Nejat Newsletter - ISSUE 15

8/14/2019 Nejat Newsletter - ISSUE 15

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Why the US granted 'protected'status to Iranian terrorists

By Scott Peterson,Staff writer of TheChristian ScienceMonitor,September 2007http://melindalsecor.blogspot.com/2007/09/why-us-granted-protected-status-

to.htmlThe US State Depart-ment officially consid-ers a group of 3,800Marxist Iranian rebels- who once killed sev-eral Americans andwas supported bySaddam Hussein -"terrorists."

But the same group,under American guardin an Iraqi camp, was just accorded a newstatus by the Penta-gon: "protected per-sons" under the Ge-neva Convention.

This strange twist,analysts say, under-scores the divisions inWashington over USstrategy in the MiddleEast and the waragainst terrorism. It'salso a function of theswiftly deterioratingUS-Iran dynamic, anda victory for US

hawks who favor us-ing the Mujahideen-eKhalq Organization(MKO) or "People'sHoly Warriors," as atool against Iran'sclerical regime.

"How is it that [theMKO] get the GenevaConvention, and thep e o p l e i nGuantnamo Baydon't get it? It's a

huge contradiction,"says Ali Ansari, a Brit-ish expert on Iran."This will be inter-preted in Iran as an-other link in the chainof the US determina-tion to move ontoIran next" in the US

war on terror.For months, Tehranhas quietly signaledthat it would turnover high-ranking AlQaeda members inexchange for MKOmembers now in Iraq.The MKO's new statuslikely puts an end toany such deal.

The shift also comesas momentum buildsin Washington to takesome action againstthe Islamic republic.Wednesday, it wasreported that Tehranhas broken UnitedNations inventoryseals and may re-sume work on con-structing centrifuges -the machines used forenriching uranium.

Senior European dip-lomats - who bro-kered a private dealwith Iran last October

that included haltingsuspected nuclearweapons programs, inexchange for Westernnuclear power exper-tise - are expected tosecretly meet Iraniancounterparts Thurs-day in London orParis to see what canbe salvaged of theiragreement.

"US-Iran relations are

drifting into very dan-gerous waters at themoment," says Mr.Ansari.

Indeed, the Pentagondecision comes amida string of critical re-ports about Iran thatare causing some US

lawmakers to wonderwhether the Bushadministration's ac-tion against Iraqshould have beenaimed instead at Iran.

But some analystssee the change asrelated to the USpresidential election."This whole dynamicis tied up with [US]d o m e s t i c p o l i -tics...and not aboutthe MKO itself, whichis not really a majorthreat to Iran any-more," says Mo-hamed Hadi Semati, apolitical scientist fromTehran Universitynow at the CarnegieEndowment for Inter-national Peace inWashington.

"The neo-cons werelosing ground, andthis new Iran bashingis seen by them as an

opportunity to drumup the theme of ter-ror and the possibilityof a collision with Iran- therefore, you needa very decisive leaderin the White House,"says Mr. Semati. "Atthe same time, Iran isgiving a lot of ammu-nition to [Bush ad-ministration hawks onIran]."

I SSUE NO 15

31 S EPTEMBER 07Nejat Newsletter

THE BRIEFING PUBLICATION OF NEJAT SOCIETY

Why the US grantedprotected status toIranian terrorists

1

Another assassinationattempt by MKO inParis

2

Witnesses to testifyagainst MKO

2

11th of Sept 2001and the MKO

3

MKO from resistance

to treachery

4, 5

France to probe kill-ing of Iranian

5

Many Iranians con-clude the US is sup-porting a terroristorganization

8

11 Sept and MKOs

tactic of duplicity6, 7

The highest pitch of

stupidity9

MKO henchmen in

western countries

10

Cult leader MassoudRajavi gives go-ahead to kill wit-nesses in European

countries

10

MKO behind Karbela

massacre?11

MKO, a tool in USspsychological war on

Iran

11

Iraqi governmentseriously angered by

the US

12

13

Elaheh obituary -

Times On Line

16

Some useful sites on

MKO15

Psychological tech-niques to cultivate

ideology

14

15

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:


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NEJAT NEWSLETTER PAG E 2

Iran Interlink,

http://www.iran-interlink.org/?September 24, 2007

Payvand association in astatement today said thattwo MKO members haveattacked Mr. Behzad Al-ishahi in Rue du FaubourgPoissonniere in Paris onSeptember 24, 2007around 9:30 am. Accordingto the statement, the at-tackers were forced toleave the scene when faced

by resistance from Mr. Al-ishahi and people in thestreet who came to helphim. The attackers failed tosnatch Mr. Alishahi's brief-case but vowed to takecome back shouting, "wewill be back and we willteach you a lesson".Link tothe statement (Persian)

http:/ / ww w.irane-ayandeh.com/ ?p=840

Mr. Alishahi had been a

high ranking official of theMKO for two decades. Hesurvived the cult after rais-ing concerns about the vio-

lations of human rights in-side the MKO. He currently

resides in Europe and is anactive human rights advo-cate and critic of Mr. andMrs. Rajavi, the self-appointed life-time leadersof the Mojahedin Khalq Or-ganization. This newscomes after a series of at-tacks carried out by theMKO in European cities in-cluding the planned semi-military operation carriedout by MKO members in

Paris in June 2007, whichended in the serious injuryof speakers and invitees ofa peace conference in FIAPbuilding.

Cult leader Massoud Ra- javi gives go-ahead tokill witnesses in Euro-

pean countries. An openletter to the British

Home Secretary Jacqui

Smith (Anne Singleton,

July 2007)

While the Mojahedin KhalqOrganization is desperatelytrying to use deception andpropaganda to fight back

"The court has witnessestestifying on the involve-ment of this organization inkilling Iraqi people," hesaid.

Mousawi added: "Trial of

Al-Ahali newspaper/Iraq,

translated by Iran Didban,

September 29, 2007

http://www.irandidban.com/master-e.asp?ID=13790

In an interview with Al-Ahali newspaper, Jafar al-Mousawi, the chief prosecu-tor of Iraq's high criminalcourt said: "The court hasdocuments proving the in-volvement of Mojahedin-eKhalq organization in killingand assassinating 35 Iraqicitizens in southern Iraq in1991."

Another assassination attempt by Mojahedin Khalq Organisation(Rajavi cult) in Paris.

Witnesses To Testify Against Mojahedin Khalq Organisation

(Rajavi Cult)

MKO leaders would be heldin near future."

