The essence of Iran’s “information operations” activity has been to derogate from the MEK’s image and influence with western governments by seeking to tie the MEK to actions highly prejudicial to the MEK’s image with target audiences in Iran, Europe and the United States. This is not to say that all these potentially damaging claims about the MEK are false, only to report that the Iranian government’s hand has repeatedly been exposed placing such information without attribution into the public realm abroad.
For its part, the MEK/PMOI and its supporters have been no less vigorous in contesting the Tehran regime’s version of reality and similar criticisms emanating from respected voices in the West. MEK supporters have issued book-length rebuttals and fastidiously documented histories in an effort to persuade western audiences that the truth about the MEK’s beliefs, nature and past actions is at odds with the ‘damning’ portrayal that is often accepted and repeated as fact….
With such externalities at play, there is merit in revisiting core issues relating to the MEK/PMOI with an eye to seeking the most reliable information as the basis for assessments and conclusions.
MEK/PMOI and the Search for Ground Truth about its Activities and Nature — download PDF
Report was part of 2012 court submissions by US Department of State re MEK terrorism listing; also part of 12/7/2011 hearing record of HFAC joint hearing by Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations and Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia:
“Some Americans may not grasp the weight of these propositions, the spectacle of the US softpedaling its legal requirements on arms transfers, trying to extricate itself from a sense of duty to an unloved group of at-risk civilians, hoping that these and related inconveniences do not mar the tableau of the President’s welcoming of the Iraqi Prime Minister next week to signal a new era. But I have no doubt that the leaders of Iran fully understand the symbolism of America’s exit from Iraq and will miss no opportunity to degrade America’s reputation and diminish our influence in Iraq and the region. Operation Iraqi Freedom may be over, but the future of the Middle East is being shaped right now. Iran is advancing its political and security agenda in many ways, in many places – are we connecting the dots?”
