Rep. Kennedy noted the setting of the rally at the historic Brandenburg Gate and its parallels to the Iranian people’s current struggle for freedom. “We are at a historic point in history when it comes to the freedom of the people of Iran,” he said. “This is not just a problem for Iranians to solve, it’s a problem for anyone in the world who cherishes freedom and democracy and who hates the tyrannical regime of the mullahs in Iran.”

.@PJK4brainhealth:“Crimes against humanity are happening today, and it’s the mullahs in Tehran who are the fascist dictators today. Iran is the single leading nation in the world for executing their own people.
#IstandWithMaryamRajavi #FreeIran #BlackListRouhani pic.twitter.com/azISmJlUsI

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) July 6, 2019

“Crimes against humanity are happening today, and it’s the mullahs in Tehran who are the fascist dictators,” Kennedy said.

“Iran is the single leading nation in the world for executing their own people. Not only are they sowing terrorism amongst their own people in Iran, but they are also sowing terrorism across the world,” Representative Kennedy added.

Kennedy expressed his support for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran(MEK / PMOI) and spoke about what his experience in politics taught him about the mullahs’ attacks on the MEK: “When the MEK continues to get attacked every day, it reminds me that the mullahs cannot attack the MEK on the 10-point plan offered by Madam Rajavi, or on the assertion that Iran is the leading sponsor of state terrorism, or that the mullahs support Hezbollah and Hamas in Syria. It can’t attack the MEK because the MEK is right and the mullahs are wrong,” he said.

When the MEK continues 2 get attacked on all sides,it means that the mullahs cannot attack the MEK on the 10-point plan by @Mada_Rajavi, or on the assertion that Iran is the leading state-sponsor of terrorism,or that the regime or Iran support Hamas & Hezbollah.#BlackListRouhani pic.twitter.com/7lngVESA48

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) July 6, 2019

Representative Kennedy also addressed the partisan nature of support for U.S. sanctions and encouraged his fellow Democrats to look past their dislike of Trump in their consideration of sanction: “There are many on the Democratic left who believe that because they do not like Trump they have to be against sanctions on Iran…I do not believe that this is the time for us to let up on the financial stranglehold on the mullahs,” he said. “The economy is crashing, inflation is spiking. The mullahs can’t support their regime when we cut off the supply of money they use to continue to control their people. We need to keep sanctions going strong until we bring down this horrible dictatorship.”

Staff writer

A new report from the German government provided more evidence of the Iranian regime’s terrorist plot against the MEK at last year’s Free Iran rally outside of Paris.

Annual Report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany (BfV): The Mullahs regime Intelligence, headquartered in #Germany at the embassy in #Berlin, has planned assassinations against the oppositionhttps://t.co/nkAZ2Thla8 #iran pic.twitter.com/H3nrEcvx1H

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 30, 2019

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany (BfV) released its 2018 report on July 27, 2019. The annual report, authored by Horst Seehofer, German Minister of the Interior and Thomas Haldenwang, head of the BfV, details the activities of the Iranian regime’s intelligence services in Germany and is based on observations from the BfV. According to the report, the regime’s embassy in Berlin has planned assassinations against the MEK. The report also warns that the regime’s terrorist plots against the Iranian opposition are likely to intensify.

The Central Task of Regime Intelligence

The report states: “The central task of the Iranian intelligence services is to spy against opposition movements and confront these movements. In this regard, evidence of state-sponsored terrorism in Europe, which originate in Iran, have intensified during 2018.”

 

The report also points to the role of the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in planning and carrying out terrorist attacks against the MEK. It states: “The main source of intelligence activities in Germany is the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic (VAJA or MOIS). MOIS collects its information through intelligence operations in conjunction with the ministry’s representatives in the field or with the ministry’s headquarters in Tehran. These [operations] are specifically directed by the headquarters of the Ministry of Intelligence. One of the methods of the Ministry of Intelligence is to interrogate those who are traveling to Iran for family or professional reasons. There is no escape from access by the Ministry of Intelligence, and this provides an ideal opportunity for interrogation.”