He didn't mention thenames of the accused orhow they were supposed to

be summoned.

against the inclusion of thegroup in the list of terrorist

entities in the USA, UK,European Union and Can-ada, it is widely believedthat the escalation of vio-lence seen in the last cou-ple of months is the directresult of the order issuedby the cult leader in astatement in which he tellshis followers to "eliminate"any voice of criticismagainst the MojahedinKhalq Organization.

Cult leader Massoud Ra- javi gives go-ahead to

kill witnesses in Euro-pean countries. An open

letter to the BritishHome Secretary JacquiSmith (Anne Singleton,July 2007)

Latest article by Mr. Al-ishahi. Days before the as-sassination attempt againsthim:

The highest pitch of stu-

pidity! (Mojahedin Khalqhave not given up vio-

lence and terror)


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11th of September 2001 and the MKO


By: Nejat Society

The terrorist disaster of the11th of September 2001 withno doubt severely shocked theworld. This catastrophe cer-tainly became the globe's deepsorrow at the time. Almostevery country and every or-ganisation in the world, regard-less of the state of their rela-tionship with the USA, stronglycondemned the act. But would-nt be astonishing to learn thatthere was a group which actu-

ally celebrated the most brutalterrorist operation in the con-temporary history?

"Bagherzadeh" was one thebases of the Mojahedin- KhalqOrganisation (MKO) in Iraq be-fore the fall of the former Iraqidictator Saddam Hussein. Thisbase was normally used for thegroup gatherings of the MKOmembers in Iraq - otherwiseknows as the National Libera-tion Army (NLA). The time to

time sessions which always hadideological themes were usuallyheld with the presence of theco-leaders of the organisationMas'ud and Maryam Rajavi. Themembers used to get togetherfrom different bases in Iraq forone week or more to listen tothe teachings of the leaders.

When the 11th of September2001 catastrophe occurred,about 2000 people were as-

sembled in Bagherzadeh Baseto attend the general meetingof the NLA and to receive thespeeches delivered by the Ra-

javis. At the very day the loud-speakers throughout the basecalled everyone to meet in themain hall to become aware ofvery important and crucialnews. After a good number ofpeople were gathered, a videoclip containing the news wasshown from the widescreens.

The news was about how thetwin towers were blown up by

some fanatic extremist socalled Moslems. The video clipwas shown over and over forseveral times and each time itreceived jubilations from themembers and officials of theMKO. The officials were encour-aging the others to dance andbe cheerful.

The following day a meetingwas arranged for Mas'ud andMaryam Rajavi to deliver theirspeeches to the members andofficials. The same clips wereshown several times again andeach time it received the same

jubilations. Mas'ud startedspeaking about the terroristincident. He did not condemnthe act at all and even virtuallyaccepted that it was an anti-imperialistic move. He claimedthat his group is far more supe-rior to the Al-Qaeda and "ifthey could do such a sophisti-cated military operation we

must be able to do so in amuch better manner". He calledthe operation the consequenceof the US policy and also theexhibition of the power of theideology of Islam! He declaredthat "wait and see the fruits ofour revolutionary Islam!"

Maryam started her speechnext. She clearly stated thatthe terrorist disaster is to theadvantage of the MKO since itdraws the attention of the USadministration to Afghanistanand at least for a while theywould forget about Iraq andSaddam Hussein. She then re-lated the suicide bombing tothe Islamic theology andclaimed that only this sort ofideology could carry out thatsort of complicated task.

Many MKO members who werepresent in that meeting have

bared witness about that dayand about that meeting after

they left the group. When theUS Forces occupied the Ashrafbase the main base of theMKO in Iraq they interviewedmany former members andthey all explained the samestory which was mentionedabove. Although the US StateDepartment has called the or-ganisation a foreign terroristgroup as well as a personalitycult in its annual report, butunfortunately the report hasdeliberately failed to mentionthis mere fact that they practi-cally hailed the 11th of Septem-ber terrorist occurrence.

Some of ex-members empha-sised that just before the USForced occupied the AshrafCamp, the MKO authorities de-stroyed a lot of tapes, discs anddocuments including the shotstaken from the meeting men-tioned above.

It should also be noted thatsince the incident of 11th ofSeptember up to now, the MKOhas not by any means officiallycondemned this terrorist actand other military operationsdone by the Al-Qaeda inEurope. This in fact is despitethe reality that the organisationcontinuously emphasises on thenecessity of countering terror-ism and in this manner evencalls the Islamic Republic ofIran (IRI) the godfather of ter-rorism. The fact that the MKOhas totally focused its antiter-rorism propaganda on IRI andstays completely silent aboutthe 11th of September terroristact as the obvious symbol ofinternational terrorism provesthat the issue of counteringterrorism is only considered bythe leaders of the MKO as auseful tool and they do not ba-sically reject it.


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Iraqmemory.org,

September 25, 2007

http://www.iraqmemory.org/inp/view_printer.asp?ID=799 (Arabic)

Today, in Iraq's political,legal and press circles, weare witnessing hot debateson the role of Mojahedin-ekhalq of Iran in suppressingthe uprising of Iraqi in1991. The case was openedby Iraqi Chief ProsecutorJafar al-Mousawi, when he

announced that investiga-tions prove the involvementof terrorist elements of Mo-

jahedin-e Khalq in killingIraqi people and that Iraq's

judiciary is determined toprosecute them, even ifthey have left the country.

A while ago, news agenciesquoted al-Mousawi sayingthat 150 MKO members,including Maryam and Mas-soud Rajavi would be sued

legally and that Iraq's HighCriminal Court will investi-gate the crimes againstIraqis wherever, even out-side Iraq.

Prosecutor pointed to anumber of measures takenin this regard and said:"We have taken steps toreturn and try them here.During the investigationson the crimes former crimi-nal regime, documents

were retrieved showingthat Mojahedin-e Khalqcommitted crimes againstIraqis during 1991 uprisingin southern and northernIraq."

"These crimes include mas-sacre, torture, arrest, mis-using Iraq's public proper-ties and receiving a shareof oil revenues from Sad-dam," he added.

On the other hand, MKO'smedia in Camp Ashraf re-

ject the reports and accuseal-Mousawi of intending tomassacre MKO members.Some Sunni forces of Iraqalso supported the MKOand rejected Prosecutor'scomments on the group'srole in killing Iraqis.

To understand the issueand the activities of so-called "NCRI" in Iraq, thecase of their activities andtheir ties to former regime

of Saddam, their presencein Iraq for two decades andtheir activities during upris-ing days in 1991, should bestudied on the basis of mili-tary, intelligence and sur-veying and the participationof this group with Baathistsin killing Iraqis should beexamined very carefully.Security aspects of the is-sue should be reviewed,apart from media contro-

versies (on Iran's interfer-ence in Iraq), because it'san Iraqi issue.

