NCRI – "Mullahs' ploy to prevent implementation of rule of law in European Union" was the title of a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, June 11, organized to unveil the clerical regime's back-door efforts to maintain the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in the EU's terrorist list.
While condemning the regime's efforts, the speakers reiterated that after the decision by the UK Court of Appeal which ordered the government to remove the PMOI from its banned organization list, there remains no justification for the EU to continue keeping the organization in the terrorist list.
The conference was chaired by Jean-Pierre Spitzer, the PMOI's lawyer at the EU Court in Luxembourg and speakers included Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the NCRI's Foreign Affairs Committee, Piia Noora Kaupi, MEP and the leader of the Finnish delegation in the Group of the European People's Party and Paulo Casaca, MEP and Co-chair of the Friends of a Free Iran Inter-group in the European Parliament.
The following are remarks by Mr. Mohaddessin disclosing part of the regime's desperate efforts:
Subsequent to the ruling by the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission (POAC) in the United Kingdom on 30 November 2007 that ruled the PMOI (MEK) should be de-proscribed in the UK, the clerical regime has been utilizing all of its diplomatic and economic leverages to prevent the implementation of the court ruling. These efforts were intensified after the definitive ruling by the UK Court of Appeal last month.
After the court ruling on 7 May the mullahs lost all their hopes on the UK and focused their attention on the EU to prevent the removal of the PMOI from the EU's list.
As the previous speakers pointed out, after the ruling by the Court of Appeal there is no justification to maintain the PMOI (MEK) in the EU list either.
Tehran's main target has been the French government. Tehran has exerted enormous pressure on the French government to prevent the implementation of rule of law in the EU. Tehran intends to force EU member states to violate the rule of law by using its economic levers, hollow promises and by resorting to terrorist threats.
To this effect, Tehran also intends to exploit the upcoming trip by Javier Solana to Tehran and bring up this issue in the negotiations. Tehran's plan is to pretend that if the PMOI (MEK) was removed from the list, the prospects for success in the negotiations will be much more difficult.
In addition to the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, other security and intelligence agencies of the regime, the Special Office of the regime's Leadership (Khamenei's office), the Supreme National Security Council, the Office of Strategic Studies of the President and the Exigency Council are involved in dealing with consequences of the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the UK proscribed list. Their objective is to prevent removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the EU and US list.
In a report on the UK Appeal Court ruling and its impact, the Research Center of the President's Office stated:
"Given the current situation, removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the UK list and the EU list after that, would establish the fact that they are the alternative and would increase their impact on the society. This is especially so since the assessment of intelligence organs point to their social base. In addition to the members of the families of those who have been executed, they also have widespread support among the university students and young people.
"The Islamic Republic made a grave mistake that prior to the overthrow of the former Iraqi government, did not launch an attack against them in Iraq and did not destroy them in Camp Ashraf in Iraq."
Proposed actions:
The report suggested:
"In our propaganda, we should show the ruling as a minor issue and pretend as though the PMOI (MEK) is insignificant. In turn we should intensify our negative propaganda against the PMOI (MEK).
"We should launch a series of diplomatic activities to prevent the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the EU and the US list. We should ask the French officials to replace the UK and to prevent the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the EU list. The French are aware of our sensitivities and our views but we have to emphasize the PMOI's illegal activities in France."
Attempts to make France play the previous role of the UK
According to the Foreign Ministry's assessment, the only country that could replace the UK with authority is France. The other countries are either too small or have no justification for such a role. But in light of what happened in France on June 17, 2003, France could make such a request from the Council of Ministers. But in turn, after the ruling of the UK Appeal Court the French silence on the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the EU list would create no obstacle to the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the EU terror list.
Specific actions and meetings of the clerical regime with French authorities after UK Court of Appeal ruling on May 7
According to reports from the clerical regime's Foreign Ministry and according to the minutes of the meetings that the sources of the Iranian Resistance have provided to us, after the UK Appeal Court ruling on May 7, Ali Ahani, the regime's Ambassador in France met with the Director of the Middle Eastern Affairs of the French Foreign Ministry. In that meeting, Ahani requested that France would not be influenced by the UK Court of Appeal ruling and requested that the PMOI (MEK) to remain in the EU list.
