Iran Focus

London, 22 Jul – Michael J. Totten writes in World Affairs: In 1997, US President Bill Clinton added Iran’s People’s Mujahadeen (Mujahideen Khalq in Persian, or MEK) to the list of designated foreign terrorist organizations, and in 2012 his wife Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took them off. One of them erred and erred badly.

He points out that the MEK fought hard against the Shah Reza Pahlavi before and during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Afterward, when the Islamist faction led by Ayatollah Khomeini emerged the strong horse in the ensuing struggle for power, they fought the new government alongside Iran’s leftist movements and lost.

Iran Focus

London, 21 Jul – Saudi Arabia has recently vocalised its support for the Iranian Resistance in what has been called a “redrawing of some lines of history.”

At the Free Iran rally in Paris earlier this month, Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal spoke before 100,000 supporters of the Iranian opposition groups, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), to declare his support for their leader Maryam Rajavi, and to call for the overthrow of Iran’s theocratic regime.

Iran Focus

Brussels, 20 Jul – EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced the lifting of “multilateral and national” sanctions on Iran on 16 January this year, saying the nuclear deal showed that intense diplomacy could resolve even “the most difficult issues”. However, this new position came despite the EU sanctions still imposed on Tehran due to its poor human right record and links with terrorist organizations.

Iran Focus

Geneva, 20 Jul – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has released an update on the Iranian refugees stuck in Camp Liberty in Iraq.

This update focuses on how well solutions have been put in place to aid refugees in this area, specifically in terms of relocation.

Over 1,700 residents have been relocated to safe countries, which accounts for over half of the original refugees. The UNHCR hopes to have moved all residents out of Iraq before the end of 2016 with a combination of international efforts and middle-eastern movements.

Iran Focus
Berlin, 20 Jul – An Iranian Intelligence Agent has been convicted in Germany of spying on Iranian Resistance members living abroad.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has welcomed this conviction of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agent and has urged foreign governments to prosecute and expel other regime spies.

London, 19 Jul – In an article for The Diplomat on Tuesday, Lord Ken Maginnis argued that the Iranian Resistance, in the shape of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), is building significant momentum against the regime in Tehran.

Reflecting on both the absence of moderation in the regime and the abundance of it in the opposition led by Maryam Rajavi, Lord Maginnis called on Western governments to re-think strategy towards Iran.