Of course, there are docu-ments, events and factsproving MKO crimes in Ke-fri, Tuz Khormato, Kelarand southern parts of thecountry. The author of thistext witnessed the crimesof this organization in Kelarin March 1991. Painfulevents are still in the

memories of Kelar people.The victims, most of whomemployees of the hospital,saw the crimes of thegroup.

Another important issue isthe presence of Mojahedin-e khalq in Iraq. The pur-pose of establishing MKO'scamps and bases in Bagh-dad was to build a militaryshield around the capital.

Mojahedin Khalq (MKO), from Resistance to Treachery

There were Khantari basein western Baghdad

(between Baghdad andRamadi), Khales base,Khan Banisa'd in the northand another base insideBaghdad. Besides, therewere other bases nearKirkuk, which were occu-pied by this organizationafter Iraqi forces took thecontrol of this city duringAnfal operation in 1988.

Here I should point to abook in French, written by

a former member of Moja-hedin on NCRI's killings inTuz Khormato and Kefri in1991. We can't cover thedetails in this article, so weleave it for later. On theevents in Kelar, I shouldadd that after Suleimaniehwas cleaned of Iraqi secu-rity forces in 1991, the col-lege of fine arts was estab-lished in the city and I wasa student there. At that

time I lived out of Kelar.Once I went to Kelar, and Iwas waiting for a car totake me to Suleimaniehwhen Peshmerga forces an-nounced that several tankswith white flags were mov-ing from Jelula towards Ke-lar. First, we thought theywere Iraqi tanks, coming tosurrender. So, Peshmergaforces didn't react. One ofthe tanks headed towardsthe north and closed city's

exit way and the other wasmoving towards city's hos-pital.

Meanwhile, a white civiliancar from the hospitalmoved towards the high-way, carrying 25 hospitalworkers. Tank opened fireon them and killed all theworkers. Other tanks


5/16


stopped near the city'swe l l - known f o r t r e s s

"Shirvaneh". By now, Pesh-merga forces had under-stood that these wereMKO's tanks, coming tocontrol the city. It was onlya few days since Iraqiforces have left the city.

The beginning of MKO's waragainst Iraqis returns toearly day's of 1991 uprisingin Tuz Khormato. At thattime, MKO forces pretendedto be going to Khles

through Tuz Khormato.They talked to Peshmergacommanders and Kurd offi-cials allowed them to gobecause the issue had

nothing to do with them.However, as soon as pass-

ing the city, MKO forcesclosed the exit and openedfire on the city. A civilianbus with 30 passengerswas hit. All on board werekilled.

In a few days, MKO mem-bers forced the people toleave their homes and goto Kelar on foot. This mer-cenary group moved to-wards Kefri, killed womenand forced the people to

leave their homes. Theywere stronger than Iraqforces and Peshmerga withtheir old weapons couldn'tstop these foreign forces,

The new investigationstems from a complaintShirazi's family filed withthe French justice systemtwo years ago for "murder

and complicity in murder," judicial officials said oncondition of anonymity be-cause the case is ongoing.French judicial authoritiessay they have the authorityto investigate the case be-cause the political wing ofthe People's Mujahedeen isbased in Auvers-Sur-Oise,north of Paris.The People's Mujahedeen,which seeks the overthrow

of Iran's Islamic govern-ment, is listed as a terroristorganization by the StateDepartment and the Euro-pean Union. Former Iraqileader Saddam Hussein letthe group operate camps inIraq from which it stagedattacks on Iran.The group says it is apeaceful movement of ex-iled Iranian opponents, and

By P IERRE-ANTOINE

SOUCHARDAssociated Press Writer,

September 18, 2007

Associated Press New s-

wires

PARIS (AP) - French au-thorities plan to investigatethe 1999 killing of a topIranian general, which wasclaimed by an Iranian op-position group based in

France, judicial officials saidMonday.Brig. Gen. Ali Sayyad Shi-razi, deputy chief of the

joint staff command of theIranian armed forces, wasgunned down in April 1999in front of his home in Te-hran by men dressed ascity cleaners. The People'sMujahedeen of Iran claimedresponsibility.

Mojahedin Khalq (MKO), from Resistance to Treachery (cont)

France to Probe Killing of Iranian

that its militants in Iraqhave handed their weaponsover to U.S.-led forces. Arepresentative did not im-mediately return a call

seeking comment Monday.France's justice system hasbeen investigating the Peo-ple's Mujahedeen since2001.In 2003, French police car-ried out a sweep againstthe group and dozens ofmembers were arrested,including Maryam Rajavi,the head of the group's po-litical wing. The operationset off protests, with two

Mujahedeen supportersburning themselves todeath.Seventeen people, includ-ing Rajavi, were placed un-der investigation -- a stepshort of being charged --on suspicion of associatingwith or financing terroristgroups. She was held forabout two weeks beforebeing released.

armed to teeth with mod-ern weapons and trained by

Iraq's Republican Guards.It's natural that MKO is

trying to defend itself nowbut it can't hide its crimesagainst Iraqis.

There's no dispute in theway this organizationacted, because the memoryof Iraqis is full of their or-ganized terror, committedunder the supervision ofBaathists. Those supportingthis group should know thatthis group is only a burntcard, lacking even a sup-porter in Iran and political-military influence.


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Bahar Irani Mojahedin.ws

Sep. 11, 2007

Hardly anyone doubts thatal-Qaeda perpetrated 11September attacks had agreat impact on Mojahe-din-e Khalq Organization,or Mojahedin cult, tomake a shift in its terroristconducts. The global reac-tion against the attacks

and a shown decisivenessto combat against theabominable phenomena ofterrorism made MKO todenounce armed activity ifnot in nature but provi-sionally in words.The US invasion of Iraq as9/11s aftermath and theconsequent fall of Saddamactually deprived MKO of

a bountiful, reliable strate-gic ally. Not only Saddamgranted Mojahedin soiland abode, but also sup-plied them with logisticsand arms, espionageequipments, training andabundant dollars. In fact,Mojahedins greatest en-thusiasm to overthrow theIranian regime came all

from Saddams support.Saddams fall absolutelydisappointed MKO of fur-ther availability of the pre-cious opportunity thatdestined the groups sur-vival or demise.The global war on terror-ism turns to be an inter-nationally sensitive issue

at the present. Conse-quently, Mojahedin had tostart a new phase to avoidcoming under the centralfocus of anti-terrorismmoves as well as enablingthem to take a differentstep and a new democ-ratic array in its struggleagainst the Islamic Re-public. It was impossibleunless Mojahedin could beadopted inside a new

sphere of power and influ-ence that was dominatingthe region. Fortunateenough for Mojahedin, thelong friction between thenew authoritative powerin Iraq and Irans rulingpower was at its climax.But there existed an im-pediment; MKO was onthe State Departments

FTO since it was initiated.Now the blacklisted grouphad to convince the in-vader-host that it no moreadvocated armed and ag-gressive means andsought democratic ap-proaches. The first stepswere taken by its novelproposition of the thirdoption and establishment

of a Solidarity Front.Such moves were muchthe outcome of its lostmilitary equipments andpotentialities that wereindispensables of armedstruggle rather than a fun-damental shift to democ-racy in its strategy ofstruggle.