According to minutes of the meeting in the regime's Foreign Ministry, the Director of the Middle Eastern Affairs of the French Foreign Ministry said "View of France is not positive on removal of the PMOI from the EU list but removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the UK court could have impact on the EU."
Mehdi Safari, the Deputy Foreign Minister in Charge of Europe and North American Affairs has held three meetings with Bernard Poletti, the French Ambassador in Tehran during this period.
• The first meeting took place about a month ago in which Mr. Poletti reiterated that the French position on the PMOI (MEK) has not changed.
• The second meeting was on May 20, 2008. In that meeting also the discussion was centered on the PMOI (MEK) and maintaining the organization on the EU list.
• The third meeting took place on June 2. In the first part of the meeting Mr. Mohammad Yahya Maroufi, the ambassador of Afghanistan in Tehran also took part and the discussion was on Afghanistan. After that, Safari and Pelotti continued the discussion, one of the topics was the PMOI (MEK) and the EU terror list.
In some of the meetings in Tehran, while referring to the developments in Lebanon and its influence in that country, the regime pointed out to the French side that it could influence the developments against the French interest.
These pressures are not limited to the French and includes other European countries as well.
The Directorate of the EU Affairs of the Regime's Foreign Ministry in a report on the activities of this directorate to prevent the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the EU list wrote: "In every meeting that we have held with EU member states in recent weeks, the issue of preventing the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the list was a constant issue." The report added "We gave an official memo to the British Foreign Office and underscored that the UK government bears the responsibility for any consequence of the UK Court ruling and in Tehran's view, this ruling is equivalent to cooperation with terrorists. We have held scores of meetings with the EU member states and with the EU officials on the necessity of maintaining the PMOI (MEK) in the list. The Europeans have asked for documents that prove the PMOI's involvement in terrorism. We had no documents to offer them but told them that if they could provide any documents that shows the prisoners in Guantanamo have committed terrorist acts, we would also provide documents."
Parallel activities by the Ministry of Intelligence
In a series of parallel activities, the Ministry of Intelligence is also trying to persuade the French to prevent the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the list.
Among the actions that this ministry has pursued is utilizing one of its veteran agents in France by the name of Ehsan Naraghi. He has played a very active role for the Ministry of Intelligence in fabricating information and providing falsified reports on the PMOI (MEK) to the French. For instance, he tried to offer a number of agents of the Ministry of Intelligence to various security and judicial organs of France as former members of the PMOI so they could provide false testimonies against the organization.
Naraghi is in Tehran currently and in late May, he met the French ambassador together with a woman agent of the Ministry of Intelligence who depicts herself as a former member of the PMOI (MEK). In that meeting, the above mentioned woman and Naraghi provided a fictitious list of "crimes of the PMOI against innocent civilians" and urged the French government to prevent the removal of the PMOI (MEK) from the list.
In his report to the Ministry of Intelligence, Naraghi wrote that Mr. Polletti was impressed and promised him to relay this information to Mr. Kochner, the French Foreign Minister.
Ladies, and gentlemen,
As the legal opinion of the most prominent European jurists underscore, the ruling of the UK court is definitive and the PMOI (MEK) is removed from the terror list. No other competent national authority could replace the UK in the case of the EU list since the UK court has ruled specifically and explicitly that the PMOI (MEK) is not engaged in terrorism any where in the world.
Thus, no other EU member state, including France, cannot enter the scene as the competent national authority. This is absolutely illegal.
I warn that by removing the PMOI (MEK) from the EU list immediately, France and the Council of Ministers should not allow the clerical regime to continue its dirty plots. Any concessions to the mullahs and backing away vis-a-vis the clerical regime in implementing the rule of law sets a dangerous precedence in the EU.
Without pressures and influence of Tehran, this issue should be reviewed at the next session of the EU Foreign Ministers meeting and the name of the PMOI (MEK) should be removed from the EU terror list once and for all.
The clerical regime is facing its most volatile situation inside Iran. The cries of death to dictator are heard from various Iranian cities. Universities in Iran are the scenes of protests and uprisings. A few days ago city of Zahedan in southeast of Iran was the scene of riots and popular confrontation with the regime's guards. The mullahs' response has been executions and further suppression. This morning 11 prisoners were hanged in notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.
In this situation maintaining the PMOI (MEK) in the terror list is complicity in crimes of the regime that its conduct against the Iranian people by any standard are crimes against humanity.
