Mr. Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in an interview with Azzaman: Placing Ashraf under siege took place at the orders of Khamenei and it also targets Iraqis
By Mustafa Ammareh
Azzaman (International) – March 29, 2009 – In recent days, after Iraqi officials described as undesirable the presence of members of People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Iraqi territory, we have witnessed the surrounding of the PMOI’s Camp Ashraf by Iraqi forces. Despite the fact that a European court removed the PMOI from the EU list of terrorist organizations, some observers have linked the Iraqi government’s measures with pressures coming from Iran on them as well as Rafsanjani’s trip to Iraq. To shed some light on these issues, Azzaman sat down for an interview with Mohammad Mohaddessin, C
Question: What is the magnitude of the siege on Ashraf? Why is such a siege being carried out in the current circumstances?
Mohaddessin: The Iranian regime considers the Iranian Resistance and in particular the PMOI as the only threat to its existence and survival. This is something that it has alluded to many times since the beginning of its establishment. In 1980, Khomeini in effect declared that ‘our enemy is neither the US nor the Soviet Union; It lies under our noses right here in Tehran,’ referring to the PMOI. That explains why the Iranian regime’s key demand from its international interlocutors is to crack down on the PMOI. On May 7, 2008, the Wall Street Journal quoted some diplomats as saying that “Iranian officials have urged suppression of the MEK [PMOI] in negotiations with Western governments over Tehran’s nuclear program and other issues.”
The Iranian regime has invested billions of dollars to keep the PMOI on the list of terrorist organizations in a bid to contain the organization. The situation in Iraq is also open to such an explanatory framework, because it demonstrates the regime’s fear of an organization which is unarmed and under siege. The regime knows that the PMOI is the ultimate source of inspiration and motivation for the expansion of organized resistance by the Iranian people against it.
The PMOI is not a mere political opponent of the Iranian regime. Owing to its conviction in a democratic and tolerant Islam, it is also in fact the antithesis of fundamentalism. The PMOI believes that government’s legitimacy must be based on popular vote. It also believes in religious and ethnic equality, and defends equal rights for women. Moreover, the PMOI is faithful to brotherly and neighborly relations with other countries. For these reasons, the Iranian regime seeks to destroy the PMOI in Iraq in order to shoot two birds with one stone: To destroy its opponents and simultaneously to remove the cultural and political obstacle standing in the way of the growth of fundamentalism in Iraq.
But why is all this occurring now:
First, due to the domestic crises which the Iranian regime is facing in the form of the social upheavals, especially on the part of university students; Second, due to the strategic defeat experienced by the regime’s proxies during Iraq’s recent provincial council elections; And, third, because of the removal of the PMOI from the EU list of terrorist organizations, a listing which from the very beginning was done through the Iranian people’s oil money, and one which the regime had very much counted on.
These factors have sounded alarm bells for the regime. Therefore, it has made futile attempts to resolve the PMOI issue by pressuring the Iraqi government.
Question: Is what is happening against Ashraf residents somehow related to Rafsanjani’s visit to Iraq?
Mohaddessin: Yes, definitely. You may remember that on February 28, 2009, the regime’s leader, Khamenei, blatantly told the Iraqi President with an arrogant tone, that, “The bilateral agreement for expelling the PMOI from Iraq must be implemented. … And we are awaiting its implementation.” With these remarks, Khamenei triggered a criminal war against a democratic and sovereign Iraq and also against Ashraf residents. This was not only a decision taken against the PMOI and Ashraf residents. It was equally in opposition to the Iraqi people and a democratic and sovereign Iraq.
After that, Khamenei sent Rafsanjani to Iraq for a visit that lasted a full week, in order to follow up on the issue of the PMOI’s expulsion and the shutting down of Camp Ashraf. Before that, Khamenei had sent Ali Akbar Velayati, his advisor, and Manouchehr Mottaki, the regime’s foreign minister, to pursue the same goal. Both their visits also lasted about a week.
Question: In view of the letter Maryam Rajavi sent to the US president, what is your analysis of the American position? Do you anticipate American intervention aimed at protecting Camp Ashraf?
