ANALYSIS: Revisiting Iran’s 9/11 connection

By Heshmat AlaviSpecial to Al Arabiya EnglishMonday, 11 September 2017

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16 years have passed since that tragic day, September 11, 2001, when over 3,000 innocent people lost their lives in the “the largest mass casualty terrorist attack in US history.” The course of modern history changed as we know it.

For more than 15 of these past years the policy of appeasement has withheld the international community from adopting the will needed to bring all the perpetrators of this hideous crime to justice.

Iran has a history of fueling foreign crises to avoid responding to its own domestic concerns. 9/11 provided the window of opportunity to derail world attention to other states and buy Tehran crucially needed time.

Unfortunately, the regime ruling Iran has been the main benefactor of the 9/11 aftermath. As a result of two wars in the Middle East the entire region has been left wide open for Tehran to take advantage of and spread its sinister ideology and sectarianism.

It is hence necessary to highlight Iran’s role in 9/11 attacks and demand the senior Iranian regime hierarchy involved in blueprinting and implementing this attack to be held accountable before the law.

Warmongering history

For the past four decades Iran has been ruled by a clerical regime that is simply incapable of providing the society’s needs and demands. To this end, Tehran has resorted to a policy of exporting the “Islamic Revolution” by meddling in neighboring and distant countries to create havoc.

History has recorded how Iraq invaded Iranian territories and caused the beginning of the devastating eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War. Several months before Iraq launched its military attack, Ayatollah Khomeini, accused of hijacking Iran’s 1979 revolution, described then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as a “hypocrite” and a “threat for the Iraqi people.”

Khomeini went as far as calling on the Iraqi people to “place their entire efforts behind destroying this dangerous individual” and the Iraqi army to “flee their forts” and to “rise and destroy this corrupt individual, and appoint another individual in his place. We will support you in this regard.”

Fast forward more than two decades, and again with Iraq in its crosshairs, Iran began what has been described as a very complicated effort to literally deceive the US intelligence community.

Ahmad Challabi, dubbed as “The Manipulator” by The New Yorker, was Iran’s front man in feeding the US false information regarding Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction to justify Washington’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. The war ultimately eliminated the main obstacle before Iran’s hidden occupation of Iraq and full blown meddling across the Middle East.

Looking further west in the region, Iran ordered Bashar Assad in Syria and former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to facilitate the escape of thousands of al-Qaeda prisoners. This development, parallel to the ruthless crackdown of the two countries’ Sunni communities, led to the rise of ISIS.

This entire episode provided Iran the necessary pretext to justify its presence in Iraq and Syria, especially through tens of thousands of proxy forces.

VIENNA: IRANIANS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF COMPREHENSIVE SANCTIONS FOR TEHRAN'S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, EXPORT OF TERRORISM & NUCLEAR PROJECTS

NCRI - Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the UN, met with officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Wednesday to discuss the Iranian regime’s nuclear program. Simultaneous with that visit, Iranians residing in Vienna held a rally to call for imposition of comprehensive sanctions against the clerical regime for its nuclear program,

its world-leading rate of executions, its export of terrorism, and its ballistic missile program.

The rally was held for several hours in front of the IAEA headquarters.

Participants in the rally carried a banner that read: “Impose comprehensive sanctions against Iranian regime for torture and execution، export of terrorism, nuclear and missile program.”

As well as pointing out that the clerical regime has long maintained the highest per capita rate of executions in the world, protestors pointed out that the overall human rights situation has been deteriorating dramatically following the nuclear agreement. There were more than 101 recorded executions in Iran in July 2017, and more than 20 political prisoners are currently on hunger strike in the notorious Gohardasht prison. Amnesty International issued a statement on August 22 expressing concern for the hunger striking political prisoners and demanding immediate action.

The protestors underscored that the Iranian people demand an independent investigation into the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. They pointed out that scores of the regime’s officials who were responsible for the 1988 massacre currently hold some of the most senior positions. They also argued that indifference by the international community has emboldened the regime.

The Iranians stressed that the expulsion of the Revolutionary Guards and their militias from the countries in the region is a prerequisite for ending crises in the region.