Germany's Domestic Security Agency Says Iran Regime's Embassy in Berlin Planned Terror Plot Against Opponentshttps://t.co/nkAZ2Thla8 pic.twitter.com/7OxSvMNECC

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 30, 2019

The report noted that the regime’s embassy in Berlin is used as an intelligence base for the MOIS, as well as the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force.

The 2018 Free Iran Gathering

The report detailed the foiled terrorist attack on the MEK gathering outside of Paris last year, which was masterminded by regime diplomat Assadollah Assadi. He was arrested in Germany for organizing the attack and personally delivering explosives to an Iranian-norm couple charged with carrying out the bombing. “[Assadi] was deported to Belgium in October 2018. The case filed against him in Germany by the Federal Prosecutor General is underway. Investigation in Germany and Belgium continues,” the report adds.

Demonstration in front of @GermanyDiplo by #NCRI & #MEK supporters demanding #Germany to expel the #Iran-ian diplomat terrorist Assadollah Assadi who ordered terrorists to attack the #FreeIran2018 Gathering to be expelled to #Belgium #ExpelIranDiplomatTerrorists pic.twitter.com/0978TLejXc

— MEKIran (@MEK_Iran) July 11, 2018

In regard to the elevated risk to the Iranian opposition, the report states,”The Iranian intelligence apparatus is one of the main instruments of political leadership in Iran to consolidate its rule. Therefore, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence will continue to monitor the opposition. The threat that threatens the Iranian opposition in Germany has been exacerbated. Besides monitoring the opposition in Germany, several revealed cases indicate that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has planned some terror attempts against the opposition in Europe.”

Europe Must Take Action

The MEK once again calls on European nations to designate the MOIS as a terrorist organization, to close the regime’s embassies, and to prosecute and expel all regime agents and mercenaries from European soil.

Staff writer

 

 

 

On Monday, the US announced that it would impose fresh sanctions on the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader and other senior officials.

US President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he would be tightening the pressure on the Iranian regime. The new sanctions exclude Khamenei and commanders in the Iranian military from US financial institutions. They also restrict access to their assets in the US.

The president called the measures a “strong and proportionate response to Iran’s increasingly provocative actions.” He also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ensuring that the Iranian regime will never develop a nuclear weapon. While he also maintained that the US was not seeking a conflict with the regime, adding “we do not ask for conflict”.

Senior Regime Officials Affected

In addition to the Supreme Leader, regime Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will also be blocked from accessing assets in US financial institutions. Eight commanders from the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were also included in the blacklist.

According to the Trump administration, the sanctions will see “billions” of dollars’ worth of assets frozen.

The Iranian opposition Position on New Sanctions

Trump’s announcement was met warmly by members of the Iranian opposition movement. The President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi also reflected on the news on her Twitter account:

“Sanctioning Khamenei & his office, the epicenter of crime, corruption & terrorism in Iran, is spot-on and most imperative,” she said.

Alireza Jafarzedah, the deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in the US, also welcomed the move. He reminded his followers that the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) called for the sanction of senior regime officials, including the Supreme Leader himself, in its May 1^st press conference in Washington D.C.

He went on to call the sanctions “a step in the right direction.”

The designation of the Supreme Leader and his office was the call by the Iranian resistance as demanded in our May 1st press conference in Washington when releasing "Iran's Emissaries of Terror." #Iran #terrorism pic.twitter.com/ynqP8MzBWf

— Alireza Jafarzadeh (@A_Jafarzadeh) June 24, 2019

Another upcoming designation is the regime's foreign minister @JZarif whom we revealed is directly tied to a web of terror that extended from Europe to the U.S. in 2018, as documented in "Iran's Emissaries of Terror." 6 of Zarif's diplomat terrorists expelled or in jail in 2018. pic.twitter.com/FKJr9VLBP9

— Alireza Jafarzadeh (@A_Jafarzadeh) June 24, 2019

The NCRI and MEK played an instrumental role in demonstrating the Javad Zarif connection to Iranian state-sponsored terror. In 2018, the group revealed a web of terror that had spread across Europe and the US. This elaborate terror network received orders to carry out bomb attacks and assassinations from senior figures in the regime, including Zarif, President Hassan Rouhani and the Supreme Leader.

Where Next?

In her post, Maryam Rajavi laid out her calls for the next step to oppose the regime’s terror mechanism and human rights abuses. She called on the US government to expand existing sanctions to include the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS).

