US TELLS MEK WHEN IT WILL DECIDE ON REMOVAL OF TERRORIST STATUS

Senior staff at the office of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who has yet to decide on whether or not to remove the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) from its 1997 placement on the US sanctions list as a designated terrorist organisation, have given a timeline on that decision-making process. Whether this is an indication of how State intends to act, however, is a mystery.

The Department has advised that Mrs. Clinton will make her final decision on removal of the MeK from the terrorist sanctions list sixty (60) days after the last MeK member departs, for relocation, from the groups present location, Camp Ashraf, in Iraq.  MeK members are slated to transfer to a facility near Baghdad Airport that is a former US military base.

Some MeK members are expected to be relocated outside of Iraq. If the MeK is delisted as a terrorist organisation, Iran watchers reportedly expect that this decision will further harm US-Iranian relations.

How will Secretary Clinton rule ? Though there have been massive efforts, by paid lobbyists, to portray the MeK as a reformed organisation that has renounced violence as an instrument of policy, there are many who distrust the group aims, as it appears to operate, for all intents and purposes, as a cult of the individual, and insists on absolute obedience from its members. It was not founded on democratic principles. She must be considering the fact that it has a violent past in her decision process.

 It also appears to have zero support within Iran, due to the fact that it fought on the Iraqi side during the decade-long Iran-Iraq War. Finally, its earlier Anti-American  posture has raised the question of whether its pro-US stance is merely a temporary, expedient position, to receive aid and assistance.

Will the MeK exit Camp Ashraf, so that the Secretary can render her decision ? Only time will tell, but we are keeping an eye on the situation, especially due to reports of MeK representatives in Latin America. What exactly are they doing there ?

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Note to readers: There are nine earlier articles, here in the Financial Crime Blog, covering the MeK. You can access them by entering "MeK" in the search box at the top of the page.