The regime uses its campaign of misinformation to try and persuade Iranians that the MEK and NCRI have no legitimacy.

For the last forty years, the Iranian regime has attempted to use every method it can to minimize the importance of the main opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

The constant demonization of the resistance movement is a clear sign that the mullahs are running scared. The regime has published movies, articles, and books by the hundreds and thousands as well as used those who have been expelled from the organizations of the resistance to misinform the Iranian people about the true nature and objectives of the MEK and NCRI.

The regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) uses compliant journalists to help spread a false narrative about the MEK. There have already been two court rulings in Germany against press organizations that spread lies and misinformation about the MEK.

The regime uses its campaign of misinformation to try and persuade Iranians that the MEK and NCRI have no legitimacy. The campaign of misinformation helps to provide a smokescreen that shields the violence against alleged members and supporters of the MEK in Iran, who are subjected to murder, torture, and imprisonment regularly.

This sordid and vicious campaign only goes to show just how important the role of the opposition is to the regime and their growing fear of the struggle for freedom and democracy the opposition is waging within Iran.

On the third day of the recent Free Iran Summit, a former U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain, Adam Ereli, said that “the greatest testimony to your effectiveness is the fact that the Iranian regime hates you so much and will stop at nothing to destroy you.”

Here is the full speech he gave to the online conference on Jul 20^th this year.

“I’m only sorry that I can’t be there in person to share this important event with you.  But, you know, it’s so inspiring to see that not even the world’s worst pandemic since 1918 has stopped you from assembling to remind the world that not only is there an organized and strong resistance to the clerical regime that rules Tehran today, but equally important, there is a government ready to take over tomorrow.

And you know the MEK has done a great deal for the people of Iran and the world.  But perhaps the greatest testimony to your effectiveness is the fact that the Iranian regime hates you so much and will stop at nothing to destroy you.  And to me, that says—that speaks volumes.  It says that they consider you a threat and, frankly, whatever’s bad for the Iranian regime is good for the rest of the world.

We talked a lot during the proceedings about the Iranian government’s use of embassies abroad, of diplomats, of intelligence, of civilian tools of government to terrorize not only its opponents, but those such as the government of the United States, such as the governments of Europe who support you and, again, that’s, to me, a testimony to the MEK’s effectiveness and the MEK’s power.

What has accelerated this hostility is in addition to what you were doing outside of Iran, is what is happening inside Iran, and we’ve seen over the past year and a half that the Iranian people are both fed up with the mullahs and are rising.  And despite all their efforts to stop people from speaking out, to stop people from criticizing the Islamic regime and the principles of the Islamic revolution, the people of Iran, your relatives, are not stopping.  They’re going, they’re stronger than ever, and it doesn’t look like anything can stop them.

Now, as the introducer said, I served as a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East for over 25 years.  And I was the U.S. ambassador to Bahrain, and I can tell you that I saw firsthand what you all know too well, that the Iranian regime has a sophisticated and coordinated plan to spread terror and violence and destabilization throughout the region.  They, you know, they practice what they preach, and the kind of repression and violence that they use against their people, they use against anybody who disagrees with them, whether they’re Iranian or not.

Now, the MEK and your efforts have been instrumental in exposing this conspiracy of terror by the government of Tehran over many, many years.  And you’ve had, I think, some very important successes in disrupting the Iranian regime’s terrorist activities.  And that’s why, again, not only have they tried to destroy you in Iran, they’ve also tried to discredit and demonize you outside of Iran.

They have funded information campaigns against you.  They have tried to convince journalists, governments, think tanks, that the MEK is an outlaw organization, that it doesn’t represent Iranians, that it has no following inside Iran.  Well, again, the fact that they’re saying this indicates to me that the opposite is true.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t be spending all this money and effort to present a false narrative.

So, where should we go from here?  This is, I think, maybe the fourth or fifth gathering that I’ve been a part of.  And you all have been waging the struggle for a whole lot longer.  And every year we say, “Next year in Tehran.” We’re not there yet.  You’ve heard from a lot of speakers about what remains to be done.

You know, if I were to offer only a couple of suggestions, I’d mention, I’d say, number one, you know, the power of Iran lies in its people.  And the United States and the friends of Iran and the friends of the MEK in Europe and elsewhere need to do everything they can to empower the Iranian people and to support their struggle for freedom and to support opposition movements like the MEK who are really at the, on the frontlines of trying to build a more prosperous and peaceful Iran along the lines of Madame Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan.

And the second thing I think we need to pay more attention to, and Senator Torricelli spoke to this, I think very eloquently, is we’ve got to focus on countering the propaganda campaign against the MEK, against which you represent, against which you’re doing because, in addition to trying to bomb you or murder you into silence, I think the Iranian regime is trying to out propagandize you.

And what’s important for us to do is, to tell the truth about the Iranian opposition, to share what we see in our gatherings such as this and to allow the rest of the world to understand that the Iranian people want something better for their country, and that vision is represented by all of you and by Madame Rajavi and by the great work you are doing.

So, let me conclude by saying congratulations for defying nature and having a gathering of this size to this importance of this significance and impact in the most difficult of circumstances.  It is a reflection of your passion, of your commitment, and of your dedication to what is a very worthy and noble cause.”