are clear indication of Ahmadinejad’s evil intentions toward Iraq, and what is even more disturbing is that he considered all who show opposition to Iraq’s prime minister as corrupt and seditious.

Iraqi tribal leader calls for end to Iranian interference

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Wednesday, 14 November 2007

Cairo (dpa) - The head of Iraq's Tribal Chiefs' Council Majid Ali Suleiman on Tuesday urged Iran to end its interference in Iraqi affairs which he dubbed an 'occupational incursion.'

'The council is against the Iranian incursion into Iraq,' Sulaiman told reporters in Cairo following a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa as part of a visiting tribal council delegation.

Iran has repeatedly denied accusations of inciting sectarian violence in Iraq.

Suleiman additionally said he had outlined to Moussa a proposal for the unification of Iraq, which the Arab League leader had welcomed.

Realizing reconciliation in Iraq was necessary, the tribal leader said, provided all Iraqis were included in the process.

The Iraqi delegation, led by tribal leader Sheikh Aziz Nazhan al- Saddid, had earlier met Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit.

In press statements after the meeting, al-Saddid said the proposed reconciliation plan involved the cooperation of neighbouring countries which would in turn attain stability in the region.

Secretary General of the Tribal Chief' Council Ali al-Faris al-Dulaimi meanwhile said the delegation has suggested the hosting of a conference in Egypt under the auspices of the Arab League and the United Nations.

The aim of the conference would be to end the US occupation of Iraq, to halt the sectarian bloodshed in the country and to ensure its unity, he said.

The Iraqi Tribal Chiefs' Council was formed in mid-September in an attempt to realize reconciliation and unity in Iraq, and consists of prominent leaders of different tribes and sects.

PMOI is protected by international conventions in Iraq – Iraqi Vice-President

Tuesday, 13 November 2007

NCRI - In an interview with the Al-Horrieh TV network affiliated to the Patriotic Front of Iraqi Kurdistan, the Iraqi Vice-President, Tariq Al-Hashemi, said that the presence of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI aka MEK) in Iraq is based on the international conventions recognizing members of the organization as political refugees.

With regards to Iranian regime’s remarks, the Iraqi Vice-President noted: "Mojahedin are not doing anything to bother Iran and if they do, they will be treated just like PKK. Tariq Al-Hashemi said that he went to Turkey hoping to resolve the PKK issue politically as desired by Iraqi people and this is what happened."

Tareiq Al-Hashemi repeated his request for Maleki’s replacement in case of establishing a technocrat government and said: “Change in Iraqi government should start with the Prime Minister because a technocrat government is a national salvation government and not a party-political government. Therefore it is impossible for someone belonging to a party with a specific ideology to head a technocrat government.

The Dar-al-Khalij news service reported: "Hashemi repeated his demand for replacing Maleki with a technocrat administration. The crisis in Iraq should have been resolved in a better manner. I do not know why the Prime Minister is hesitant about the numerous reform plans we have presented to him…"

Prominent Iraqi tribal leader was killed in a terrorist attack by Qods Force

Sunday, 11 November 2007

NCRI - Sheikh Fayez Lafta Aliwi and three other tribal leaders from Al-Obeidi tribe were killed in a terrorist attack by the armed militias affiliated to the Iranian Qods force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The assault had followed a mortar attack to Dujma region in Diyala province of Iraq on November 9.

The Multi-National Division - North Public Affairs Office stated in a press release issued after the attack: “Sheik Fayez of the Obeidi tribe, an influential leader in ongoing reconciliation efforts to further advance the safety and security of the Iraqi people in Diyala Province, was killed in an explosion inside his home, near the village of Khalis at approximately 6 p.m. Iraqi local time on November 9.

"Two other Iraqi civilians were killed and another was injured in the explosion. All four victims of the bombing were transported by local nationals to the Ashraf hospital in Diyala Province."

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), the main Iranian opposition group condemned the terrorist attack in a statement blaming the Qods force and IRGC for the terrorist attack. The statement called on nationalist Iraqi political movements and members of parliament to take serious measures to uncover agents of the Qods force in Iraqi governmental bodies and purge them.