Sanctioning Khamenei & his office, the epicenter of crime, corruption & terrorism in #Iran, is spot-on & most imperative. These sanctions must be expanded to the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence & Security (MOIS), which has blocked the uprising for a #FreeIran.

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) June 24, 2019

The MOIS was behind a string of failed terror attacks in 2018, including the planned detonation of a car bomb in Paris and a bomb attack on the MEK’s compound in Albania.

The leader of Iran’s opposition had previously called for blacklisting of the MOIS in addition to other steps as solutions to prevent the expansion of the Iranian regime’s terrorism:

Staff writer

 

In the latest round of sanctions, the Trump administration is targeting the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader and other senior officials.

On Monday, June 24, US President Donald Trump announced fresh sanctions against the Iranian regime following the downing of a US drone last Thursday.

Addressing Iranian Aggression

President Trump told reporters that the sanctions were a response to Iranian regime aggression but would have happened anyway due to the regime’s increasing hostility in the region.

Last week, the US released a video that it claims show regime forces removing unexploded ordinance from the hull of a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. The Trump administration believes the regime was behind two attacks on international tankers.

The sanctions will, he said, “deny the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Leader’s office, and those closely affiliated with him and the office, access to key financial resources and support.”

He added: “We call on the regime to abandon its nuclear ambitions, change its destructive behavior, respect the rights of its people, and return in good faith to the negotiating table.”

The new sanctions are the latest moves from the Trump administration designed to limit the regime’s inflow of cash. In April, Trump and his cabinet announced the designation of the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a foreign terror organization (FTO). The listing cut off international support for the repressive organ, limiting its ability to accept assistance, support, and counsel from international citizens or companies.

In May, Trump also reintroduced sanctions against the regime’s petrochemical industry. He ordered countries to stop importing Iranian oil in an attempt to bring the regime to the negotiating table.

Tough Diplomacy

Senior figures inside the Iranian regime criticized the move. The Iranian Foreign Secretary, Javad Zarif, who was one of the names the Trump administration announced would be subject to sanctions, denounced the decision over Twitter.

In a post, he accused Trump and his advisors of despising diplomacy and having a “thirst for war.” Under the new sanctions, Zarif and others will be excluded from the US financial system and their assets in the US.

The rest of the eight officials include senior figures in the Army, Navy, IRGC, and Iranian aerospace industry.

The White House also revealed that the sanctions could be extended to anybody who has business ties to the named officials. “Anybody who conducts significant transactions with these sanctioned individuals may be exposed to sanctions themselves,” it said in a statement.

Welcomed by the Opposition

The Iranian opposition welcomed the announcement. President-elect of the Iranian opposition, Maryam Rajavi, called the decision “spot on” and “most impressive”. She urged the US government to consider adding the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) to its list of foreign terrorist groups as well.

Sanctioning Khamenei & his office, the epicenter of crime, corruption & terrorism in #Iran, is spot-on & most imperative. These sanctions must be expanded to the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence & Security (MOIS), which has blocked the uprising for a #FreeIran.

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) June 24, 2019

The MOIS was behind a string of planned terror attacks on European soil in 2018, including a plan to detonate a car bomb at an opposition-organized event in Paris last summer.

Mohammad Mohaddessin, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) also welcomed the announcement of the latest sanctions. He called the move an “imperative step.”

Sanctioning Khamenei & his notorious office is the most imperative step. Thousands of mullahs, IRGC members & torturers have dominated all affairs in the country, destroyed #Iran , shackled the ppl & caused bloodshed & war. All Iranians demand the imposition of full sanctions.

— Mohammad Mohaddessin (@Mohaddessin) June 24, 2019

“Khamenei & his office are the primary center of execution, torture, suppression, the export of terrorism & warmongering,” he added. “It is the source of theft, embezzlement, corruption, poverty & unemployment,” and “holds the key to the nuclear weapons program.”

He echoed Ms. Rajavi’s calls for blacklisting the MOIS.

Staff writer

The prospect of negotiations with the United States has generated controversy, infighting, and confusion among regime factions. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his faction refuse to consider talks with the U.S., while regime President Hassan Rouhani expressed willingness to meet with U.S. officials until two weeks ago when he did an abrupt and unexplained about-face.

