IRAN REGIME''S SUPREME LEADER ROLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF MOVIES AGAINST MEK

 

IRAN REGIME''S SUPREME LEADER ROLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF MOVIES AGAINST MEK

By INU Staff

INU - Following the ignominy of the movie “Adventure of Nimrooz (Midday Adventure)", made against the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK), the news agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) released the news about the meeting of Iranian regime's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with film producers which exposes Khamenei’s role in the production of this movie. The IRGC was also involved in the production of the movie in February/March 2017.

The news was first released by the IRGC following confessions and protests among various government bands due to the ignominy of this scandalous film. It was then published by other state-run news agencies.

According to state-run news agencies, Khamenei who was after production of this movie against the MEK, in the meeting with his subordinates who produced the movie said: “This film ‘Midday Adventure’ was very good. All the components of the movie were great; it was a great director; excellent play and great stories. The film was well-made.”

The reports show that Khamenei in the same meeting ordered the production of a movie to and whitewash the crimes of the Evin executioner, Assadollah Lajevardi, and show the facts upside down and misrepresent this criminal.

Funding for the movie against MEK by the Revolutionary Guards!

The story of “Adventure of Nimrooz” was written and directed by Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian and produced by Sayyed Mahmoud Razavi.

Synopsis of the film is a narrative of direct interrogators, torturers and killers of the MEK in 1980s. The movies goal is confronting the rise in popularity of the MEK particularly among the youths who were borne on or after 1981, in order to tarnish the MEK's image and prevent the youth from joining the MEK.

The IRGC and Ministry of Intelligence have been producing numerous movies against the MEK including “Cyanor” and “Adventure of Nimrooz” with the same intention.

Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian, the director and author of the movie “Adventure of Nimrooz,” produced the film under the direct supervision and support of the “OUJ Artistic and Media Organization”

The Artistic and Media Organization called ‘OUJ’

The ‘OUJ Artistic and Media Organization’, affiliated to Cultural Deputy of the IRGC, was formed in 2011 following the sum up and conclusion of the 2009 uprising in Iran. The sum-up of the reports by the intelligence organs including the Eltaqat (Eclectic) Department of the Ministry of Intelligence (specifically dealing with the MEK) indicates that based on the arrests, control of phone calls and emails… it was concluded that 60% to 65% of the 2009 uprising was organized by the MEK and their supporters.

On the basis of this sum-up, Khamenei's regime has taken several steps to confront the uprising in the future. Among these measures was the upgrading of the IRGC deputy information department to the Sepah (Gurads) Intelligence Organization, with the purpose of specifically taking the same role as the Third SAVAK Department in the time of the Shah, known as the “Anti-Sabotage Office,” as well as using the Basij and Plainclothes Organization… as the executive and operational arms of the IRGC.

Alongside these security intelligence agencies, the IRGC’s Cultural Affairs Deputy was expanded and deployed to combat and counteract the awareness of young people using psychological warfare and the injection of reactionary thoughts. (In the last transformation in the second half of 2016, Pasdar Naghdi was transferred from commanding Khamenei's Basij to the IRGC Cultural Deputy position).

Since the people and youth despise and hate the Revolutionary Guards, the IRGC’s Cultural Affairs Deputy created the “Artistic and Media Organization of Peak" as a cultural executive arm in 2011 to pursue the goals of this deputy as an artistic organ.

The head of this organization is Ehsan Mohammad Hassani, who in addition to the IRGC cultural deputy, has connection with the Ammarion (Plainclothes) base and is sponsored and financially supported by Tehran's mayor, Pasdar Qalibaf.

Read More: 

IRAN MURDERED THOUSANDS OF MEK MEMBERS DURING THE SUMMER OF 1988

A professor of political science in Tehran University, Sadeq Zibakalam, who is also a close confidant of Ali Akbar Hashem Rafsanjani, former head of Iran’s Expediency Council, stated that Iran, similar to those who murdered Imam Hossein (the grandson of Prophet Mohammad), has murderedthousands of members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in the course of 10 years following the 1979 revolution, most of them during the summer of 1988 in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. This was reported by al-Quds al-Arabi daily on February 11th, 2017, in an article written by Mohamed al-Mazhaji.

