In a lengthy 3-page piece published by “The Guardian” on November 9 targeting Iran’s democratic opposition, author Arron Merat, a well-known apologist of the Iranian Regime, has absurdly tried to demonize the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in favor of the terrorist regime of Iran, a despicable attempt to save the mullahs that proves to be futile.
The following article is a response in this regard by Firouz Mahvi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the Iranian Resistance political coalition and parliament in exile that includes the PMOI.
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The Guardian Demonises Iran’s Democratic Opposition to the Benefit of the Ruling Regime
By Firouz Mahvi
The British newspaper “The Guardian” published a lengthy 3-page article targeting Iran’s democratic opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK). Author Arron Merat, an Iranian-British citizen and well-known apologist of the Islamic Republic, has worked extensively to attack the opposition, and penned numerous articles encouraging tourism in Iran as “a must visit destination.”
The Guardian piece is a collection of baseless allegations, invented and disseminated by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, that lacks the minimum standards of a fair, objective article. It is but another attempt to demonize the only organized and serious opposition to the mullahs.
The PMOI was formed 54 years ago by three young students who were unhappy about the repression and corruption of the Shah’s dictatorship. During the 1979 anti-monarchy revolution, later hijacked by Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamists, the surviving members of the PMOI numbering less than 100 were released from prison and soon became the largest political party in Iranian history under the leadership of Massoud Rajavi. They boycotted the referendum for the (regime’s) Constitution, as it included a clause giving absolute power to Supreme Leader Khomeini. This was enough to warrant a bloody massacre by the mullahs.
The PMOI has managed to rebuild itself. When the recent nationwide protests began in December 2017, the current Supreme Leader acknowledged the leading role of the PMOI and its “resistance units” in the protests, which spread to all 31 provinces of Iran.
You can find many Iranian “opposition” groups in Europe and the US, but there is only one organized opposition inside and outside Iran, the PMOI, and it is the PMOI whom the mullahs fear. Tehran spends millions on a massive smear campaign throughout the western world, disseminating articles like the one appearing in The Guardian. The annual gatherings of the political coalition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), of which the PMOI is a member, attract 100,000 supporters who gather from all over the world in Paris.
According to European and American intelligence services, the PMOI is the also the primary target of spying by the Iranian regime. A recent terror plot to bomb the Paris gathering on 30 June 2018 was foiled, and an Iranian diplomat controlling two Iranian-Belgian agents armed with 500g of explosives were arrested. They will face trial in Belgium soon.
The political platform of NCRI, the only real alternative to the regime, promotes a secular, democratic Iran with a focus on women’s rights and has been endorsed by thousands of parliamentarians in the West.
By printing such a biased piece against this opposition movement, “The Guardian” only discredits itself, disappointing readers like me who regarded it as a progressive, serious paper, but never imagining it would sink so low as to print lip-service to such disgusting lies and allegations.
These futile attempts will not save the theocratic state of the ayatollahs. A nationwide uprising of protests and strikes is continuing, and the resistance units of the PMOI are expanding despite the repression and many arrests by the regime. The economy is collapsing. Iran’s people are ready for change and will no longer buy into the so-called reformist/hardliner factional game.
Remember that under the “moderate” President Rouhani, Iran holds the world record for executions. The mullahs will be gone, hopefully sooner rather than later, which is why the West should side with the democratic opposition in Iran to lessen the suffering of the people.