LETTER TO EDITOR: Protect our friends

This is truly a sincere and heartfelt letter. Trita Parsi tried to dehumanize the face of Iran's only resistance, and this letter melts that iceberg to reveal the only source of hope for Iranians. Any individual who values freedom, must not stand idly as the truth is distorted, we cannot afford to such values to be squandered. Washington must wake up--the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people will be heard.

The ratings of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month at the United Nations General Assembly in New York should have persuaded Americans not to cave in to the Iranian regime's demands in Iraq. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Qods Force arms, funds, and trains terrorist militias in Iraq and smuggles in roadside bombs made and paid for by the mullahs to kill American and coalition troops and Iraqis. The last thing the people of Iraq need, no more than those in Iran, is the lethal mix of violent fundamentalism and the nuclear weapons for which the mullahs aim.

Iran has now set its sight on its main resistance, the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI), a 4,000-strong anti-fundamentalist group based in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. The mullahs were particularly incensed when Britain's courts and parliament removed the PMOI from the list of terrorist organizations earlier this year. The PMOI has been instrumental in blocking the mullahs' bid to turn Iraq into a client state, prompting 5.2 millions Iraqis as well as 3 million Iraqi Shia, to pledge support for the Resistance and condemn Iranian interference in their country. The group has provided the coalition with intelligence on Iranian arms transfers fuelling the insurgency, and with its tolerant interpretation of Islam has rallied Iraqis of all ethnic and religious backgrounds to stand against Tehran's expansionist policies in their country. The PMOI was blacklisted a decade ago by the Clinton administration as a goodwill gesture to Tehran. The copycat ban was applied in the United Kingdom and the European Union, but the U.K.'s Court of Appeal and the European Court of Justice annulled both designations, describing them as "perverse" and "unlawful." Now Iran is using its proxies in the Iraqi government to try to get its hands on the group. Under pressure from Tehran, the Iraqi Council of Ministers on June 17 ordered the expulsion of all PMOI members from Iraq in breach of the "principle of non-refoulement." It has since sought the handover of Ashraf City from the protection of the coalition. PMOI members are recognized as "Protected Persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and responsibility for ensuring that protection rests with U.S. forces. Handing over that job to Iran's proxies risks murderous consequences — and allows the regime to step up pressure on Baghdad to crack down on the group. It would also constitute a breach on international law which stipulates that protected persons cannot be handed over to a power which would seek to violate their rights, as the Iraqi government has threatened. Any hostile action towards the PMOI in Ashraf may convince many Iraqis that the U.S. is impotent to prevent Iranian domination of Iraq and would also run risk of tipping the balance of power in Iraq mightily in favor of the mullahs resulting in extensive repercussions for coalition troops. To avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, and in the interest of long-term security in Iraq, the Bush administration and its successor should make a firm commitment to continued protection of Camp Ashraf and its residents

The letter to editor, written by Mrs. Baraie, was a very good article that briefly explained the goals and aims of the People Mojahedin Organization of Iran, in one hand, and in the other hand revealed the intention of the Mr. Parsi Tehran friendly article. Unlike the article of Mr. Parsi, the PMOI is a popular movement among Iranian, and that is the main reason the ruling dictators are very afraid of them and doing their out most to disperse the Ashraf City. But why Trita Parsi is so afraid of an unpopular and non democratic organization, which does not have any support among Iranian, I have not been able to figure out. I could not find any difference between Trita Parsi's article and the allegation of MIOS (Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security) on PMOI. The Iranian People and their resistance are strongly determined to replace the current theocratic regime with a secular and democratic one which believes in separation of Church and State. Mr. Parsi might have allergy to the democratic change in Iran, but who cares?

The breaking up of the PMOI/MeK has been the ayatollahs’ wishful thinking for the past three decades. And they, and all their surrogates of different stripes, have miserably failed and will continue to fail to fulfill this wish. The PMOI is a nationalist pro-democracy secular movement which has deep roots within every strata of Iran's society, given its unyielding anti-dictatorial campaign against autocratic regime of shah and the barbaric theocracy of the ayatollahs for the past 44 years. It will not be “broken apart” no matter how many lies and mullah-friendly statements Trita Parsi makes and how much he would wish it. The good news is that in many ways, Parsi’s venomous diatribe, regurgitating mullahs’ three-decade long propaganda against the PMOI and its members in Camp Ashraf, shed his fake pretenses and reveal his repulsive pro-mullahs thinking. True; with his invective against the PMOI he scored big with ayatollahs’ Ministry of Intelligence. But he also exposed himself for what he really is; just another die-hard PMOI detractor promoting the ayatollahs’ tyrannical rule. That's why the discredited Iranian-American outfit he runs is in effect viewed by pro-democracy Iranian diaspora in US as both anti-Iranian and anti-American.

I salute Mrs. Braie for so bravely stepping forward in exposing Parsi and in defending the right of the people of Iran for their struggle against the disgraceful ruling theocracy in Iran. In addition to what Mrs. Braie has mentioned, I feel compelled to add that one extremely appalling claim by Parsi in his article was the one liner that the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th was celebrated by Mojahedin. I too have family and friends in camp Ashraf and can and will, if ever need be, testify in any court of law to the contrary of this shameless accusation that is designed to abuse the sensitivity of Americans and Iranians on the sickening terrorist acts of 9/11. For the record, it was in fact the official lectures of Ayatollahs and their government mouth pieces in Tehran that attributed the terror of September 11th to God’s punishment for the U.S. and its world aggression.