11 September and MKOs Tactic of Duplicity

The ECJ's lower court rul-ing wherein it was statedthat MKO had denouncedterrorist deeds since June2001 emboldened thegroup to start an overallpropaganda blitz to get ridof the terrorist tag anddraw supports especiallyamong the Americans.However, neither the USnor the EU paid wereduped by what they con-

cluded to be a new tacticby a terrorist group. Oneof the reasons contradict-ing MEKs claim of re-nouncing terrorist activi-ties since June 2001 waspresented by the StateDepartments April 30 re-port releasing the list ofdesignated terrorist or-ganizations:

In 2003, French au-thorities arrested 160MEK members at op-erational bases theybelieved the MEK wasusing to coordinatefinancing and plan-ning for terrorist at-tacks. Upon the arrestof MEK leader Maryam

Rajavi, MEK memberstook to Paris' streetsand engaged in self-immolation. Frenchauthorities eventuallyreleased Rajavi."[Rajavi was releasedon bail and is cur-rently awaiting trial onterrorism charges].


7/16


Furthermore, in an un-precedented move, thereport branded MKO as a cult of personality. Ithappened at a time whenMojahedin eluded to showa clear position concern-ing 9/11 plots and main-tained a meaningful si-lence over a most lam-basted terrorist deed thatexemplified the highestthreat of terrorism which

demanded a global moveto confront. Developing adeep comprehension ofMojahedins terrorist na-ture, America is wellaware that MKO cannotchange a terrorist mental-ity it has preserved fornearly forty years. As as-serted in the State De-partments report, MEK

leadership and membersacross the world maintainthe capacity and will tocommit terrorist acts inEurope, the Middle East,the United State, Canada,and beyond.MKO seems to be the soleterrorist group on theState Departments listthat has been carefully

scrutinized to be foundthat it would undergo nofundamental and strategicchange unless it reconsid-ered its ideology whoseinfrastructure is aggres-sive confrontation ofglobal imperialism embod-ied in America. Thus,MKOs refuge in liberalism

stronghold in no way indi-cates that it has submittedto an ideological shift butrather parlaying circum-stantial opportunities tobreak out of its completeisolation, a result of a uni-versal combat against ter-rorism, from the politicalstage. Americans in particularand the West in generalhave discerned that al-

though al-Qaeda and Mo- jahedin-e Khalq showslight differences in inter-pretation of Islam, in con-trast to al-Qaeda, Mojahe-din appear more dogmaticin confrontation of Amer-ica, the West, and thecamp of capitalism. Onceal-Qaeda formed a short-lasting alliance with Amer-

ica against the threat ofcommunism in the worldof Islam; Mojahedin, be-cause of its ideologicalcollectivity, played thesame role for the camp ofsocialism.

11 September and MKOs Tactic of Duplicity (cont)

Mojahedins immediate,explicit reaction to al-Qaedas terrorist attackswas its extravagant ban-quet and cries of jubilanceat Camp Ashraf. Insteadof taking a strong positionagainst al-Qaeda opera-tions at least as a proof oftheir own claims of renun-ciation of terrorism, Moja-hedin began condemningIranian regime and pro-

posing seemingly pro-democratic solutions in anew turn of phony democ-ratic struggle after longadvocating the violentoverthrow of the clericalregime. Before going anyfurther in propagation ofdemocracy, to convincethe suspicious eyes sur-veying their slightest ter-

rorist attitudes, Mojahedinshould have a revision oftheir ideological bigotryand exhibit a clear stancetoward the globally de-spised terrorist al-Qaeda.


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Middle East Online,September 24, 2007

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=22232

[Note: This essay reviewsTreacherous All iance:The Secret Dealings of

Israel, Iran, and the

United States by TritaParsi (Yale University Press,361 pp., $28.00)]

Peter W. Galbraith, a for-mer US Ambassador toCroatia, is Senior Diplo-matic Fellow at the Centerfor Arms Control and aprincipal at the WindhamResources Group, a firmthat negotiates on behalf ofits clients in post-conflictsocieties, including Iraq.

His The End of Iraq: HowAmerican IncompetenceCreated a War WithoutEnd is now out in paper-back.

This essay appears in theOctober 11th, 2007 issue ofThe New York Review ofBooks.

... The Mujahideen-e-Khalq is one of the old-est -- and nastiest -- of

the Iranian oppositiongroups. After originally

supporting the Iranianrevolution, the MEKbroke with Khomeini and

relocated to Iraq in the

early stages of the Iran-Iraq War. It was so

closely connected toSaddam that MEK fight-

ers not only assisted theIraqis in the Iran-IraqWar but also helpedSaddam put down the

1991 Kurdish uprising.While claiming to be de-

mocratic and pro-Western, the MEK

closely resembles a cult.

In April 2003, when Ivisited Camp Ashraf, itsmain base northeast of

Baghdad, I found robot-like hero worship of theMEK's leaders, Massoud

and Maryam Rajavi; thefighters I met parroted a

revolutionary party line,and there were trans-

parently crude efforts atpropaganda. To empha-size its being a modern

organization as distinct

from the Tehran theo-crats, the MEK appointed

a woman as Camp Ash-

raf 's nominal com-mander and maintained

a women's tank battal-ion. The commander was

clearly not in command

and the women mechan-ics supposedly working

on tank engines all hadspotless uniforms.Both the U.S. State De-

partment and Iran view

the MEK as a terroristgroup. The U.S. govern-

ment, however, does not

always act as if the MEKwere one. During the

2003 invasion of Iraq,the U.S. military dropped

a single bomb on Camp

Ashraf. It struck the

women's barracks at atime of day when the

soldiers were not there.When I visited two

weeks later with an ABC

camera crew, we filmedthe MEK bringing a scav-

enged Iraqi tank intotheir base. U.S. forces

drove in and out of

Camp Ashraf, making noeffort to detain the sup-

many I ranians conclude the U.S. is supporting a terroristorganization

posed terrorists or tostop them from collect-

ing Iraqi heavy weap-ons. Since Iran had its

agents in Iraq from the

time Saddam fell (andmay have been doing itsown scavenging of

weapons), one can pre-sume that this behaviordid not go unnoticed.

