Lawyers Without Borders condemns Iranian regime’s bomb attack on Ashraf City’s water station

Tuesday, 26 February 2008

NCRI - Dr. Khaled Issa Taha, chairman of the London based “Lawyers Without Borders” in an interview with the Persian language channel INTV (Simaye-Azadi) condemned the explosion of the bomb attack on the water pumping station of the Ashraf City, home to the members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Iraq.

Dr. Taha described the bomb attack as “criminal and unjustifiable.” “The role of Iranian mullahs is quite clear in such incidents; explosions and murder of innocent people, particularly those who try to bring democratic change in Iran,” he added.

On February 8, Iran’s Qods Force terrorists by using more than 300 kg of TNT blew up the station supplying water to the members of PMOI in Ashraf City and 20,000 villagers living in the vicinity. As a result water pumps, installations of the station and offices were destroyed and supply of water were cut off.

The bombing of Ashraf City's power station followed the assassination on February 6 of a local tribe council member, Sheikh Hamid Ziab, in charge of protection of the power station.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) revealed that the Iranian regime in past few weeks dispatched a number of agents of Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) as well as Qods Force elements from Iran and abroad to Iraq. The agents were identified as: Massoud Khodabandeh, Mostafa Mohammadi, Reza Akbari Nasab and Alireza Bashiri. The team leader for the group belonging to the Qods Force is Tabatabaie.

These rogue elements were to prepare for subsequent plots for terrorist attacks against the PMOI members residing in Ashraf City. The mullahs' embassy in Baghdad accommodated them in Al-Mansur Hotel in Baghdad and kept a constant contact with the agents. A number of MOIS and Qods Force agents are presently staying in Al-Mansur Hotel in Baghdad.

On November 8, 2007, four members of the MOIS went to Khalis directly from the Iranian regime's embassy in Baghdad and met with Abdul-Rassoul Mullah Hamid Al-Saadi (aka Abu-Heidar) head of the local office for Badr Brigade in Khalis. At the meeting there were two commanders of the hit squads identified as Abu Tabarak Al-Saedi and Khezr Mohammad Ahmad (aka Abu-Osama Khalesi). The latter was involved in a terrorist attack on a bus carrying workers to Ashraf City in May 2006.

The bombing of Ashraf City's water pumping station has sparked a wave of strong condemnations by International and local political and human rights organizations.