Excellent article! Couldn't agree with you more. Parsi did obviously expose his true nature by repeating the Mullah's propaganda against the Iranian opposition. He has no place in the minds of any Iranians, except for the mullahs.

Dear Editor, My family and I (in the US and in Iran) share the sentiments and concerns that Mrs. Braie has expressed. Furthermore, I must point out that Mr. Trita Parsi is a lobbyist of the Iranian regime. As such he shares the same agenda and plans that the Iranian regime ("the most active sponsor of international terrorism", as the US State Department calls is) has and thus his comments should only be evaluated in the context of the Iranian regime interests. Professor Seena

Tarita Parsi is being exposed more and more everyday. His true face, a lobyyiest for Mullah's regime is coming out these days. He started by telling Iranian here in the US that he is non-political and his mission in not promoting human rights. Now we know what he meant. He wants to promot clerical regime agenda here in the US. Thank you Ms. Robab Baraei by exposing him even further. Iranian are proud to support people in Camp Ashraf here in the US.

I agree Ms. Braie's article. Trita Parsi is the voice of the Iranian mullahs in Washington DC, I would like to see him in a Federal prison with his old boss Congressman Bob Ney!

Thanks for pointing to the fact that Ashraf residents are indeed patriotic Iranians, many of whom victims of the Iranian regime; and not terrorists and victims of PMOI as Trita Parsi had suggested. Mr. Parsi can do the bidding of the Iranian regime as much as he wants, but the truth about him has come out. I hope these comments don't disappear as the comments on Parsi's article did.

Dear Mrs Baraei Thank you for your good article. Terita parsi is the well-known lobbyist for Iranian regime and defender of Iran's nuclear activities. He represent the Mullah's regime in the United State. MEK and Mojahedin in Ashraf City are the main opposition against the Mullahs regime. They are the only way to free Iran from the Mullahs without causing war.God Bless them.

Ms. Baraei,, Thank you for your excellent article. But more than anything thank you for honesty of making your position and motives very clear. The lack of honesty has infested the Iranian political arena. Case in point: Trita Parsi. He has repeatedly said that NIAC is a non political organization that is solely focused on empowering Iranian Americans in the US. However, almost all of their activities are focused on helping Iranian regime by easing the West’s pressure on them. NIAC members (rank and file) have seen through this. Their recent meetings have all ended up in shouting matches on this issue. According to their own admissions, NIAC has lost credibility both among Iranian Americans and in the Congress. On the other hand, this makes it easier for Parsi and partners to come out of closet, take their gloves off and attack Iranian main opposition. This was not the first time. Over a span of 5 year, Parsi has written 27 anti MEK articles. In July he invited two agents of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry for a meeting in Congress. To avoid the objection of NIAC members, this meeting was even kept in secrete from their own members. The invitation was sent by Parsi using his Johns Hopkins University e-mail address (in clear violation of JHU policies). Unfortunately for Parsi and his Iranian partners, the US Homeland Security became abreast of this and blocked the Iranian agents entering the country. _____________________________________ From: Trita Parsi [mailto:tparsi@jhu.edu] Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:16 PM To: Trita Parsi Subject: A U.S.-Iran Proxy War? The Case of the Mujahedin Khalq Date: Thursday, July 30, 2008 Time:11:30-1:00 PM ROOM: HC-8, Capitol Building NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO A POLICY BRIEFING LUNCHEON A U.S.-Iran Proxy War? The Case of the Mujahedin Khalq Speakers: Massoud Khodabandeh, Founder of Iran Interlink Anne Singleton, Author of Saddam’s Private Army Is the United States involved in a proxy war against Iran using a terrorist organizations? Despite the Mujahedin Khalq’s (MKO/MEK) inclusion on the United States Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, press reports indicate that the U.S. is supporting the group to carry out attacks against Iran in an attempt to destabilize the Iranian government. With 3,800 MEK fighters in U.S. controlled territory in Iraq, the State Department will announce the results of its five year review of the group and its FTO status in October 2008. Join us on July 30th as we look at the MEK's role in U.S.-Iran policy and examine whether they are an asset or burden to the United States. Former MEK members, Massoud Khodabandeh and Anne Singleton, will share their insights on the group’s inner workings and capabilities. Open to Members and Staff Only RSVP by July 29 COB to Sara Shokravi at rsvp@niacouncil.org or (202) 386-6324

Robab Baraei, Your article is a perfect example how the MEK give a false color to reality! Everybody who eyes you is an agent of the "Iranian Ministry of Intelligence"... your arguments are as far from reality as Ahmadinejad from humanity... The MEK is a dangerous cult who supresses his members and is everything but not a democratic alternative to the terror-regime in Teheran.

Trita Parsi is a well known lobbyist for Ayatollahs. Visit his own website: http://www.tritaparsi.com/publications.htm You will notice that under his "Academic Papers", there is a paper listed named: Iranian-Americans-- the bridge between two nations, Dapia Conference, 1999. (52kb) But it is only the title and you can not click on it to see the paper. This is the paper in which he and his friend Dr. Namazi (Another well known lobbyist for the Ayatollahs) talk about how they want to start a lobby in DC to counter activities of the Iranian opposition groups, specially MEK (page 7). Parsi has removed this document from his web site, but if you search for it on the net, you can find it in links like this: http://www.geocities.com/tritaparsi/iranamericans.PDF It is too late for Parsi to hide his real motives for his articles and activities.