Talk or no talk, the mullahs' ruling #Iran are facing an escalating crisis.
And time is not on their side.https://t.co/ydAXdtfL9d

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 8, 2019

Recent comments by members of different regime factions illustrate the chaos in Tehran.

Negotiation Equals Surrender

In recent comments, Ahmad Khatami, a high-ranking mullah from Khamenei’s faction, explained his faction’s reasoning for not negotiating with the U.S.:

“The important issue is combating and hating [the U.S.]. The reason is clear: The triangle of [U.S. President] Trump, [Secretary of State] Pompeo and [National Security Advisor] Bolton continuously talk these days about negotiating with the U.S. as if they intend to bring the state to the negotiating table with the [U.S.] as soon as possible. What the [U.S.] suggests today under the pretext of negotiations, is nothing more than surrender,” he said.

“There is only one voice coming from Iran and that voice says we will not negotiate about our missile power… Therefore we won’t negotiate!” Khatami added.

Negotiation Equals Ignoring Domestic Potential

Fuad Izadi, a political pundit aligned with Khamenei’s faction, argued that attempts by Rouhani’s faction to negotiate with the U.S. come at the expense of Iran’s domestic potential.

During the end-2017 uprising across Iran, It was ordinary Iranians who famously introduced on of the most popular chants in Iran's current popular sphere: "Conservatives, Moderates! The game is over!"#Iran#IranRegimeChangehttps://t.co/aciCewP0FR

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 2, 2019

“Our problem is with our own domestic, West-aligned figures who look to the West,” he said. “This look to the inside and the domestic potentials are ignored. How many years has the country been waiting for the Americans to do this or that? To remove this or that sanction? Or Europe to do this or that, and we are still in the middle of it?” he added.

Negotiations with Japan Will Decrease Tensions

 

Abbas Araghchi, First Deputy to the regime’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, had a different point-of-view. He expressed optimism about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s planned visit to Tehran next week, saying, “Japan will probably be able to make the Americans understand the current circumstances.”

 

“We hope that Abe’s visit to Tehran will help decrease regional tensions,” Araghchi added.

Negotiations with other Countries Will Not Decrease Tensions

 

Fereydoun Majlesi, a retired Iranian diplomat close to Rouhani’s faction, expressed the opposite view, saying:

 

“It would be far from the truth if we thought that the diplomatic mediation campaigns launched by various countries would lead to a dramatic decrease in tensions. These tensions have reached a critical and sensitive point on both sides.. There is no doubt that in order to decrease tensions of such levels of confrontation, we need a complex, detailed and of course, long lasting process. Therefore, you can’t do serious work in the short-term to decrease tensions,” he explained.

 

“When Tehran and Washington are in an ideological and strategic tension against each other, and tensions have reached a point where Iran’s victory practically means America’s defeat, and America’s victory means Iran’s defeat, it appears that tensions have reached a point where mediation is not possible,” he added.

Senior U.S. officials are holding the regime in #Iran and the Revolutionary Guards responsible for the attacks on four commercial ships off the UAE coast.#Terrorismhttps://t.co/q0V38nZBB5

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 6, 2019

The MEK has stated repeatedly that the mullahs are incapable of reform. Their position on various issues, like essential freedoms, repression of dissents at home, meddling in the region and support for terrorism, development of WMD weapons are the same, and their infighting is to have more share of the power. The controversy within the regime proves this. The only way to change Iran is through regime change.

Staff writer

The United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is imposing sanctions against Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group, Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), because of its financial support to Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters (Khatam al-Anbiya), the engineering conglomerate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a Friday press release from the Treasury Department.

PGPIC’s 39 subsidiary petrochemical companies and foreign sales agents will also fall under the new sanctions. PGPIC and its subsidiaries control 40 percent of Iran’s petrochemical production capacity and are responsible for 50 percent of the country’s petrochemical exports.

Maximum pressure on #Iran's regime continues today. @USTreasury imposed sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical sector, which funds the IRGC. The U.S. will deny the regime the money it needs to destabilize the Middle East. https://t.co/mUL5rYKYsM

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 7, 2019

The sanctions follow the U.S. Treasury’s recent designation of the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Businesses or entities who provide financial or other support to the IRGC are subject to sanctions under the FTO designation.

