Islamist, Marxist, Terrorist: France reaches out to Iran

Art lovers know Auver-sur-Oise, north of Paris, as the backdrop of Van Gogh's most famous paintings. The French anti-terrorist police, however, see it as the nerve center of the Iranian Mujahedin Khalq -- or "People's Combatants" -- an Islamic-Marxist sect. Last week, the picturesque village was encircled by troops backed by helicopter gunships. In scenes out of a war movie, special forces raided 40 houses and rounded up 150 people. "The group was creating a terrorist base north of Paris," said Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the judge in charge of counterterrorism. Among those arrested was Maryam Rajavi, whose ex-husband, Massoud Rajavi, is the sect's "Supreme Guide." (Mrs. Rajavi is regarded by the sect as "President of the Republic of Iran," although she never won an election and has not set foot in Iran since she fled into exile in 1981.)

Better known by its acronym, MEK, the group has been trying to topple the Iranian regime since 1981. It was classified as a terrorist organization by President Clinton in 1997, part of his forlorn attempt at fence-mending with Tehran's mullahs. Last year the EU, yielding to U.S. pressure, put the MEK on its terrorist list.

The Auver-sur-Oise raids are the latest in a recent series of MEK setbacks. U.S. forces in Iraq captured 20 bases used by the MEK for operations against Iran, and more than 5,000 MEK guerillas were placed in "protective custody." Coalition forces also captured 100 tanks and 80 pieces of long-range artillery.

Now the MEK has lost its oldest sanctuary, France. Rajavi fled Tehran for Paris in 1981 by hijacking an Iranian aircraft. Among those with him was Abol-Hassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of the Islamic Republic who had just broken with Ayatollah Khomeini. Instead of arresting Rajavi and Bani-Sadr as hijackers, the French rolled out the red carpet. Claude Cheysson, then foreign minister, persuaded them to work with Iraq -- then at war against Iran -- to topple Khomeini. At a meeting arranged by Mr. Cheysson, Rajavi and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz signed a deal in which the MEK would receive cash and backing from Baghdad in exchange for help in the war against Iran. Between 1982 and 1985 Rajavi visited Baghdad six times and formed a relationship with Saddam Hussein, who helped the MEK set up camps in Iraq to train Iranians for sabotage. In 1988 Iran and Iraq agreed to a cease-fire, but Rajavi received the nod he needed from Saddam to continue a low-intensity war against Iran from Iraqi territory.

The MEK was founded in 1965 after a split in a Marxist-Leninist movement that had waged a guerrilla action in northern Iran. Its ideology emerged as a mix of Islam and Marx, with ingredients from the Iranian religious sociologist Ali Shariati, who advocated an "Islam without a clergy." The MEK, with KGB help, engaged in a campaign against the Shah, and sent cadres to Cuba, East Germany, South Yemen and Palestinian camps in Lebanon to train as guerrillas.

Vladimir Kuzishkin, a former KGB head in Tehran, reveals in his memoirs that the MEK became a major source of information on Iran for Moscow. It also helped Moscow in its efforts to thwart U.S. influence in Iran. In 1970 and 1971 the MEK murdered five American military technicians working with the Iranian army. An MEK team tried to kidnap U.S. Ambassador Douglas MacArthur III in Tehran. The attempt failed and their leader, Rajavi, was handed a death sentence, later commuted thanks to a plea to the Shah from Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny.

During Iran's 1978-79 turmoil the MEK played an active role in helping Khomeini to power. Its squads burned cinemas, restaurants, hotels and bookshops, and murdered policemen. After Khomeini seized the reins, it did all it could to radicalize the regime, supporting the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Yet within a year the MEK -- now led by Rajavi, who had come out of prison during the revolution -- decided that the Khomeinist regime was not revolutionary. It had to be toppled; so there ensued a terrorist operation against the regime, that still continues.

Support for the MEK remained a bipartisan policy of France until this week. In 1987, Jacques Chirac, then prime minister, signed an accord with the MEK granting them protection in exchange for a promise not to kill Iranian officials on French soil. Over the years the MEK organized an asylum seekers' racket -- 40,000 Iranians to Europe on bogus claims and in exchange for "voluntary contributions" of up to $10,000 each. Now a personality cult built around blind devotion to Rajavi, it has recruited its adepts mainly from relatives of people executed by the Khomeinist regime. Individuals are brainwashed, and not allowed to develop normal relationships outside the organization. They refuse to send their children to school, insisting that they be educated at home.

By 1988, the MEK had created a 10,000-strong fighting force in Iraq, which helped Saddam in his genocidal campaign against the Kurds, and also to crush the Iraqi Shiites in the south in 1991. Many Iraqi Kurds and Shiites want MEK leaders tried for crimes against humanity. But the MEK has support in Congress. More than 300 U.S. legislators from both parties have at one time or other signed petitions in support of the MEK, and MEK spokesmen say they have offered the sect's services to the U.S. in case of war with Iran. But there is little possibility of the U.S. accepting the services of an organization that it classifies as "terrorist." The French, however, seem to have additional reasons. With Saddam gone, France has no friends left in the Middle East and seems to have decided to score points with Tehran by dismantling the MEK. That may well encourage the mullahs to warm to France, especially as the prospect of a direct clash with the U.S. begins to take shape.

