NCRI – The Iranian regime is the only party demanding the suppressive intensification of a blockade on Camp Ashraf, said Abbas Davari, Chairman of the Labor Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in an exclusive interview with the Iraqi daily Azzaman on June 1.
Camp Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad, is home to some 3,400 PMOI members of the main Iranian opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
NCRI – The Iranian regime is the only party demanding the suppressive intensification of a blockade on Camp Ashraf, said Abbas Davari, Chairman of the Labor Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in an exclusive interview with the Iraqi daily Azzaman on June 1.
Camp Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad, is home to some 3,400 PMOI members of the main Iranian opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI),
Davari added: Camp Ashraf is still subjected to an unjust blockade. These kinds of pressures were, of course, heightened after [mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei removed all uncertainly on his February 28, 2009 meeting with the Iraqi President and demanded the implementation of a bilateral agreement in regards to expelling the PMOI from Iraq.
Khamenei’s remarks left no doubt that the only side wishing to exert pressure on Camp Ashraf’s residents is the ruling regime in Iran, Davari added.
“After that, a wave of support at the international, Arabic, and Iraqi levels formed in support of Ashraf residents. The most important of these was the passing of a European Parliament resolution on April 24, 2009. The resolution urged the government of Iraq to end the blockade on Ashraf and to acknowledge the legal status of its residents as ‘protected persons’ under the Geneva Conventions.”
Davari also said, “Despite these acts of support, the blockade on Ashraf has continued because the current rulers of Iran know perfectly well that with the residents of Ashraf in the scene, their regime would not have the chance to dominate Iraq. This is something that patriotic Iraqis have repeatedly pointed out.”
“The Iranian regime has invested billions of dollars to swallow Iraq whole. Years ago, it set up a force called the Qods Force, which is directly tied to the regime’s Supreme Leader, Khamenei. It commands terrorist operations and assassinations of scientific and nationalist figures in Iraq. But the Iraqi people have a deep-seated hatred for the ruling regime in Iran.”
Davari also said, “The provincial council elections in Iraq revealed a strategic defeat of the Iranian regime in that country. This was a great achievement for the people of Iraq.”
The Chairman of the NCRI Labor Committee added, “Removal of the PMOI from the terror list demonstrated the legitimacy of a resistance movement which has firmly stood up against a terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran.”