Massoud Rajavi welcomes designation of IRGC – Iraqi news agency

Thursday, 08 November 2007

NCRI - The Iraqi news agency INA published on November 3, 2007, a report on the message of Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian Resistance, about the terrorist designation of the Iranian regime's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) by the United States. Here is the translation of the INA report:

Iraqi News Agency, 3-11-2007

Massoud Rajavi welcomes designation of IRGC as a necessary prelude to policy of changing the religious fascism ruling Iran

In a message to the Iranian people, aired on the opposition satellite channel, Iran National Television (INTV), and entitled, "War or peace with the religious fascism ruling Iran?," the Iranian Resistance's leader Massoud Rajavi strongly welcomed the inclusion of the Ministry of Defense, the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the Qods (Jerusalem) Force, as well as officials and banks that support and finance them on the list of "Nuclear Proliferators of Weapons of Mass Destruction (NPWMD)" and the terrorist list. Noting that this designation had more wide-ranging implications than the United Nations Security Council resolutions, Mr. Rajavi said the decision was a serious turning point for the United States as she distances herself from the religious fascism ruling Iran and in standing with the Iranian people.

He added, acknowledgement of the role and conduct of the IRGC - as the foundational pillar and safeguard of the velayat-e faqih regime - by the U.S. is indicative of an end to the era of appeasement and toleration of the ruling theocracy and a necessary prelude for a policy of regime change in Iran. The move blocks the path of the mullahs' expansionism and aggression in the Middle East region and removes the obstacles to democratic change in Iran, the Iranian Resistance's leader said.

Underscoring the need for regime change in Iran, Mr. Rajavi added: By way of experience, in the past three decades, the international community has run the risk of adopting the policy of appeasement, conciliation and "no war" vis-à-vis the mullahs' regime, which would ultimately and inevitably drag the world into a war. Like Hitler, this belligerent regime is preparing for war without sparing any resources, because it can only survive through expansion, war, crisis and acquiring nuclear weapons. Making peace and compromising with Hitler led to the Second World War. The recognition of the rights of the Iranian people to sovereignty and resistance against religious dictatorship can avert what was described as the “Third World War” by President Bush.

The Iranian Resistance's leader emphasized: The Iranian people and their Resistance have the capacity, qualification and capability to change the regime in Iran. Even war and air strikes on IRGC centers and nuclear sites cannot change this equation.

Mr. Rajavi said: The theocracy ruling Iran, as stipulated in its Constitution, is based on the doctrine of velayat-e faqih (absolute supremacy of clerical rule). But the Iranian people and Resistance demand freedom, popular sovereignty and free choice. Whoever supports freedom and democracy in Iran should support overthrowing the velayat-e faqih regime and defend the right of the Iranian people to sovereignty.

For this reason, Mr. Rajavi said, on the one side, there are those who support popular sovereignty and an end to religious dictatorship. On the other side, there are those who seek to preserve, buy peace and appease the ruling theocracy in Iran. They lose no opportunity to warn of the dangers and consequences of going to war with the mullahs' regime. Yet they never mention the dangers and implications of "no war" and the continued rule of this regime which will inevitably lead to horrific wars. Their interests are intertwined with the survival of this regime. They fear its overthrow because they are bound to lose much. For them, the overthrow of the religious fascism ruling Iran is a red line.

The Iranian Resistance's leader referred to the "misappropriation" of the global peace movement by the mullahs, adding that they seek to transform it into a movement for peace with and appeasement of the religious dictatorship ruling Iran. He stressed: The mullahs owe their existence to an eight-year war with Iraq, and openly boast that they were the "first victor" of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While their official mantra was "war, war until victory" and "war until the world is rid of evil," and while they fed vast amount of disinformation to incite the recent war in Iraq, they are ironically now keen to take advantage of the peace movement, for which humanity legitimately and urgently yearns, so that they could have further opportunity to continue suppression and public hangings at home and export terrorism and religious fascism abroad.

Mr. Rajavi added: It is common knowledge that it is the Iranian regime which plants Explosively-Formed Projectiles (EFPs), runs secret prisons and torture chambers and incites sectarian war in Iraq. The partitioning of Palestine is the mullahs' model for southern Iraq. The Iranian regime poured some $14 billion into Lebanon during the 33-day war in summer 2006. On November 4, 1986, the President-to-be, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said the blow the U.S. received in Lebanon "is attributed to us and it should be." Five years later, on July 20, 1991, the former Revolutionary Guards Corps Minister Mohsen Rafiqdoust admitted, "The TNT and ideology (for the Beirut bombing of the Marine barracks) were sent there from Iran." And today, from Somalia to Afghanistan, wherever there is war, the mullahs' regime and its Revolutionary Guards are ever present and beating the drums of war.