“By targeting this network we intend to deny funding to key elements of Iran’s petrochemical sector that provide support to the IRGC,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “This action is a warning that we will continue to target holding groups and companies in the petrochemical sector and elsewhere that provide financial lifelines to the IRGC.”

“The IRGC systemically infiltrates critical sectors of the Iranian economy to enrich their coffers, while engaging in a host of other malign activities,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker.

Maryam Rajavi: The Complementary Step is Designating Other Organs of Repression,Expelling MOIS and IRGC Agents from US and Europe

Reactions from the Iranian Resistance

The Iranian Resistance praised the new sanctions against PGPIC and its subsidiaries on social media. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), affirmed her support for the sanctions, tweeting:

The #IRGC and foundations affiliated with Khamenei, have taken advantage of unique privileges to take hold of the lion’s share of #Iran revenues, including the revenues from oil and petrochemical industries.

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) June 7, 2019

“The revenues of the regime’s petrochemical industries end up in Khamenei’s headquarters through a series of double-dealings and duplicities like fake tenders.

#Iran”

She added:

“The #IRGC and foundations affiliated with Khamenei, have taken advantage of unique privileges to take hold of the lion’s share of #Iran revenues, including the revenues from oil and petrochemical industries.”

Mohammed Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI, tweeted:

#Iran’s petrochemical industry has been expropirated by Khamenei and IRGC, revenues used for suppression, export of terror, warmongering. Not one cent is used for people. Iran Resistance has called for sanctions on petrochems for long time.#FreeIran

— Mohammad Mohaddessin (@Mohaddessin) June 7, 2019

“#Iran’s petrochemical industry has been expropriated by Khamenei and IRGC, revenues used for suppression, the export of terror, warmongering. Not one cent is used for people. Iran Resistance has called for sanctions on petrochems for long time.

#FreeIran”

Mohaddessin also stressed that Iran’s wealth should be safeguarded so that it may be returned to the people after they are freed from the ruling regime.

“#Iran rgm should not be allowed financial resources of Iran ppl to suppress them, instigate war & terror. Comprehensive sanctions on oil, petrochemicals, gas is called for. Iran’s wealth should be safeguarded for its people& reconstrucion Iran, after freedom is achieved

#FreeIran”

The MEK is the largest member of the NCRI.

Cause and Effect of the New Sanctions

The IRGC and its affiliates control 40-50 percent of Iran’s economy, with multi-billion dollar businesses in every major sector. The Iranian regime uses the profits from these businesses to fund its terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, support its nuclear and ballistic weapons programs, and suppress political dissent within its borders.

PGPIC was specifically targeted for sanctions because of its connection to the IRGC’s engineering arm, Khatam al-Anbiya. PGPIC has awarded major engineering, procurement, and construction contracts to Khatam al-Anbiya, generating hundreds of millions of dollars to multiple IRGC entities in Iran.

The OFAC sanctions will affect numerous companies worldwide who have known business ties with PGPIC and its affiliates. Anyone who continues to do business with PGPIC or any of its subsidiaries or sales agents will be subject to U.S. sanctions.

The goal of the sanctions is to choke off funding from the IRGC to prevent it from carrying out its malign activities.

Staff writer

Several weeks ago, members of the Iranian resistance group, the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), noticed an individual acting strangely near their compound. The stranger was Eskil Engdal a “journalist” working for Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.

The journalist was in Albania with Gjergji Thanasi, a regime-affiliate with ties to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). The pair were lurking around the residential settlement, taking photos of the entrance gate and ignoring signs stating that photo and video recording on the premises was prohibited. When approached by the Albanian security team, the pair refused to stop taking photos.

The Letter of NCRI Representative to #Norway's Justice Ministerhttps://t.co/Y0YuE14c9b #PMOI #MEK #Iran pic.twitter.com/OYDhzGEGSy

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 4, 2019

A History of Terror

To understand the inherent danger and suspicion in the pairs’ activities, we have to look to 2018. Over the course of the 18 months, the regime has aggressively hunted MEK members, planning terror attacks and assassinations against their ranks.