Regarding the nuclear projects, the protestors underscored that the clerical regime has never voluntarily exposed any of its sites, main projects and other aspects of its nuclear program to the IAEA. In fact, this only occurred after their revelation by the Iranian opposition, the IAEA, and other sources, leaving Tehran with no other choice but to acknowledge the facts. In the cases of many of the sites disclosed, the regime has allowed the IAEA to visit them after a deliberate delay, subsequent to serious changes that were made to the site.

Iranians said very meticulous and unconditional snap inspections are necessary requirements to prevent the clerical regime obtaining nuclear bombs. Without such inspections, no agreement with this regime can be trusted. They stressed that the claim by the regime that the nuclear program is a subject of national pride is a great lie propagated by Tehran’s lobbies and the advocates of an appeasement policy. The Iranian people see the nuclear program against their own interests. In fact, according to the rally, the public welcomed the regime’s retreat from the nuclear program, although they also viewed that retreat as being limited by the JCPOA.

The protestors rejected the argument that by putting pressure on the regime for verification, filling the gaps of JCPOA, and implementing it fully would lead to the regime's withdrawal from the JCPOA and ultimately to military confrontation. This they described as a distortion of reality aimed at justifying the current situation and making concessions to the regime

Zahra Merrikhi Pledges to Bring Freedom to Iran After her Election as PMOI/MEK Secretary General

PARIS, September 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI, (the Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK) held its annual Congress simultaneously in Tirana and five other countries. On the PMOI's 52nd anniversary, the Congress elected Ms. Zahra Merrikhi as its new Secretary General. Ms. Zohreh Akhyani, the Secretary General since 2011, chaired the Congress.

According to the PMOI's bylaws, the Secretary General is elected to a renewable term of two years. The election is held in three phases. In the first phase, members of the PMOI Central Council, and in the second the organization's officials and cadres in different departments, cast their votes in secret ballots. In the third phase, at the PMOI Congress, all members vote by raising their hands.

In the first phase, on August 20, 2017, Ms. Merrikhi was elected from among 12 candidates by a majority of the Central Council members. The four leading candidates were put on the ballot for the second phase, which was held on September 3, 2017. Ms. Merrikhi received a majority of the votes cast in ten different PMOI centers. In the final phase, during the PMOI Congress, Ms. Merrikhi was unanimously elected Secretary General.

Previously, Ms. Merrikhi was coordinator for the offices of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran(NCRI), and Vice-President of the PMOI's Central Council.

Born in 1959 in the city of Qa'emshahr in the northern Province of Mazandaran, Ms. Merrikhi became acquainted with the PMOI during the 1979 anti-Monarchic Revolution and joined the PMOI after the Shah's overthrow. She was soon appointed head of the women's section in Qa'emshahr, and later became a member of the editorial board of the PMOI publication in Mazandaran, called Talavang.

1981, she was transferred to Tehran and acted as liaison between the PMOI and its branches in the forests of northern Iran. In 1984, she moved to PMOI bases in the border region with Iraq, and a year later became a member of the Central Council.

Her younger brother, Ali Merrikhi, was murdered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in 1988.

Ms. Merrikhi oversaw PMOI branches in Scandinavia and Germany for some time. In 1991, she became a member of the Executive Committee and was later appointed head of Radio Mojahed, Simay-e Moghavemat (the Iranian Resistance's television network) and the publication Mojahed.

She became a member of the NCRI in 1992 and was appointed Chairwoman of the Public Affairs Committee.

Ms. Merrikhi had been the coordinator of the offices of Mrs. Rajavii since 2003 and the Vice-president of the PMOI's Central Council since 2004.

Following her election as Secretary General, Mrs. Merrikhi was sworn in, placing her hand on the Holy Quran and paying her respects to the Iranian flag and PMOI emblem. She pledged to remain faithful to the enormous responsibilities with which she has been entrusted. Ms. Merrikhi vowed to devote all her abilities and those of the PMOI as a national treasure of the Iranian people, to establish freedom and democracy in Iran. 

The new Secretary General expressed her appreciation for the efforts of her predecessor, Ms. Akhyani, and Ms. Mojgan Parsai, the President of the PMOI's Central Council. She lauded their efforts and those of other PMOI officials over the past 14 years, during one of the most dangerous and tortuous periods of the Organizations history in camps Ashraf and Liberty.

