Conference in U.S. Congress deplores Iran's meddling in Iraq, calls for protection of Ashraf City

Monday, 18 February 2008

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued today by the Society of Iranian-American Scholars & Professionals (San Diego), Colorado's Iranian American Community, and the Iranian-American Society of Texas:

Iran's rising meddling in Iraq and the humanitarian and political status of Iran's largest opposition -- the People's Mojahedin Organization (PMOI/MEK) -- in Ashraf City, Iraq, was the topic of a policy conference in the U.S. Congress on February 13, 2008.

The bi-partisan Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus hosted the conference in which more than 200 Iranian-American delegates from across the United States, congressional staffers, former government officials, policy and military experts, and the representatives of foreign embassies attended. The conference was chaired by Mr. Ronald G. Precup, a partner in the law firm of Carpenter & Precup.

On February 8, 2008, the agents of the Qods Force, the terrorist arm of Iran's regime bombed and completely destroyed a plant in Iraq's Diyala Province which supplied water to Ashraf City and 20,000 Iraqis living nearby. The members of PMOI in Ashraf City are "Protected Persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention and under protection of the Multinational Force -- Iraq.

Congressmen Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs; Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and Ted Poe (R-TX), members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, attended the conference. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), a member of the Homeland Security Committee sent a special message to the conference.

Rep. Tancredo called for immediate attention to "the current problems" at Ashraf City and said "I believe it would be better for the U.S to be very clear in its intentions and I believe those intentions should be to protect the people at Camp Ashraf and to support the Iranian opposition. Iranian opposition today represents the best hope for democratic change in the country... The Iranian opposition has been a long friend of the U.S for a long time. The MEK is responsible for informing about Iran's nuclear activities and providing information about Iranian Qods force. US policy I believe should be changed to reflect this reality."

Congressman Poe remarked that "America's quarrel... is not with the people of Iran, but it's with the government of Iran and there is big difference... And I for one hope we do everything as a country, as a Congress, to support the efforts of the Iranian people in that struggle against tyranny, against the government that is oppressive to the people..."

Dr. Allan Gerson, chairman of Gerson International Law Group, said that "despite the fact of the MEK's actions at Camp Ashraf in renouncing terrorism and fully cooperating with U.S. authorities, and despite the MEK leadership's total renunciation of terrorism, the MEK remains on the U.S. terrorism list. This is inexplicable..." He added that the humanitarian provisions of the Geneva Convention "demand that the restored sovereign, here the government of Iraq, and the military power seeking to assure stability in the war torn area -- the U.S. military command -- continue to have a duty to do whatever they can to assure the well-being of protected persons."

The address by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, was read by Ms. Soona Samsami. In her address, Mrs. Rajavi stated that: "The Iranian Resistance is the counter weight to the mullahs and their export of fundamentalism to Iraq and to the region... The PMOI has played a vital role in pursuing different nationalist Iraqi forces as well as Sheikhs and tribes to participate in the political process. This explains why the Iranian regime views the PMOI as the most important barrier against expanding its complete influence in Iraq and hatches every possible conspiracy to destroy Ashraf."

In its message to conference, the Coordination Committee of Iraqi National Forces, which includes major non-sectarian Iraqi groups, emphasized that "There are many reasons for the existing level of political awareness amongst Iraqi political forces and on the grass root level. But one major factor that will never be forgotten by Iraqis is the role played by the Iranian Resistance and namely the PMOI and Ashraf. A role that has exposed them to a great deal of pressure and conspiracies by the Iranian regime."