Last year, during the Persian New Year celebrations, the Albanian authorities thwarted a regime-sponsored terror attack on the MEK compound. Just a few months later, the regime again sought to carry out a terror attack against the MEK, this time in Paris at the group’s annual Grand Gathering.

Albanian President Expresses Support for Expulsion of Iranian Regime Diplomats

The Iranian regime has pursued and attacked the MEK at every turn. Its members have been the target of plots and assassinations in the US, and the EU.

Aiding and Abetting the Regime’s Terror Agenda

This suspicious behavior prompted the MEK’s legal team in Ashraf 3 (MEK’s residence in Albania) to write to the editor-in-chief of the paper. It read: “We would respectfully ask you not to allow your newspaper and journalist to become unwantedly tools of the Mullah’s regimes to enhance its objectives and prepare the grounds for assassinations of the Iranian refugees in Albania”.

Additionally, representatives from the MEK’s umbrella organization, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), penned a letter to the Norwegian Justice Minister on May 27^th.

If the reporter had wanted to gain access to the compound and produce an impartial, unbiased story about the Iranian opposition group, why did Eskil Engdal not contact the organization? Why would he arrive in the country with an MOIS agent?

Religious Fascism Against #Iran'ian Resistance Under Cover of Journalism https://t.co/tdunE08E23

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 5, 2019

If he had contacted the MEK, he would have been able to gather source material that disproved the lies fed to him by MOIS agents. He would have been made aware of the relentless demonization campaigns against the MEK that the Iranian regime carries out each year. He would have been aware of the slaughter of MEK members that have taken place within Iran, including the summer of 1988 when the regime killed more than 30,000 MEK members across the country.

Even if he did not wish to reach out to the MEK, he could have spoken to impartial authorities in the UK or Europe. Instead, he spoke to known regime affiliates and lobbyists. He could have referred to the North Rhine Westfalen State office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany, which concluded in 2017: “These agents conduct espionage, disseminate false information, and recruit new spies. In the last four years, in particular, they have been spying on members of the Iranian opposition who have been transferred from Iraq to Europe as part of a humanitarian project.”

A Mouthpiece for Regime Lies

The fact that Eskil Engdal did none of these things suggests the work of a regime mouthpiece designed to spout the regime’s poisonous and violent ideology and promote its political objectives in the international media.

In publishing propaganda and lies, Eskil Engdal could become an active participant in the regime’s demonization campaign, paving the way for further terror attacks and legitimizing violence against MEK members.

The international media must learn that to publish the regime’s lies without scrutiny or due diligence is not only an affront to the principles of a free, independent media, but it emboldens the regime to continue to carry out terror attacks against an already persecuted Iranian opposition.

Staff writer

In December 2018, the Albanian government expelled Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, the Iranian ambassador, and Mostafa Roudaki, the head of the Iranian regime’s intelligence station in the country. At the time, the decision was applauded by governments across the globe, including the Trump administration in the US.

The decision came on the back of a string of foiled Iranian state-sponsored terror plots on European soil. The Iranian regime had been using its web of European embassies to coordinate terror attacks against the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), the largest Iranian opposition group.

Following the expulsion of Iranian regime’s ambassador to #Albania, the IRGC has prepared a terrorist delegation under the commercial cover to send to Albania, heading by a veteran of the IRGC and director of a large company affiliated with the Khatam-Al-Anbia Garrison.#Iran

— Mohammad Mohaddessin (@Mohaddessin) June 2, 2019

One such attack, planned during the Persian New Year celebrations in 2018, was due to be carried on in Albania. The regime had planned to detonate a bomb at the MEK’s compound in the country. The plot was foiled by Albanian authorities in the late stages of execution.

Renewed Attempts to Infiltrate Albania

Now, just six months later, there have been reports of renewed regime attempts to infiltrate Albania. The regime is once again trying to send spies and assassins to the country to target MEK members.

Based on reports obtained by MEK sources inside the Iranian regime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have prepared a delegation of spies and terrorists that will attempt to enter the country under the guise of businesspeople and journalists. Gholam Hossein Kazemi, a senior figure in the IRGC and director of Asia-Kar Bakhtar, a contracting company, will likely head the delegation. The regime will secure visas and residence permits for IRGC agents under the name of Kazemi’s company.

