By Iran Probe staff
The regime of the mullahs ruling Iran is overwhelmed by crises for which there is no way out. In order to protect its system, the Iranian regime is trying to suppress the people’s uprising on the one hand and discredit the organized resistance of the Iranian people on the other. The Mojahedin (MEK) are at the center of it, on the two axes of demonization and terrorism.
The demonization campaign of the Iranian regime is carried out by introducing fabricated accusations and falsehoods. It regularly advertises that the MEK are a sect. They have no base in Iranian society, they have brainwashed their members, and they torture their own people. Of course, demonization is not unique to today; throughout history, from Spartacus and Jesus Christ to anti-fascist resistance heroes, the dictators have adopted demonization as a policy to prepare the ground for the destruction of freedom lovers and genuine resistance movements.
Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, the former US Deputy Secretary of State, says about the demonization of the Iranian regime against the MEK, I started studying the regime’s lies against the MEK decades ago. I wanted to know the root of these lies. They said that the MEK are terrorists and that you shouldn’t get close to them or trust them. When I listened to some of these words, I realized that they are all published with a specific purpose, and all of them are false information about Iran’s resistance.
Steve McCabe, a member of the British Parliament, said, Lying is in the DNA and essence of the Iranian regime. A performance that oscillates between brutality, violence, spreading lies, secret activities, which sometimes extend to open terrorism.
Mrs. Candice Bergen, the former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, says, “We must be aware of the lies being spread against the Iranian resistance, regardless of our position. The Iranian regime’s policy is based on three elements: attack, creating terror, and lying. We must stand against this policy and support Iranian resistance against the terrorism and lies of the Iranian regime.”
Struan Stevenson (former memebr of the European Parliament) adds, “The rulers of Iran spend huge sums of money to hire media or western parliaments to distort the credibility of this resistance.”
On the other hand, the Iranian regime is demonizing the MEK and Ashraf in Albania through its agents under the name of former members of the MEK and its local agents, Gjergji Thanasi, Dashamir Mersuli, and others.
Among the accusations that the infamous Ministry of Information of Iran (MOIS) makes against the MEK through these people is that the MEK members have been brainwashed, forcibly kept in the Manez complex, or that they do not have the possibility to contact their families or leave the camp, military discipline prevails in Ashraf and they do not have access to the Internet and mobile phones, among dozens of other slanders and lies that have been repeated by the MOIS for years.
The MEK residents of Ashraf 3 are all intellectuals in Iranian society and have been educated in Iranian or European and American universities. They have all voluntarily joined MEK movement with great dedication, and due to 42 years of fighting in very difficult conditions for freedom, they have received wide recognition and support inside Iran.
This movement also enjoys wide and unique support at the international level, with the participation of more than 500 important political figures in a July 2023 meeting in Paris. The support of 3600 parliamentarians from 29 countries and 129 presidents and former prime ministers from 40 countries for the Iranian Resistance was announced during themeeting.
The question is whether it is possible for a movement with these negative and anti-democratic features claimed by the regime’s media to not only survive for more than 40 years against the most brutal contemporary dictatorship, which is rightly called the global banker of terrorism, but also to garner wider support at the international level every day, whether inside Iran or abroad.
Talking about brainwashing or the notion that people in Albania can be forcibly kept in a place and prevented from leaving seems more like a joke. Ashraf has been visited by many of the highest-ranking American and European political figures, as well as high officials of Albania, such as President Meta and figures from all important parties. Additionally, the MEK has repeatedly invited all residents of Ashraf to leave whenever they want, and contact with families is ongoing for anyone who wishes.
In Iraq, such demonization campaign became the basis for many terrorist attacks against the residents of Ashraf, resulting in a total of 140 deaths and leaving hundreds of people injured. The dictatorship ruling Iran should not be allowed to abuse the sacred principle of freedom of speech by using its hirelings to manipulate the media and carry out a campaign of demonization and spreading lies against the uprising of the people of Iran and the freedom lovers.
The Albanian people, as a nation, do not make mistakes in hosting and showing support for freedom lovers and residents of Ashraf. The experience has shown that any news attempting to distort the image of the MEK members in Ashraf in Albania and portray them as evil must be questioned in terms of its sources, which are affiliated with the MOIS, unless the opposite is proved.”
