By: Mohammad Amin
The Paris Judiciary’s decision to prosecute the Iranian Resistance on charges of money laundering is before all else an unfortunate repeat of the political abuse of the French judicial system to extract geopolitical and commercial gain.
The dossier against the Iranian Resistance was launched in 2001 during France’s honeymoon with the Iranian regime under Khatami in Iran, but due to lack of any supporting evidence, was left dormant until after the June 17 attack by French police on Iranian Resistance offices in 2003. The attack was widely seen as an attempt by the French government to curry favor with the Iranian regime as several French multinationals such as Renault, Total and Elf vied for a larger share of the Iranian market.
By: Mohammad Amin
The Paris Judiciary’s decision to prosecute the Iranian Resistance on charges of money laundering is before all else an unfortunate repeat of the political abuse of the French judicial system to extract geopolitical and commercial gain.
The dossier against the Iranian Resistance was launched in 2001 during France’s honeymoon with the Iranian regime under Khatami in Iran, but due to lack of any supporting evidence, was left dormant until after the June 17 attack by French police on Iranian Resistance offices in 2003. The attack was widely seen as an attempt by the French government to curry favor with the Iranian regime as several French multinationals such as Renault, Total and Elf vied for a larger share of the Iranian market.
The new preliminary indictment was filed on March 19. The news, however, emerged interestingly enough on April 4 as a “source in the Judiciary” leaked the news to AFP (Agence France Presse).
Iranians learned of the new preliminary indictment prior to April 4 as news of the move began to surface on a website run by a front organization for the mullahs’ intelligence ministry. Iran Interlink reported on March 30 that, “The Mojahedin should be aware that Maryam Rajavi’s trial in Paris is about to begin and according to the extensive evidence presented by security agencies in that country, conviction is highly likely.”
Most of the content on the Iran Interlink website is prepared by a branch of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the website itself is run by two of this ministry’s agents in London.
It is quite shocking that the Iranian regime is so intimately informed of the secret proceedings in a case at the Paris Judiciary.
The AFP story on the French Judiciary’s move on April 4 also brings up another question, “Why did the new allegations surface as a leak to the news media?” Interestingly, the news was given extensive coverage by the Iranian regime’s news agencies and radio and television channels and in all state-controlled media. The top news story in the Iranian regime’s media on April 4 was in fact the AFP story which was presented as a “new victory” for the regime.
The mullahs’ rejoicing over the new politically motivated allegations is of course understandable. The Iranian regime is desperately in need of “fresh victories” under pressure of domestic and international challenges. The zeal of the French officials behind the new baseless and hollow allegations, however, is to be questioned. Don’t they know the consequence of aiding and abetting the Iranian regime?
Mohammad Amin, is an expert on Iranian affairs who writes for international news media and journals