A Tried and Tested Technique

Senior officials in the regime have publicly revealed that this is a favorite tried and tested strategy for regime agents. They apply for visas and residence permits under the name of state-affiliated companies or as foreign journalists. Once inside the country, they connect with other agents and coordinate terror attacks and assassinations.

Ali Fallahian, the former head of intelligence for the Iranian regime, said: “The Ministry of Intelligence needs cover to gather information, whether inside or outside of the country.” He added, “we do not send an intelligence officer to Germany or the United States saying I am from the Ministry of Intelligence. It is necessary to have [a] business or journalism cover.”

Look how former #Iran regime Intel Minister Ali Fallahian boasts many journalists inside & outside of country are MOIS agents #BlacklistIRGC pic.twitter.com/fua3gpPf0B

— Shahin Gobadi (@gobadi) July 21, 2017

An Albanian TV network named Report TV revealed that Albanian counterintelligence agencies had been actively monitoring 10 persons of interest in the country. “Law enforcement agencies in Albania are particularly concerned about Iranians who may be employed by Tehran’s secret services to take steps to compromise the protection of 3000 Iranian PMOI refugees in Albania,” it said.

Now Is the Time

In a statement, the Iranian opposition reminded governments around the world that the Iranian regime’s terror activities across Europe have deadly consequences. In light of recent planned terror attacks in the US, Albania, France, Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands, the MEK urged European and US government to include both the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) and the IRGC on their international terror blacklists.

Oil embargo & #BlacklistIRGC must be complemented by other measures, including the recognition of the right of the Iranian ppl & Resistance to overthrow the religious dictatorship & designating other organs of repression,expelling MOIS & IRGC agents from US & Europe#Iran

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 22, 2019

Only through the IRGC and MOIS’s complete exclusion from the international financial system and collapse of their donor base will the international community be able to mitigate the threat of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism. To eliminate the threat in its entirety, nothing short of regime change in Iran will succeed.

Staff writer

On the final Friday of Ramadan every year, the clerical regime in Iran holds its annual “Quds Day”. It parades its Basiji mercenaries in the alleged support of the Palestinian people.

The Iranian population often boycott the celebrations, refusing to participate in the propaganda spectacle. This year was no different. Nobody attended the regime’s state-run shows. Only the Iranian authorities were visible in the streets, a visible reminder that the regime has lost any support from the Iranian people.

Hate spreading display of the #Iranian regime on the occasion of the “Quds Day” https://t.co/pM3N8Gptjv

— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) May 31, 2019

Pushing the Regime Message

The spectacle was used as an opportunity to push the regime’s messages. Regime authorities burnt US  flags while chanting, “death to America!”

In a video widely circulated on state-affiliated social media accounts, a group of Basiji mercenaries burned a dummy bearing resemblance to US President Donald Trump.

In interviews with the state-run media outlets, officials on the sidelines of the event touted the imminent demise of the Israeli state. The Head of the Revolutionary Guard’s (IRGC) intelligence said: “The deteriorating trend of the Zionist regime shows that the solution is always resistance against the arrogant.”

The irony of his message was blatant. On Thursday, May 30, just hours before he made the comments, leaders from Arab states across the region and the Gulf Cooperation Council gathered in Mecca to discuss the regime’s arrogant attacks on ships and oil facilities in the Middle East.

#Iran Regime's Deception Tactics to Neutralize Arabs' Policy
The Foreign Affairs Committee Chair of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), @Mohaddessin, discussed the situation during his interview with the London-based Elaph website…https://t.co/ok42OXC1qX pic.twitter.com/l56ytD3ROk

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 2, 2019

At the meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Iranian regime’s behavior and asserted, “we will not endure threats against any Arab state from any sides.” His comments disassociating the Palestinian people from the Iranian regime undermined the regimes Quds Day celebrations, supposedly held in support of the Palestinian people.

A Regime in Isolation

The episode only served to reinforce the fact that the regime increasingly finds itself isolated on the international stage. Heads of state like President Mahmoud Abbas are not willing to appease the Iranian regime and stand by while it engages in malign and disruptive behavior in the region.