Subsequently, the USmilitary did disarm the

MEK, but in spite of hos-tility from both the Shi-

ites and Kurds who now jointly dominate Iraq'sgovernment, its fighters

are still at Camp Ashraf.

Rightly or wrongly,many Iranians conclude

from th is that the U .S. is

supporting a terroristorganization that is fo-

menting violence insideIran

full article:http://www.middle-east-

online.com/english/opinion/?id=22232

The Victor?The US has good reason

to worry about Iran's

activities in Iraq. Butcontrary to the Bush ad-

ministration's allega-

tions, Iran does not op-pose Iraq's new political

order. In fact, Iran is the

major beneficiary of theAmerican-induced

changes in Iraq since2 0 0 3 , s a y s P e t e r

Galbraith.

[ This essay appears in theOctober 11th, 2007 issue of

The New York Rev iew o f

Books , and is posted with

the kind permission of theeditors of that magazine.]


9/16


Behzad Alishahi,

September 21, 2007

link to the original article(Persian)http:/ / hasanzebel.blogfa.com/ post-537.aspx

(Translated by Iran Interlink)

If there has ever been anydoubt about the possible de-gree of stupidity of mankind,today, with the brightness offolly shining brilliantly fromthe nominal head of the Moja-

hedin Khalq Organisation (whois currently confined by the USArmy along with the remain-der of the group in Camp Ash-raf in Iraq), there should be nofurther doubt that humankindhas crossed new frontiers evenin this respect.A new announcement by thenominal head of the MojahedinKhalq (Rajavi cult) has openedup a new umbrella for all hu-man beings under which allthe great philosophers of thepast can now live in peace andtranquillity. To what am I re-ferring? It is the message is-sued by the cult under thename of Sedigheh Husseiniresponding to the imminentstart of a court case into theassassination of Sayad Shirazi(a retired General from theArmed Forces of Iran) in whichthe family of the victim hasfiled complaints in the Frenchcourts.The question here is notwhether the assassinated Gen-eral was a good man or not.The question is about the clearplanning and ordering of theassassination of a man withoutany prosecution, trial or judgement an extrajudicialexecution in other words. Nowan organisation, which in itsown propaganda declares thatit is against execution, an or-ganisation which sheds tearslike a crocodile over the exe-cution of rapists and massmurderers, has itself been the

executioner in a murder case.And not by the order of a

court. Not even by the accusa-tion and verdict of its ownmembers and leaders. No, theassassination was performedon the direct order of the se-cret services (Estekhbarat) ofIraq under the rule of SaddamHussein. According to a clear,secretly filmed meeting andaccording to other documentsEstekhbarat ordered the as-sassination and the MojahedinKhalq of course claimed ahefty payment to spend onpropaganda to launch and re-

launch its brand, Maryam Ra-javi, over and over again andportray her as the face of a p r e s i d e n t i n e x i l e .(Fortunately, this time unlikeon many other occasions inthe history of Iran, after thefall of Saddam Hussein theoverwhelming evidence ofmercenary work conducted byRajavi for Saddam has beenexposed and documented.)The MKO's reaction to therevelation of the start of judi-cial proceedings, which are in

effect putting the MKO itselfon trial for the mercenarywork it performed for SaddamHussein, is very interesting.You would have thought thatthe organisation would haveno more than two choices.Either, to take an offensiveposition toward the court andthe actions of supporting or-ganisations. In this case theywould declare the assassina-tion of Sayad Shirazi as a his-torical point in its honourablehistory. (As the group did in

the case of the execution ofKavoosi who was executed bythe Iranian judiciary for maycounts of rape and murder.The MKO proudly published hispicture as a heroic Mojahedwho was smiling when beingexecuted.) The MKO wouldannounce that it had assassi-nated him (as indeed it de-clared after assassination) andwould do the same in the caseof other assassinations.

The highest pitch of stupidity!(Mo jahedin Khalq Organisation vow

to continue violence and terrorism)

Or the organisation would takea defensive position toward

the court. In this case it woulddeclare that no, we did not dothat or would declare that this was done without theleaders order and we havepunished the person responsi-ble. (It has come to light thatat least one of the assassinshad fallen out with the MKOand has been killed in suspi-cious circumstances.)But no, the Mojahedin Khalqdid not take any of the aboveroutes. They instead have cho-sen the stupid route under the

name of Sadigheh Husseini(nominal leader of the MKO inAshraf camp). She, completelyoverlooking the reality of thesituation, has announced thatthey WELCOME the investiga-tion as though the court beingheld to investigate the deedsof the assassinated victim. Shehas announced with greatHAPPINESS that this court isnecessary but not sufficientand it should investigate thedeeds of many other peoplewho have been assassinated

by the Mojahedin Khalq.Imagine that a murderer ontrial for killing a man or awoman suddenly declares:This court is necessary but isnot sufficient. The court shouldbe considering all the deeds ofall the other victims whom Ihave killed. In fact the courtshould consider investigatingthe deeds of all the many Ihave yet to kill and haven'thad the time and the opportu-nity up to now.A murderer might hope to

evade the maximum sentenceby claiming that his victimsdeserved to die, but wouldsurely spend the rest of his orher life in a mental hospitalunder close supervision. Butwho knows? The declaration ofthe MKO may have been an-nounced just to serve this verypurpose of avoiding the maxi-mum sentence on the groundsof insanity!


10/16


tries. None had French docu-ments, some had false docu-ments. The attackers alsofilmed their activities at thescene. This was reminiscent ofthe series of orchestrated self-immolations following the ar-rest of the cult leader's wifeMaryam Rajavi in June 2003,which were also filmed by thecult's activists.