“Guya News” website also published excerpts of Zibakalam’s remarks on the sideline of Iran’s annual “Fajr” film festival in Tehran marking the 1979 revolution anniversary.

Iran has murdered thousands of opposition MEK members during the years after the 1979 revolution, without any judicial process or proving any crime, Zibakalam reiterated, referring to events of the summer 1988, and issues raised in the sound file of a meeting between the Islamic republic’s “Death Committee” with Hossein Ali Montazeri, the former successor of the Islamic republic’s founder.

Zibakalam also strongly criticized the movie produced with the support of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), “Majaraye Nimrooz” (Midday Adventures), which was previewed at the Fajr film festival. He said that the film does not replicate the truth about what took place between the IRGC and MEK during that period.

“We accuse the MEK of conducting a series of assassinations back in the 1980s. Did MEK members carry out these measures for no reason at all?” this Rafsanjani confidant asked.

This film retells the events from the Iranian regime’s point of view, depicting an image of the IRGC as kind individuals defending truth and humanity, and not the truth, he added. Instead, we killed thousands of MEK members in Evin Prison without due process, Zibakalam continued, and added that the country was witnessing a civil war at that period of Iran’s revolution, between the IRGC and the MEK, costing the lives of thousands of people.

The MEK is one of the main organizations that, beginning in 1965 played a pivotal role in the 1979 revolution, through armed resistance and popular movements against Iran’s monarchial regime. In fact, MEK leader Massoud Rajavi was the leading candidate in the presidential elections after the revolution, and the MEK played an important role from 1979 to 1983 inside Iran.

Then, due to the conflict between the state and revolutionary forces, Khomeini, founder of the Islamic republic, prevented many MEK members from holding any possible official jobs in governmental administration, and deprived its members from political activities.

Montazeri’s sound file, released by his son, Ahmad Montazeri, made significant revelations, especially since “Death Committee” members explained the reason for condemning and executing thousands of MEK prisoners in 1988. In response, Montazeri had said not according to sharia, morals or humanitarian principles is it permitted to kill an individual who has been condemned once in court for maintaining their position, because they have not committed a new crime and they were already in prison. The “Death Committee” members emphasized to Montazeri they had to be executed because they approved the MEK.

The “Death Committee” members are still active in high positions in the regime:

Mostafa Pour Mohammadi is one of the most important members of Iran’s

“Death Committee” and he currently is the head of the Ministry of Justice in Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet.

Ibrahim Reisi is now the Supreme Leader’s representative and head of the organization managing the Imam Reza shrine in the city of Mashhad, northeast Iran.

Hossien Ali Nayeri is now deputy head of Iran’s highest court.

Reports by the United Nations confirm the execution of at least 3,600 MEK prisoners in Tehran’s prisons. Other security reports, obtained in 1998, indicate the “Death Committee” executed over 30,410 MEK members across Iran in the summer of 1988. This is in addition to the execution of 3,500 prisoners of leftist parties who were behind bars since the first years of the 1979 revolution.

Ahmad Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts Board of Directors and the Qom Religious School and a Friday prayer leader in Tehran, in response to the “Death Committee” sound file, stipulated for the first time that the execution of MEK prisoners in 1988 was carried out on charges of “moharebe against God and his Messenger” (enmity against God and his Prophet) and according to an order issued by Khomeini. He added that this measure was in line with implementing orders of the Quran, Islamic jurisprudence and a revolutionary measure that has served in the better interest of Islam and Iranian people.

Pour Mohammadi admitted to the accuracy of the issues raised in the sound file and added, “I am proud of implementing Khomeini’s orders against MEK members.” He stated further, that God’s order against them has been carried out.

The Qom Islamic revolution court sentenced Ahmad Montazeri to 21 years behind bars and stripped him of his clerical authority for publishing the sound file.

Iran ripe for regime change two years after nuclear deal

BY:IVAN SASCHA SHEEHAN

The Iran nuclear agreement — officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — has been in effect for a year and a half, during which time the world has been able to assess the impact of its formal implementation. But it has now had two full years to consider the effects of its negotiation, which concluded on July 14, 2015.