Mohaddessin: We do not ask much from the US, except for it to accept its responsibilities in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, international conventions, and the official principle of Responsibility to Protect (RtoP), since Ashraf residents are vulnerable to many threats as a result of the Iraq’s circumstances. The responsibility to protect Ashraf residents as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention lies with the US. The US is, moreover, responsible for these people’s protection due to its extensive military presence in Iraq. In addition to this, there is the bilateral agreement between the US and Ashraf residents, which obligates the US to accept their protection in return for the hand over of their weapons in 2003. On that basis, the responsibility for anything that would threaten the safety and security of Ashraf residents would fall directly on the US. We expect for the US to act in accordance with this responsibility. We must also not forget that the US has said repeatedly that the Iraqi government has given it written assurances stipulating respect for the rights of Ashraf residents. These assurances, however, have now been clearly violated, and the US must react. This is what the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect underscored in her letter to the US president. We hope that the US would rise up to its responsibilities.
Allow me to also refer here to the March 15 statement of the international committee In Search of Justice which is made up of 2,000 European parliamentarians. The statement refers to the US role in view of its obligations in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law, international law, the principle of non-refoulement, and the Responsibility to Protect. It demanded immediate measures to ensure the protection of Ashraf residents.
Question: Considering protests by non-government organizations and protests in opposition to what has happened in Ashraf, what is the effect of these protests on the actions of big governments and international organization when it comes to the protection of Ashraf residents?
Mohaddessin: Fortunately, today an international solidarity front in defense of Ashraf, and against the suppressive and constraining measures against Ashraf residents, has formed. Parliamentary committees in various countries monitor the Ashraf issue, as does the International Committee of Jurists in Defense of Ashraf, which is made up of 8,500 jurists from Europe and the US. Here I must stress two factors that greatly help Ashraf. The first is the solidarity of the honorable and patriotic Iraqi people and politicians, and the second is international solidarity. If these two factors did not exist, the Iranian regime’s agents would have had a free hand in their suppressive actions. Allow me to send a message to our Arab brothers in Arabic societies and governments, and that is, rise up protest against the suppression of your PMOI Muslim brothers and sisters in Ashraf City. The inhumane and anti-Islamic Iranian regime, which has devastated Iran and its people, intends to commit any and all crimes it can against Muslims and Arabs. It is trying to establish its ominous Islamic empire all over the region by removing this obstacle on the way of its religious dictatorship domination in Iraq. Therefore, your defense of the PMOI in Ashraf is not only about Ashraf. It is also about confronting an aggressive regime in the Arab and Islamic world.
Question: You have certainly heard about remarks by Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, the Iraqi National Security Advisor. He has denied imposing restrictions against Ashraf residents and says that the PMOI has an incredible propaganda machine across the globe and that people there [in Ashraf] have been brainwashed by their leaders.
Mohaddessin: Al-Rubaie is well known for his lies. His remarks come at a time when the propaganda resources of the Iranian regime and the Iraqi government are unreservedly at his disposal to disseminate his desired lies against the PMOI. However, the reason for these remarks is that today not only the Iranian people’s sentiments but also those of the Iraqi population and the Arab and Islamic world against the unjust restrictions against Ashraf have been provoked.
To al-Rubaie we say that it is not the PMOI’s “propaganda machine” that has exposed the ominous desires of the mullahs’ regime for the massacre of the PMOI in Ashraf as well as the services of individuals such as al-Rubaie to the Iranian regime. It was the PMOI’s perseverance in Ashraf City, their legal status, legitimate demands, the praiseworthy support of Iraqi women and men, and the international solidarity with Ashraf, which have defeated one after another the deplorable plans of the mullahs’ regime against Ashraf residents.
It is also unclear why, if Muwaffaq al-Rubaie is really worried about a small group of 15 people running the affairs of 3,500 Ashraf residents, he has cut off the 3,500 individuals from the outside world and is not permitting political figures, parliamentary delegations, and journalists to visit Ashraf. If he is truthful in what he is saying, then he must lift the ban on journalists and foreign delegations to enter Ashraf so that everyone in the world could be made aware about the “brainwashing” and “the menacing characteristics of these leaders.”
However, since these lies are being told in recent weeks in order to justify the violation of the rights of Ashraf residents, and are a prelude to commit a war crime, we invite all responsible international organizations, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNAMI, as well as Iraqi political parties, personalities, and Shiite, Sunni and Christian religious leaders to send delegations to Camp Ashraf to conduct investigations, verify the lies of Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, and draft reports on this issue. There is nothing concealed or hidden in Ashraf. Every delegation can go inside Ashraf and visit anywhere and speak to anyone it wishes. We also ask al-Rubaie to avoid preventing the entry of these delegations to Ashraf.
Ncr-iran.org editor’s note: This is English translation of the text of interview in Arabic.