There is evidence that at leastsome part of the military-styleoperation on June 17 had tar-geted the three individualsnamed in Massoud Rajavi'srecent communiqu in an as-sassination attempt. The inci-dent is currently being investi-gated by French police.There is clear evidence thatsome of those involved in theviolent attack were MKO mili-tants trained by Saddam Hus-sein in Iraq who had been sentdirectly from Camp Ashraf to

European countries in the pastfew months. Camp Ashraf is ofcourse guarded by the Ameri-can Army in Iraq. Followingthe capture of Camp Ashrafterrorist base in 2003, US offi-cials both military and civil -processed all the capturedcombatants, taking DNA andfingerprint evidence and issu-ing them with ID cards. Sev-eral of these people have beenrecently seen in the UK, Ger-many, France and Netherlands

participating in MKO activitiesin the EU.It is clear that responsibilityfor the lives of people attackedby a terrorist organisationwhich is apparently favouredby some Israeli lobbies andneo-conservative circles to beused to carry out terrorist actsagainst Iranians, Iraqis andothers, cannot be laid at the

door of the cult itself, butmust rest with the people whohave been maintaining themas a terrorist force whether inIraq or in Europe and NorthAmerica. Those who have re-fused to dismantle the MKO'sinfrastructure and continue tosupport them financially aswell as loosening their leashesin western countries will beheld accountable for any harmwhich comes to those eitherdirectly named and threatenedby Massoud Rajavi or to any

others who are harmed by im-plication.Yours Sincerely,Anne Singleton.

ccMrs Michele Alliot-Marie,French Interior MinisterDr Wolfgang Schauble, Ger-man Interior MinisterMs Dr Guusje Ter Horst, Neth-erlands Interior MinisterDr Condoleezza Rice, Secre-tary of State, USA

An open letter to the Brit-ish Home Secretary JacquiSmith

Anne Singleton,July 09, 2007A communiqu was issued onJune 07, 2007 by the Mojahe-din Khalq Organisation(MKO)'s cult leader MassoudRajavi, who has been a fugi-

tive since the fall of SaddamHussein in Iraq.In the communiqu, Rajavinames three people, includingmyself, who are witnesses inthe on-going investigationagainst the cult by the FrenchJudiciary, and specifically de-scribes them as "the agents ofthe Iranian secret services".For those familiar with theMKO cult, this is clearly under-stood to be Rajavi's method ofissuing a death sentence to becarried out by his followers.

On June 17, 2007 over 50people associated with theMKO cult lay in wait to attacka public meeting in Paris atwhich the three persons men-tioned above were among theinvitees. It was later revealedthat the attack had been or-chestrated from the MKO cultHQ in Auvers-sur-Oise. Ac-cording to French police, theassailants in this violent attackhad been transferred to Francefrom other European coun-

Irane Ayandeh,

August 02, 2007

http://www.irane-ayandeh.com/?p=12

Short films from Mojahe-din Khalq agents in Lon-don, Washington, Paris,

Amsterdam,... attackingmeetings and critics of

Rajavi cults.

The terrorist group latestattack was in June 2007 in

which they attacked peopleattending a meeting of"Peace and tolerance" inParis. Later it was revealedthat the "Commander" ofthis "operation" was a knowMKO terrorist directly con-nected to the HQ of terror-ist cult leader Maryam Ra-

javi in the north of Paris. Itwas also revealed that oneof the main aims of the lat-est orchestrated attack was

Cult leader Massoud Rajavi gives go-ahead to kill w itnesses inEuropean countries.

Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) Henchmen in Western countries

to Assassinate Mr. MassoudKhodabandeh, Mrs. Anne

S i ng l e t o n and M r .M o h a m m a d H u s s e i nSobhani who were attend-ing the meeting. the assas-sination attempt failed dueto the intervention bythe French Police (IranInterlink)

Anne Singleton wrote toBritish Home Secretary onJuly 09, 2007:


11/16


MKO Behind KarbalaMassacre?LPACSept. 13, 2007

Confirming a report given toEIR News Service by an Ira-nian source last week, thatthe group responsible forviolence at the Imam Hus-sein shrine in Karbala, Iraqon Aug. 28 was the MKO,the Tehran Times has pre-sented information on how

the MKO triggered theevents. The report, issuedtoday by the Tehran TimesPolitical Desk, says thatthree months prior to themassacre, "closed-circuitcameras captured a 23-year-old woman and 13-year-oldyouth who were gatheringinformation about the vari-ous entrances to the ImamHussein (AS) shrine. After

their arrest, it became clearthat they had been sent bythe Mojahedin Khalq Organi-

zation (MKO) to locate waysto sneak into the shrine for

te r ro r i s t ope ra t i ons . "The paper describes how theattack was planned. Mem-

bers of Moqtada Sadr's Al-Mahdi militia who were try-ing to enter the shrine, wereprevented by security forces.Then, clashes began whichled to 52 dead and 300 in- jured. "At first glance, itseemed to be a clash be-tween rival Shi'a groupsseeking to monopolizepower, and another indica-tion of the extreme insecu-

rity in Iraq, especially inShi'a areas," the paper com-ments. But, this is not the

sources have acknowl-edged that the secretwar on Iran's nuclearprograms has intensified.

These sources, stressingthat press conferences

by Iranian opposition onIran's nuclear programare not coincidental,said: "Secret services ofthe U.S. used the sametactics five years agoand gave their initial in-telligence to the Iranianopposition to be an-nounced in their press

Al-Rai newspaper/

Rabi' Yahya,

translated by:

Iran Didban,

Oct 02, 2007

http://www.irandidban.com/master-e.asp?ID=13799

The new tactics of theUS and France againstIran are focused on psy-chological war and usingopposition groups as atool.

Israel i inte l l igence

MKO Behind Karbala Massacre?

Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult), A Tool in US's Psychological War on Iran

meetings."

In a new press confer-ence by Mehdi Abrisham-chi, member of MKO,new claims were ex-pressed on the existence

of secret nuclear basesin Iran.

Referring to Abrisham-chi's recent comments,Israeli sources said thatthey had been producedwholly by French andAmerican secret servicesand the MKO was onlyused as an outlet.

case. According to witnesses,large amounts of weaponswere distributed to peoplenear the al-Sadr group's po-sition, giving the impressionthat that group itself hadbeen handing out arms. Among the weapons weresome made in Iran--to leavea clear lead. The Iraqi Inte-rior Ministry has conductedinvestigations into the event,concluding that the MKO

was behind the incident.The MKO is officially on theU.S. terrorist list, but is nowbeing protected by the U.S.occupying forces there. Ithas been responsible formultiple attacks, includingassassinations of leadingpoliticians in Iran over theyears. Offers by Iran to ex-change al-Qaeda terrorists itholds in prisons, for MKO

terrorists, were rejected bythe U.S.


12/16


Iraqi government

seriously angeredby the US's con-

duct

in supporting Mo-

jahedin

Khalq Terrorist

group (Rajavi

cult or Saddam's

Private Army) in

Ashraf camp in

Dialy provinceagainst the w ill

of the Iraqis

BBC Monitoring Middle

East,

October 03, 2007

...

Q- A while ago, the Iraqi

government had asked forthe expulsion of Monafeqin[hypocrites; term used todescribe opposition groupMojahedin-e Khalq Organi-zation based in Iraq], butwe are still witnessing theirpresence and the Americansupport for them. Whathappened to this issue?