This policy of appeasement from international governments has played a central role in keeping the regime in power for the last four decades. As governments refuse to turn a blind eye to regime infractions, the regime will find itself increasingly isolated.

The Iranian opposition and the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK) have called for other international governments to follow the US’s lead in tackling the Iranian regime’s malign influence across the globe. It has called for other nations to endorse economic sanctions and list Iranian organs of repression and terrorism as international terrorist organizations.

Staff writer

On Wednesday, May 22nd, Struan Stevenson voiced his concerns about the European Union’s continued appeasement of the mullahs’ regime in an op-ed on the United Press International website. Stevenson is the coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change and a former member of the European Parliament representing Scotland. He is also a longtime supporter of the MEK who has written extensively on the subject of the mullahs’ regime.

#Iran uses its agents to track down and eliminate opponents. Posing as diplomats, these #Iranian spies and assassins have launched a series of attacks across Europe and North America
My take in @UPI#MEK @SecPompeo @AmbJohnBolton @Potus #terrorism https://t.co/ZnYqG4AmC8

— STRUAN (@STRUANSTEVENSON) May 22, 2019

In his latest piece, Stevenson discussed the failure of the E.U. to acknowledge the threat posed by the Iranian regime to the Middle East and the larger international community.

Terrorist Plots in the U.S. and Europe

Stevenson enumerated the many terrorist plots attempted in 2018 by the Iranian regime in the United States and Europe to eliminate their opposition. Last summer German police foiled an attempted terrorist attack  on the annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran outside of Paris. Regime diplomat Assadollah Assadi was arrested and charged by Belgian authorities for personally handing over 500 grams of TATP explosives to a Belgian-Iranian couple who were arrested en route to the event, which was attended by tens of thousands of MEK members and dozens of high-ranking politicians from the U.S., Europe, and around the world. Assadi and three accomplices are now awaiting trial in Belgium on terrorism charges.

 

Iranian agents acting at the behest of the regime have been sanctioned for their roles in additional terrorist plots in the United States, Denmark, Bulgaria, Albania, and the Netherlands, and several regime diplomats and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agents have been expelled from European countries. Stevenson emphasized that the regime uses its embassies to plan terrorist attacks on its opponents, which poses a danger to the international community.

 

Stevenson argued that the Iranian regime has now shifted their focus to a new enemy. U.S. oil sanctions and the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization have crippled the Iranian economy and hindered the ability of the regime to fund its terrorist proxies in the Middle East.

 

The refusal of the United States to submit to the long-standing Western policy of appeasement toward the Iranian regime has enraged the mullahs, and they have desperately sought a way to retaliate against the U.S. According to Stevenson, the regime instructed its proxies to sabotage ships near the strategically-valuable

Straits of Hormuz, damaging four commercial vessels, including two oil tankers. Regime proxies then carried out armed drone attacks against Saudi oil pumping stations.

 

Stevenson wrote that regime leaders then ordered General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the terrorist Quds Force, to meet with Iranian-controlled militias in Baghdad to tell them to prepare for a proxy war. According to Stevenson, this was followed by a rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

The United States’ Response

The United States responded to these threats by deploying an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers, and American troops to the Pacific Ocean.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has engaged in an escalating series of threatening actions and statements in recent weeks. Any attacks by them or their proxies against U.S. citizens or our interests will be answered with a swift and decisive response.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 10, 2019

United States President Donald Trump has voiced his willingness to engage in talks with Iran, but regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has so far refused. Trump and his administration have stressed that they do not seek war but will protect U.S. assets in the region. Last weekend, Trump took a stronger tone, tweeting, “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!”

 

The unprecedented series of tough measures taken by the United States against the Iranian regime has led to what Stevenson called a “knee-jerk response” from the European Union. Those who were comfortable with the old policy of appeasement have struggled to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and to bypass oil sanctions in order to continue doing business with the regime. E.U. leaders are now urging the U.S. to act with caution, which Stevenson believes plays into the hands of the mullahs, who are seeking allies as they desperately seek to avoid the collapse of their faltering regime. According to Stevenson, the European Union will not be swayed from their support of the mullahs by any amount of aggression or terrorism, no matter how egregious.

Staff writer