The negotiations themselves were promoted by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and his surrogates as a means of creating a new diplomatic status quo between Iran and the West. It was hoped that following the 2013 election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran would moderate its behavior by demonstrating cooperation with former adversaries.

But internal moderation of the Iranian regime has proven elusive, and Tehran has shown no aptitude to reform from within.

The result? Western powers have learned the same lesson from the Rouhani administration that they learned from Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, and other Iranian officials similarly labeled as reformers worthy of outreach. Moderation is a mirage Tehran uses to seduce their prey.

Executions have skyrocketed under Rouhani's watch, with his administration overseeing an alarming 3,000 hangings during its first four-year term. Analysts expect the human rights violations to continue as the president commences a second term next month.

Rouhani's tenure is also distinguished by a dangerous continuation of ballistic missile research, development and testing (including evidence of cooperation with North Korea) and a repressive crackdown by the country’s security forces on activists, artists, academics, journalists and anyone accused of having ties to the West. These unfortunate trends have shown no signs of abatement on the second anniversary of the landmark agreement that granted far-reaching concessions in return for constructive engagement.

Neither has Tehran’s regional behavior demonstrated signs of improvement with the regime serving as a driving force behind sectarian conflict and an active participant in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars.

As Western powers commemorate the two-year anniversary of the nuclear negotiations, a comprehensive Iran policy that addresses the joint plan’s shortcomings is needed. The U.S. must take the lead — as it did when nuclear negotiations began — but this time it must lead the world in confronting Iran over the nature of its repressive, fundamentalist regime by building a global coalition that supports regime change from within.

To its credit, the Trump administration has taken steps in this direction by increasing sanctions on the country’s ballistic missile program and pursuing the blacklisting of Iran’s hardline paramilitary organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But the Trump administration's willingness to confront Tehran would benefit from clear, overarching policy that more fully embraces the regime’s collapse and replacement.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s strong statement before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was a first step in this direction: “Our policy towards Iran is to push back on (its regional) hegemony, contain their ability to develop, obviously, nuclear weapons and to work towards support of those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of that government.”

Now Tillerson's rhetoric needs to be backed with clear statements by U.S. officials — including the President himself — that the false narrative of internal moderation has expired and the aspirations of the Iranian people for regime change are within reach.

It is widely believed that the sanctions and diplomatic pressure employed by the White House and Congress are intended to serve the goal of regime change. If so, this needs to be made clear so that interested parties can coordinate their strategies and address questions about the availability of the “elements inside of Iran” that Tillerson referred to.

The regime’s lobby in Washington would have U.S. officials believe no such elements exist, at least none with adequate organization and resources to oust the clerical regime and replace it with a democratic system of government. Such mischaracterizations are as inaccurate as they are well funded.

The accusations were addressed earlier this month when Tehran’s parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, along with the main Iranian opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, held its annual international gathering for democratic change in Paris. The gathering included tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates and hundreds of politicians and foreign policy experts from around the world who embraced regime change by the Iranian resistance.

In her speech at the event, NCRI President Maryam Rajavi praised the international community for rejecting the failed strategy of “appeasement” that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action represents and affirmed her movement’s commitment to the replacement of Iran's religious dictatorship, characterizing it as an absolute imperative and “the ultimate solution to the crises in the region.”

Rajavi noted what Iran scholars have long known: 1) Tehran’s vulnerability, domestic unpopularity and international isolation puts its overthrow within reach; 2) this can be achieved by the organized, democratic resistance that exists in the country and is led on the world stage by the NCRI.

The White House can mark the second anniversary of the negotiations that resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by turning the page on the failed Obama policy of capitulation in the interest of concessions and supporting the aspirations of the Iranian people for democratic change. By working with the Iranian opposition to realize regime change in Tehran, U.S. officials send a signal that they are preparing for the regime’s collapse and democratic transition and put Iran on notice that a new Iran policy has been embraced.

Sheehan is director of the graduate programs in Global Affairs & Human Security and Negotiations & Conflict Management in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore. Follow him on Twitter @ProfSheehan.