A- The position of the Iraqi

government in expellingthe Monafeqin group re-mains in place. Unfortu-nately, the American sup-port for this group is obvi-ous and against the will ofthe Iraqi government. TheIraqi government has an-nounced that the areawhich is under Americancontrol should be returnedto the government and ac-

cording to the legislationapproved by the Iraqi gov-

ernment the members ofthis group must leave Iraqonce the area is returned tothe Iraqi government.Considering the very nega-tive role that this group hashad in the security situationof Dayaleh Province andintensifying the insecuritiesin this region, the govern-ment of Iraq is seriouslyangered by their conductand is making efforts to

take control of this issue.

Full Report:

Iranian envoy

says US Senate 's

plan to "divide"

Iraq against w ill

of people

Text of interview conductedwith Iranian ambassador toIraq, Hasan Kazemi-Qomiby Ehsan Taqaddosi head-lined "Tehran's dissatisfac-tion with American Senate'splan" published by Iraniannewspaper Iran on 30 Sep-tember

The plan to divide Iraq pre-sented by the chairman of

the American Senate's For-eign Relations Committee,Joseph Bayden, which waslater approved has createda lot of controversy. Thisplan was presented at atime when the neoconser-vatives of the White Housefound all their strategies inIraq unsuccessful and theDemocrats stepped into theIraq war policy room and

Iraqi government seriously angered by the US

delivered the plan to divideIraq. The Senate's plan for

Iraq has been copied fromthe well-known DaytonTreaty in Bosnia, which inthe eyes of the democrats,is a solution for controllingand ending the wave of vio-lence in Iraq.

The Senate's plan recom-mends a federal govern-ment for Iraq that wouldinclude separate andautonomous Shi'i, Sunniand Kurdish regions.

Although this plan was im-mediately rejected by allIraqi groups and figures butis still making headlines inIraq. We have discussedthis issue with our coun-try's ambassador in Bagh-dad, Hasan Kazemi-Qomiwhich is as follows:

Q- What is the aim behindthe Congress and Senate'splan?

A- The political system ofIraq has been definedbased on the central andfederal government withinthe framework of the con-stitution and the people ofIraq have confirmed this.According to the Iraqi con-

stitution, each province ora combination of more thanone province could submittheir request for federalis-ing that region. Given thecultural, social, political andeconomic structure of Iraq,naturally a political systemsbased on federalism couldsecure both the interests ofsocial groups and the na-tional interests of Iraq.


13/16


Even the mechanism formaterializing federalism

has been included withinthe framework of the Iraqiconstitution. What has beennotable in terms of thepeople of Iraq and thiscountry's constitution issafeguarding the solidarity,independence and territo-rial integrity of Iraq. What-ever, is outside the princi-ples embodied in the con-stitution would be unac-ceptable in the view of the

Iraqi people.

In addition to Iraqi people,the neighbouring countriesof Iraq are also opposed toany division of Iraq underany circumstances as theIraqi experience [the occu-pation] and the division ofthis country is neither inthe expedience of the Iraqipeople nor the countries ofthe region.

Q- Do you think this plancould be accepted insideIraq?

A- The reaction of Iraq'spolitical leaders and thepeople of this country towhat was approved in theAmerican Senate werestrongly negative. In theirview, this legislation was a

kind of interference inIraq's internal affairs andno political group in Iraqsupported this plan.

Q- What thought and policyhas the White House beenpursuing in Iraq after thewe l l -known Crocker-Petraeus report?

A- The report that was pre-sented to the Congress by

Crocker and Petraeus wasin fact a staged scenarioand had no new point thatwould have been derivedfrom a new strategy. In theview of the Iraqi people,this report was not an Iraqireport but a report to elimi-nate the domestic problemsof America. That is why itwas received with indiffer-ence by the Iraqi people.

The Americans have notpresented a new plan butwhat was seen in this re-port indicated that theAmericans are after a long-term presence in Iraq andthis issue is definitely incontradiction with the willof the people and govern-ment of Iraq.

Q- From now on, how

would the Americans estab-lish their relations with theIraqi government in thediplomatic dimension?

A- From the Iraqi point ofview, America must end itsmilitary presence in Iraqand define its relations withIraq like other countries.The Iraqi government con-siders no concessions forAmerica and is willing to

have good and balancedrelations with all countriesand part icu lar ly i tsneighbouring countries.This also includes America -of course, without givingany special concessions. Inaddition, in the view of theIraqi government the issueof the office for securityaffairs should be returnedto the government.

Iraqi government seriously angered by the US (cont)

Q- A wh ile ago, the Iraqigovernment had asked

for the expulsion ofMonafeqin [hypocrites;

term used to describe

opposition group Moja-hedin-e Khalq Organiza-tion based in Iraq], but

we are still witnessingtheir presence and theAmerican support for

them. What happened to

this issue?

A- The position of theIraqi government in ex-

pelling the Monafeqingroup remains in place.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h eAmerican support for

this group is obvious

and against the will ofthe Iraqi government.

The Iraqi governmenthas announced that thearea which is under

American control shouldbe returned to the gov-

ernment and accordingto the legislation ap-proved by the Iraqi gov-ernment the members of

this group must leaveIraq once the area is re-

turned to the Iraqi gov-

ernment.

Considering the verynegative role that this

group has had in the se-

cur i ty s i tuat ion o f

Dayaleh Province andintensifying the insecuri-ties in this region, thegovernment of Iraq isseriously angered by

their conduct and ismaking efforts to take

control of this issue.

Source: Iran, Tehran, inPersian, on 30 Sept 07, p21


14/16


Bahar Irani Mojahedin.ws

Sep. 27, 2007

The ideological revolutionwithin Mojahedin-e KhalqOrganization, or cult ofMojahedin, has led to somany changes in terms ofinternal relations of MKO.Mojahedin based the sur-vival of the organizationon the necessity for insti-

tutionalizing the compo-nents of the ideologicalrevolution; before that, itwas through providingdue backgrounds and tak-ing unique approaches.These adopted ap-proaches, according toMKO ex-members, weresimilar to the techniquesutilized by the past and

contemporary cults andwere applied as leveragesto coerce insiders into ab-solute obedience to Ra-javis totalitarian and ideo-logical leadership. Sincethe main objective behindthe institution of the ideo-logical revolution was aquantitative instillation ofa new system of values,

ethics and thought, then,appropriate techniquesand approaches had to beimplemented. Here are anumber of them deducedfrom comments made bydetached members:

1. Shock2. Accusation

3. Doubt 4. Subversion 5. Discharge 6. Illusion 7. Commitment 8. Repetition 9. Reformat ion

ShockBroaching the issue ofMaryam and Massoudsmarriage in the earlymeetings in order to raise

ethical misapprehensionindicates the function ofshock in destabilizing themental and ethical bal-ance in MKO members.Since Mojahedin consid-ered Rajavi as the symbolof ideological and politicallegitimacy, the issue ofMaryam and Massoudsmarriage came as a sud-

den strike of shock.

