For years the Iranian regime has been involved in a demonization campaign against the main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI-MEK). The origins of such demonization go as far back as 1991, in the immediate aftermath of the first Persian Gulf War. At the time, the clerical regime sought to turn the “human rights card” against MEK, concluding that the best way to neutralize the PMOI’s revelations about Tehran’s extensive human rights abuses was to tarnish the organization’s image on the international scene.
Steve McCabe, a British MP, wrote a letter to his colleagues in the House of Commons warning them about the regime’s advocates approaching the peers to tarnish the image of the PMOI.
“You might be contacted by people purporting to be ordinary Iranians living in the UK and warning you not to support the PMOI. They might also suggest that you should meet Anne Singleton or Masoud Khodabandeh to hear further arguments against supporting the opposition. I’m afraid this is a standard ploy of MOIS (Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security), and the individuals they mention are actually their agents. You might also receive a barrage of emails and phone calls as well as an expensive booklet produced by the Iranian Embassy.” McCabe’s letter read.
Similar letters had been written by other members of both Houses in previous years. In a letter dated January 28, 2008, Lord Corbett writes:
“Iran’s democratic coalition opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and its largest member organisation, the PMOI, have been at the forefront of exposing the regime’s crimes at home, terrorism, and nuclear programmes. It is therefore no surprise that the regime has attempted to destroy the Resistance through torture, mass executions, bombings, and assassinations. The regime’s Ministry of Intelligence concentrates its efforts on an elaborate, sophisticated, and well-financed operation to tarnish the image of the Resistance at home and abroad.”
Lord Corbett, House of Lords, September 16, 2008:
Several such letters from British and European lawmakers, including Lord Alton, and MEP Paulo Casaca, are attached to this report which all warn about the Iranian regime’s propaganda machine and how they approach the lawmakers to put pressure on them not to support the PMOI.
Lord Alton’s witness statement to the POAC
MEP Paulo Casaca, November 19, 2006
