September 6th marks the 54th anniversary of the MEK’s foundation. Over the course of its history, the MEK has dealt a series of crushing blows to the Iranian regime. The following are some of the organization’s greatest hits, according to the NCRI.

Exposed Khomeini’s Human Rights Violations

When the Shah was toppled on February 11, 1979, only the MEK dared to challenge Khomeini. While six million Iranians rushed to greet Khomeini in Tehran, Massoud Rajavi (the historical leader of the MEK) began giving speeches warning the people about the freedoms they would soon lose. For the first two years of Khomeini’s rule, the MEK held peaceful meetings, rallies, and protests, which were violently attacked by the regime’s suppressive forces. over 50 MEK activists were killed and thousands more were arrested while participating in these peaceful gatherings.

On June 20, 1981, the MEK held a massive rally in Tehran. 500,000 people were in attendance when Khomeini ordered his Revolutionary Guards to open fire on the peaceful protesters. Thousands were murdered since then. There was no doubt after that point that Khomeini was a brutal dictator.

Exposed the Global Threat Posed by the Iranian Regime

After Khomeini’s death, Western leaders embraced the policy of appeasement toward the mullahs, hoping that by doing so they could reap the benefits of doing business with the Iranian regime and avoid the threat to global stability posed by the regime. The MEK sought to expose the global threat posed by the Iranian regime and their state sponsorship of terrorism. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has gained wide international support for the right of the Iranian people to overthrow their oppressors. And in 2019, the United States designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization after years of urging from the MEK.

Exposed the Regime’s Nuclear Program

In 2002, the NCRI exposed the regime’s secret nuclear program at a press conference in Washington, D.C. MEK intelligence inside Iran uncovered evidence of a uranium enrichment site at Natanz and a heavy-water reactor in Arak, triggering an investigation by the U.N. nuclear watchdog. The MEK and NCRI released details of numerous other illicit activities, which were subsequently confirmed by the U.N. The resulting sanctions are severe and ongoing.

Negotiated an End to the Iran-Iraq War Five Years Before Khomeini

The 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War was prolonged long after Iraq withdrew its forces from Iran. The MEK, which had fought against the Iraqis since their invasion, saw no need for the war to continue after the withdrawal of forces and brokered a peace plan between the MEK and the Iraqi government. Khomeini rejected the plan, vowing to fight until Iraq or Iran were destroyed.

Khomeini was eventually persuaded to agree to a cease-fire..five years later.

Maryam Rajavi calls for formation of a movt to obtain justice for victims of #1988Massacre https://t.co/pAf9Gn25nd pic.twitter.com/nH9HPZFmU4

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) August 23, 2016

MEK’s Call for Justice for Victims of the 1988 Massacre

During the 1988 Massacre, while 30,000 political prisoners were being executed over the course of a single summer, Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Khomeini’s heir-apparent, spoke out against the executions. He described the massacre as the “greatest crime against humanity for which history will condemn us.” Khomeini dismissed him. Montazeri was later placed under house arrest, where he remained until his death. An audiotape was found in 2016 of Montazeri’s discussions with members of the 1988 Death Commissions. In the tapes, he expressed his dismay over the immorality of the executions. The discovery of the audiotapes, and prior to that Maryam Rajavi’s call for justice and various campaigns exposing the extent of the crime and its perpetrators led to further demands for investigations into the 1988 Massacre and justice for its victims.

Staff Writer

 

 

 

 

 

Struan Stevenson, a former Scottish member of the European Parliament (MEP) and the coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change, penned an op-ed for UPI. The piece, entitled ‘Europe’s Instex is a failed attempt at appeasing Iranian regime’, criticizes Europe’s continued policy of appeasement towards Iran and demands a firmer approach to the Iranian regime.

You can read my new article in @UPI:
Europe's #INSTEX is a failed attempt at appeasing #Iranian regime & now seems destined to meet the same fate as Chamberlain's infamous "peace in our time."#Iran @SecPompeo @AmbJohnBolton @Maryam_Rajavi #MEK https://t.co/Zbnt6p78nS

— STRUAN (@STRUANSTEVENSON) February 15, 2019

He criticized Europeo for pursuing a “sanctions-busting policy” rather than applying pressure to the Iranian leadership. Stevenson writes, “on Jan. 31, the foreign secretaries of France, Germany and the United Kingdom shamefully announced a deal to help companies that wish to continue trading with Iran to avoid American sanctions.”

The three European nations will channel Iranian imports and exports through Instex, a platform designed to bypass US sanctions against Iran.

Tightening the Screws

Following evidence that the mullahs are breaching the terms of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under Barack Obama in 2015, President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA shortly after his election and re-introduced sanctions. The Iranian regime has cheated “on the terms of the deal, oppressing its own citizens and waging proxy wars throughout the Middle East,” Stevenson writes.

Choosing to ignore the rampant human rights abuses and financing of international militia groups and state-sponsored terrorism, the European Union has prioritized its own lucrative commercial contracts and explored methods of bypassing the US sanctions. “Instex was the result.”

Europe has had its finger burnt with policies of appeasement before. “Neville Chamberlain’s attempts to appease Adolf Hitler can attest,” Stevenson writes. Recent assassinations and foiled terror attacks on European soil have served to demonstrate how dangerous the Iranian regime is. Appeasing the regime and continuing to provide it with willing trading partners is “incomprehensible in such circumstances.”

Invoking US Ire

Europe’s decision did not please the White House. The US government warned that any company that wanted to continue trading with Iran would be excluded from US markets, forcing many companies to cut ties with Iran out of fear they would invoke the wrath of the US government.

Many EU nations declined to provide Instex with premises for its headquarters, fearing a similar fate. “Finally, France stepped into the breach, offering Paris as the Instex base,” Stevenson writes.

There are limits on what trade Instex can facilitate. The platform can only trade in goods that are not covered by US sanctions. It cannot, for example, purchase Iranian oil, which was the regime’s most lucrative export.

The editor in chief of Keyhan Daily, one of the regime’s many mouthpieces, lamented this decision. “The most humiliating aspect of Instex is that in return for our oil income we are only permitted to purchase food and medicine,” he said.

The Iranian opposition, including the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK) and the leader of Iran opposition, Maryam Rajavi are calling for an end to Europe’s dangerous policy of appeasement. They held a large rally in Warsaw last week which included high-profile speakers including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. At the rally the MEK and its supporters could be heard chanting, “appeasement no; regime change yes.”

#Iranians will gather in #Warsaw on February 13, to express their outrage over the #HumanRightsViolations in #Iran& to voice support for the #Iranian ppl's quest for Freedom. Join us at Stadion PGE Narodowy, Gate2 starting at 12:30 PM(GMT+1) #WarsawSummit #IStandWithMaryamRajavi pic.twitter.com/aGKQk5Kqjv

— Ka Veh (@kaveh20092009) February 11, 2019

Stevenson concludes, “Instex seemed, like Chamberlain’s piece of paper, to be destined for the trash can; another failed attempt at appeasement.

Staff Writer