AccusationUnder the very impact ofthe sock, in an immediatereaction the memberstook an inevitable turn toaccuse the elements ofthe shock. However, asthe scenarists of the ideo-logical revolution indicate,

through the next phasesthe accusers turned to bethe accused for materializ-ing their mentality.

Doubt The uppermost outcomeintended in the mentaland psychological imbal-ance and shock is raising

Psychological Techniques to Cultivate Ideology

doubt in ethical, ideologi-cal, and political legiti-macy in the members.The significance of thisphase was due to the factthat no longer in organiza-tional relations Masoudwas taken into considera-tion. Moreover, membersshowed signs of dissatis-faction and consideredhim as an illegitimateleader. This phase was

most important in the planfor materializing membersmentality and even de-tecting their contradictoryviews formed againstleadership.

SubversionThe next phase mademembers believe thatthey are in contradiction

with themselves. In thisstage all members on ac-count of the shown reac-tion to the early shock areaccused of making com-promise, incurring adver-sary and holding reaction-ary views against theleader. As a result, thosewho would rebuke theleadership found them-

selves to be in leadersdebt.

Discharge

The sole solution for themembers to be releasedof any accusations was tocome to the point thatevery body had to developan internal revolution. The


15/16

Some Useful Sites on MKO


first step to such a revolu-tion was that all the hid-den thoughts and mentali-ties of members againstthe leadership had to bethought over. Later on,such a mechanism wasapplied to dig out whatwas lying deep in mem-bers mind.

Il lusion Discharge created the im-

pression that membersmentality concerning therevolution and leadershiphad not been yet thor-oughly cleansed. Membersdeveloped the illusion thatdue to their internal con-tradictions, they had tochallenge themselves ifthey were to start an in-ternal reformation. The

internal challenge ledthem under the illusionthat up to that time notonly they had been of nouse but also had been im-pediment to any progress.Consequently, they felt astrong need to be at-

tached to a new valuesystem and outside ele-ment who was Massoud inthis case.

CommitmentCommitment to the leadermeant submission to aprocess that intended todraw individuals out of anadir of wretchedness andendow them with a newidentity that could only be

acquired but trough abso-lute submission to thenew atmosphere and rela-tions that deprived mem-bers of thinking and anyother quest. The majorstep was the acceptanceof the ideological leader-ship. Up to this phase, themembers were convincedthat they could not under-

stand what happenaround them; ideologicalleadership was to bear thesins of members andguaranteed their salvationif they were ideologicallycommitted to him.

http://www.iran-interlink.org/http://www.nejatngo.org/index.php

http://www.mojahedin.ws/?cl=en

http://pars-iran.com/en/

http://www.iran-

ghalam.de/10english/english.HTM

Psychological Techniques to Cultivate I deology (cont)

Repetit ion (internalcontrol)

Now members had to fol-low new teachings. Theyhad to undergo anothernovel process called current operationwherein psychological andethical mentalities of themembers were scrutinizedin order to resolve mem-bers circumstantially en-countered contradictions.

In this phase, all the ac-tions and thoughts ofmembers came understrict control.

Reformation

Continuous control andscrutiny of membersmentality led to the devel-opment of a mechanismfor reconstructing a new

value system. In thisphase, the members, un-aware of the quality of themade changes, try to getrid of their past reaction-ary ideas and replacethem with fresh thoughtssuggested by others.

http:/www.banisadr.info/index.htmhttp://www.peyvand.tv/

http://www.somayeh.org/

http://iran-aawa.com/

http://talash-online.com/index.php


16/16

gramme on air an-

nouncing the new re-

public. After the Is-

lamic revolution, how-

ever, her singing ca-

reer, like those of

many other female

singers, came to an

abrupt end when fe-

male vocalists were

banned from public

performances. Elaheh

then fled the country

for the US, where sheworked in Los Angeles

during the 1980s and

1990s.

While living abroad

Elaheh s career took

a controversial turn

when she collaborated

with the exiled group

Mujahidin, which she

later denounced as

m o r e o f a n e xtremely narrow

and strict cult than an

intellectual organisa-

tion of freedom fight-

ers.

In an interview with

Anne Singleton in

September 2005, Ela-

heh stated that she

was lured into collabo-

ration with the Muja-

hidin through one of

its satellite organisa-

tions based in Europe.

She describes how

she was stuck in that

situation for several

years, unable to per-

form freely while the

Mujahidin failed to

From The TimesAugust 31, 2007

ElahehIranian vocalist whosesongs are ingrained inthe culture despite aban on women singersElaheh was one of the

best known female

vocalists in Iran before

the 1979 revolution.

Her singing career

spanned more thanhalf a century and in-

cluded several per-

formances for the

popular National Ra-

dio programme Golha,

which was host to

many highly esteemed

Iranian vocalists. Dur-

ing this time she col-

laborated with famous

Iranian composersand soloists, and the

fruits of these collabo-

rations include some

of the most popular

songs in classical Per-

sian music. She also

performed at the Al-

bert Hall, London.

Her best-known songs

works include Ros-

v a y e h Z a m a n e h

( Re vealed to the

World ) and Az

khoon-e Javanan-e

Vatan Laleh Damideh

( T ulips grow from the

blood of the coun-

try s youth ). Her

songs were used in

the first radio pro-

meet its full financial

commitments to her.

Elaheh finally de-

nounced the organisa-

tion in 2003 and re-

turned to Iran three

months ago where

she died of cancer.

Elaheh s legacy is

her much-loved voice

and songs which

many people, old and

young alike, still re-

member and sing.Last week the Na-

tional Radio aired a

one-hour programme

of her songs; it was

the first show to fea-

ture a female singer in

27 years. And she is

to be recognised in

Iran for her contribu-

tion to music. Elaheh

once stated: What Iam sure of is that my

legacy is my voice and

that for years to come

people will enjoy my

voice and my songs.

These belong to Iran

and the world of mu-

sic.

She was married three

times; two husbands

survive her as well as

four sons and one

daughter.

Bahar GholamHosseini, betterknown as Elaheh,singer, was born onApril 7, 1934. Shedied on August 15,2007, aged 73

Elaheh obituary - Times Online

The BriefingPublication of

Nejat Society

Address

E.mail: [email protected]

P.O.Box 14395/679, Tehran

Fax: 88 96 10 31

Were on the web

www.nejatngo.org

N ej at Society

Nejat Newsletter - ISSUE 15

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