Mr. Rajavi underscored: The overthrow of the mullahs' regime is indispensable to bringing peace to the Middle East region. Today, this regime maintains its grip on power through daily repression and executions. On August 28, 2007, its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared a "readiness to fill the great power vacuum" in the region. And, a few weeks later, he told the United Nations General Assembly, "I officially declare that the era of post-Second World War relationships has ended. Palestine and Iraq will be cleared of the occupiers and the people of Europe and America will be free of the pressures of the Zionists."

The Iranian Resistance's leader concluded: The mullahs' decadent regime has reached a dead-end with no way forward or back. It must either retreat successively, which will ultimately lead it to lose its grip on power inside Iran, paving the way for a popular uprising; or hoping that a ground war is impossible, it will resort to more militarism as well as greater suppression and internal purges. In that case, it should be prepared to face the consequences of such a policy. Remote as the chance of this may be, however, we wish the regime would retreat as soon as possible, in which case we would have to pay a smaller price. The Iranian people will, however, earn their freedom whatever the cost may be.

The People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran – Ashraf
November 3, 2007

Friendship Committee of Iraqi Kurds with Iranian people welcomes terrorist designation of Qods Force

Tuesday, 06 November 2007

NCRI - The Friendship Committee of Iraqi Kurds with Iranian People welcomes terrorist designation of the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Qods Force calling for trial of the Iranian regime’s leaders and comprehensive UN Security Council oil and arms sanctions against the regime.

“The Revolutionary Guards Corps is a constant reminder of suppression, massacre and terror for Iranian Kurdish people. The conspiracies and murder machine of the IRGC and Qods Force are not just limited to Iranian Kurdistan, they have massacred the opposition in Iraqi Kurdistan as well, and they have killed or kidnapped hundreds of Kurds opposed to any cooperation with their local proxies.

“Names of those murdered and their murderers are kept in the hearts and minds of all the heroic Kurdish people and could be brought to any credible international tribunal. Ahmadinejad and his close ally Sohrevardi, both members of the IRGC, and the commander of the Qods Force in Iraq, Ghasem Soleimani, lead all those criminals who are directly involved in the killing of the Kurdish people.”

The Resolution by the Friendship Committee of Iraqi Kurds with Iranian People continues: “We welcome the decision by the US State and Treasury departments and demand call on the international community to try the leaders of Iranian regime for crimes committed against Iranian people in general and Kurdish people in particular. We call on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution to impose comprehensive oil and arms sanctions against the Iranian regime. We warn all governments and politicians across the world that appeasement and dialogue with this regime will only give them more opportunity to terrorize and murder the people of the region and of the world.”

Leader of Iraqi Dialogue Council welcomes terror designation of the IRGC

Tuesday, 06 November 2007

NCRI - In an interview with Jordanian newspaper, Al-Arab Al-Youm on Friday, Sheikh Khalaf Al-Alyan, the leader of the Iraqi Dialogue Council, warned about the meddling of Iranian regime in Iraqi affairs.

"There are forces which are trying hard to maintain Iran’s dominance in Iraq and to divide the country," Alyan said. He also welcomed comprehensive sanctions and terrorist labeling of the Revolutionary Guards and the Qods Force and added, "The Qods force of the Revolutionary Guards has committed numerous crimes against the Iraqi people. Today, in Iraq we are witnessing tortures that we never could have imagined or heard of, even in our dreams, actions that our history does not recall."

The Qods Force of the Revolutionary Guards has also committed extensive crimes against the Iranian people. Placing this force in the terrorist list will limit their terrorist operations in Iraq and Iran and will help reveal the groups which are cooperating with them. This will help establishing security in Iraq and return to the normal situation.

PMOI is a protected group of individuals in Iraq – US Admiral

Sunday, 04 November 2007

NCRI – In a press conference in Baghdad on Wednesday, Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, Director of Communications Division of Multi-National Force in Iraq (MNF-I) said that the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI aka MEK) is "a protected group of individuals in the north of Iraq." He was responding to a question on the PMOI raised by Al-Hura Arabic TV reporter.

"Our duty is to make certain they are, in fact, protected and remain in a protected status in north Iraq," Admiral Smith reiterated.

The TV reporter stressed that he was seeking a reply to statements by the Iranian regime's Foreign Minister who said that the MNF-I was actually protecting the PMOI.

Admiral Smith responded: "I heard your question. That’s exactly the answer that I would give to the MEK."

The text of the October 31, 2007, Baghdad press conference is published in the official website of the MNF-I http://www.mnf-iraq.com.