Ali G. Scotten reported for National Iranian American Council (NIAC) on Feb. 14, 2008 that
The Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) held a large event in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday as part of its lobbying effort to be removed from the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. The event, which was organized by the MEK and sponsored by Representative Tom Tancredo’s (R-CO) Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus, invited Congressional staffers and members of the general public to learn about the organization’s activities.
Combined with the primary defeat of moderate Republican Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland, Tancredo's bid for legitimacy for MEK does not bode well for the growing number of Americans who think America's aggressive actions against Iran are wrongheaded.
With Greg Meeks, Gilchrest had formed the Dialogue Caucus, whose mission included active discussions with Iranian diplomats. Gilchrest was moderator of a well-attended forum at the Washington National Episcopal Cathedral's Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation, that forthrightly reviewed America's recent history with Iran. Panelists at the Episcopal Cathedral event included Stephen Kinzer, Trita Parsi, Aman Anant, and Bruce Laingen, who was Charge d' affaires for the US Embassy in Tehran when Iranian students kidnapped him and many of his embassy staff.
Gilchrest's opponent received financial support from Eagle Forum and Club for Growth, among others.
Tancredo's bid to legitimize MEK suggests that the Bush administration has not curtailed its plan to at least undermine, and preferably overthrow the Iranian government. Regime change in Iran is the goal of HR 1400, according to California Congressman Ed Royce, and Tancredo has stated that MEK is a "useful tool" in bringing that about.
In a December 2007 interview, Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich explained to blogger Vineyard Saker what MEK is, who supports MEK, and why MEK evokes fear and hatred in Iranians.
Vineyard Saker: In your article you mention the Mojahedeen-e Khalgh (MEK) group. In the western corporate media it is very rarely mentioned. This group is listed on the State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations but a number of observers have also alleged that this group is supported by the USA and especially the CIA. What can you tell us about this group, its activities in Iran and its relationship with the USA?
Soraya:. Mojahedeen-e Khalgh/National Council of Resistance (also known by their acronyms MEK/MKO/NCRI) is a terrorist group in every sense. U.S. and EU also consider them as a terrorist group, and yet they are supported by the United States. In act, it is such an irony that Mr. Bush declares a war on terror, depletes our treasury, American soldiers die in order to keep us safe from ‘terrorists’, yet our tax dollars are being spent not on keeping terrorists in comfort. Upon invading Iraq, 3800 MEK terrorists were given ‘special persons status’ by the orders of this administration. When this order was issued, there was considerable surprise even at the State Department briefing (source: US State Department Daily Briefing).
The so-called political arms of the group solicits funds in Washington. They have major backers such as Daniel Pipes and Patrick Clawson who in May 2003, Daniel Pipes and Patrick Clawson recommended that "when the secretary of state next decides whether or not to re-certify the MEK as a terrorist organization," that official "should come to the sensible conclusion that it poses no threat to the security of the United States or its citizens." Pipes and Clawson went on to praise the MEK as a potential U.S. ally.
These sentiments are echoed in Europe where their leader roams around the European parliament. Hardly the treatment a terrorist should receive.
As for their relation with Iran - The MEK is deeply hated by the majority of Iranians because of their alliance with Saddam Hossein during the Iran-Iraq war. The MEK are responsible for killing Iranians and the American government now thinks they can install them as a substitute to the Iranian regime.
The MEK claims to have exposed Iran’s nuclear plant under construction – however, Sy Hersh exposed their Israeli connections. And the essay I wrote, further exposed the role the US/Israel has in mind for them.
(Read the entire Vineyard Saker - Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich interview here
Pittsburghers who attended Patrick Clawson's December 2007 speech sponsored by United Jewish Fund Pittsburgh's Iran Task Force will not be surprised that Clawson would be, with radical ideologue Daniel Pipes, in the camp of factions seeking regime change in Iran.
In that quest, Clawson is allied with, and financed by, the usual suspects. Sepahpour-Ulrich connects the of US-sponsored regime change to Israeli interests in her report on a speech by Max Boot that was sponsored by the
"publicly supported independent economic think tank' which has received a landmark multi-year grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles to help the 'independent' research of Milken realize its goal of establishing Israel as one of the top 10 countries in terms of quality of life and GDP per capita."