Mr. Taheri's "L'Irak: Le Dessous Des Cartes" was just published by Editions Complexe, Paris.

A slightly different version was published in the Gulf News (an English language publication from the U.A.E.):

Amir Taheri: France paints an abstract picture to please Iran
London \| \| 25/06/2003

Art lovers know Auver-sur-Oise, a village North of Paris, as the backdrop of Vincent Van Gogh's most famous paintings. The French anti-terrorist police, however, see the village as the nerve centre of the Mujahideen Khalq, an Islamic-Marxist sect of Iranian origin with branches in some 100 countries across the globe. Last Tuesday, the picturesque village was encircled by heavily armed French anti-terrorist troops, backed by helicopter gunships. In scenes out of a war movie, French special forces raided some 40 houses in the village and rounded up more than 150 members of the sect. Among those arrested was Maryam Rajavi, a 50-year-old former guerrilla fighter, whose ex-husband, Massoud Rajavi, is the "Supreme Guide" of the sect. "The group was creating a terrorist base north of Paris," said Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the French judge in charge of counter-terrorism. Terrorist organisation Better known by its acronym of MEK, the group has been trying to topple the Iranian regime since it broke with the revolutionaries there in 1981. The sect was classified as a terrorist organisation by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1997 as part of his forlorn attempt at fence-mending with the ruling mullahs of Tehran. Last year, the European Union, yielding to pressure from Washington, put the MEK on its list of terrorist groups. The Auver-sur-Oise raids were the latest in a series of setbacks that the MEK has suffered this year. In April, the U.S.-led forces that liberated Iraq captured 20 bases used by the MEK for operations against Iran. Now the MEK has lost its oldest sanctuary. France was the most consistent supporter of the MEK for almost a quarter of a century. Rajavi fled from Tehran to Paris in 1981 by hijacking an Iranian passenger aircraft. Among those he brought with him was Abol-Hassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of the Islamic Republic who had just broken with Ayatollah Khomeini. Claude Cheysson, then France's foreign minister, visited the two men and persuaded them to work with Iraq, then engaged in a war against Iran, to topple the Khomeini regime. At a meeting arranged by Cheysson, Rajavi and the then Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, signed a memorandum of understanding under which the MEK would receive financial and political support from Baghdad in exchange for helping the Iraqi war effort against Iran. Between 1982 and 1985 Rajavi visited Baghdad on six occasions and developed a personal relationship with Saddam Hussain. The Iraqi leader helped the group set up a number of camps inside Iraq to train Iranians for sabotage. The MEK was founded in 1965, and its ideology emerged as a mixture of Islam and Marxism. Throughout the 1960s and much of the 1970s, the MEK, with help from the KGB, engaged in a campaign against the Shah, and sent its supporters to Cuba, East Germany and South Yemen to train in guerrilla tactics. Many MEK guerrillas were also trained in Palestinian camps in Lebanon. MEK also helped Moscow to eliminate U.S. influence in Iran. In 1970 and 1971 MEK assassins murdered five American military technicians working with the Iranian armed forces. In Iran's 1978-79 revolutionary turmoil the MEK played an active role in helping Khomeini come to power. MEK hit squads burnt scores of cinemas, restaurants, hotels and bookshops. Within a year, however, the MEK decided that the Khomeinist regime was not revolutionary enough and had to be toppled. Support for the MEK remained a bipartisan policy of France until this week. In 1987, President Jaques Chirac, then prime minister, signed an accord with the MEK, granting it protection in exchange for a promise not to kill Iranian officials on French soil. The MEK, now a hermetic personality cult built around blind devotion to Rajavi, has recruited its adepts mainly from among the relatives of people executed by the Khomeinist regime. Individual members are subjected to months of intense brainwashing. They are not allowed to develop any normal relationship with anyone outside the organisation. In Iraq, by 1988 the MEK had created a fighting force of some 10,000. The force helped Saddam Hussain in his genocidal campaign against Kurds. Crimes against humanity In 1991 they also helped Saddam crush the Iraqi Shiites revolt in the south. Today, many Iraqi Kurds and Shiites want the MEK leaders to be tried on charges of crimes against humanity. The MEK also has a support base in the U.S. Congress. Even so, there is little possibility of the U.S. accepting the services of an organisation that it classifies as "terrorist". The French, however, seem to have additional reasons. With Saddam gone, France has no friends left in the Middle East and seems to have decided to score points with Tehran by dismantling the MEK. That may well encourage the mullahs to warm up to France, especially as the prospect of a direct clash with the U.S. begins to take shape. The writer, an Iranian author and journalist, is based in Europe. He can be contacted at amirtaheri@benadorassociates.com

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