"Today, the PMOI, with the help of the Iranian people, is prepared as never before to overthrow the clerical regime," Ms. Merrikhi said, adding that the PMOI has now 18 co-Secretaries General (including seven former Secretaries General). Ms. Merrikhi also introduced Narges Azodanlou, 36, Rabi'eh Mofidi, 35, and Nasrin Massih, 39, as new deputies to the Secretary General.

In congratulating the election of Ms. Merrikhi as the new PMOI Secretary General, Mrs. Rajavi described it as a brilliant election, embodying the height of democracy, cohesion, and growth in the PMOI. It heralds the breaking of the spell of repression which will lead to the overthrow of the regime ruling Iran, she added.

SOURCE People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran

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Masoud Dalvand –TDO- (AMERICA) At its annual congress held in Tirana, Albania, principal Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) elected Ms. Zahra Merrikhi as its new Secretary General. Ms. Merrikhi will be replacing Ms. Zohreh Akhyani, who had been holding the position since 2011.

The PMOI’s Secretary General is elected for a renewable two-year term. The elections are held in three phases. In the first phase, members of the organization’s Central Council cast their votes in ballot boxes to specify their candidates. The second phase is held with the participation of all of PMOI’s cadres, who cast their votes in their respective departments. The final phase is held at the organization’s annual congress, where all members confirm the new Secretary General by raising their hands.

Iran must stop the destruction of 1988 mass grave in Ahvaz

ANALYSIS: The ‘Salvador Option’ in Iraq to promote Iran’s sway

Tony Duheaume

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, death squads have taken root in Iraq’s political core, and with the strengthening of Shiite militias by the Iranian regime, they have been used as a tool to inflict fear, to ensure that Iraq’s autocratic political body remains under Shiite control.

When Nouri Maliki’s Dawa Party came to power in Iraq in 2005 he had originally been appointed as vice-president for de-Baathification of the former Iraqi government and its military personnel. By April 2006, Maliki was installed as prime minister and with both the Americans and the Iranians looking on him as a politician they could easily influence, both were happy to back him during those early days.

Also read: Iraq declares ‘end of caliphate’ after capture of historic Mosul mosque

As Maliki’s grip strengthened, his agenda for a Shiite dominated Iraq firmly took root, and it soon became apparent that the only future for Iraq under his divisive rule, came in the form of an Iranian satellite state. As he grew in stature, the Iranian regime’s plans for hegemonic control of Iraq began to take hold, and with the use of their subservient puppet in Baghdad; Shiite militias under their control began to wreak havoc across the country in the form of death squads.

Maliki’s marginalization of Sunnis had been an integral part of his premiership, while hitting back at so-called al-Qaeda terror groups that had been causing havoc in Iraq before the advent of ISIS, some of which had been attributed to “false flag” operations from other quarters. Maliki cracked down on any form of dissent in Sunni communities, where voices had been raised against his sectarian policies.

With many Shiite militia members serving in both the armed forces and the police force, Maliki used them to do his personal bidding, and running in line with a continuing violent program of de-Baathification. He used torture and extrajudicial execution to eradicate any sign of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime from the country, as well as marginalize Sunnis from political office.

Network of secret prisons

During his term in office, Maliki consolidated his powerbase and effectively took political control of the judiciary. He used a network of secret prisons, controlled by the interior ministry and used by the Special Police Commanders as places of confinement. Sunni kidnap victims would be taken there to be interrogated, using the vilest forms of torture known.

The first sign of death squads operating in Iraq became fully apparent in May 2005, when dozens of bodies began to turn up around Baghdad. But the irony of this whole situation, came about when it was exposed in the US press, of how during 2005, the Pentagon was so desperate to get on top of the rising Sunni insurgency.

Also read: Despite political skills, Maliki fails to heal Iraq’s wounds

It trained groups of Iraqi Shiite militias to carry out “irregular missions” on behalf of US forces, in what was dubbed as the “Salvador option”. The Salvador option was named after counter-insurgency techniques used in Latin America during the 1980s.

These techniques were carried out by American-trained death squads, and were used to terrorise the population of El Salvador into submission, and to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and sympathisers, who opposed US-backed despotic right-wing government.