MEK’s Alliance with Former Iraqi Dictator

Background

The Mojahedin-e Khalq organization (MeK) took its first public stance towards Iraq on April 7, 1980 after the Islamic Revolution. One of the MEK’s spokesmen condemned the Ba'athist regime's claims about the three islands in the Persian Gulf (i.e., Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs) and also accusing Iran of inciting opposition to the Iraqi government (Iran-Iraq War Studies Quarterly, No. 3, p. 42).

Also, before the commencement of the Iraq-Iran war, the organization took other similar positions regarding the Ba'athist regime. However, such positions were merely propaganda and aimed to divert public attention from the actual relationship of the MEK with the Ba'athist regime in Iraq because the documents at hand reveal the long-term and close relationship between the MeK and the Iraqi regime (Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization Arising & the End, vol. 3, p. 188).

The post-revolution relations between the MeK and Saddam's regime date back to the years before the Islamic Revolution. Prior to the revolution, the Iraqi regime strengthened its ties with the organization through providing them with a radio transmitter, Iraqi passports, accommodation, and a space where the organization’s members along with Palestinian forces were trained. Also, the positions of the leaders of the organization and the biographies of those killed by the Shah's regime in Iran were broadcast daily on Radio Baghdad. (Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization Arising & the End, vol. 3, p. 361).

There are documents of the MeK’s affiliation with Saddam even before Massoud Rajavi escaped from Iran and headed to Iraq. Existing evidence demonstrates that, from the very beginning, the Iraqi regime assigned the MeK to spy on Iran.

The French headquarters facilitating the MEK-Saddam relations

After Rajavi escaped to Paris in 1981, with the gathering of other members of MeK leadership in France, assassination teams were led and from there and the organization's political activities and propaganda expanded in Europe. In fact, although the MeK was based in France, its main supporter was the regime in Baghdad. Due to close relations with the West in those years, Saddam’s regime showed great interest in strengthening the ties between the MeK, Europe and the United States. The MeK was interested in such relations as well.

Flight of Destiny

After living in France for five years, Massoud Rajavi was transferred to Iraq in 1986. The organization has always said that, due to expulsion from France, it had no choice but to reside in Iraq. However, now that more than hundreds of hours of films and audio recordings of Iran-Iraq war negotiations in Baghdad are available, it can be easily proved the MKO had entered negotiations with Saddam Hussein from the very beginning of the war and perhaps even settled in Baghdad before the war. The MeK was paid several millions of dollars per month by Saddam in return for spying on Iran especially on what was happening on the war frontline and also for conducting acts of terrorism across Iranian cities.

Simultaneously, several meetings were held in Paris and Baghdad. The existing documents suggest that more than 7 sessions (about 20 hours) of negotiations on the details of Masoud Rajavi’s transfer to Iran were held between representatives of the MEK and Saddam’s Intelligence officers in Baghdad.

Becoming mercenaries of Saddam

Massoud Rajavi's departure for Iraq was in fact the end and defeat of one phase of MeK’s strategy, which was guerrilla armed struggle. Serving and helping Saddam in the war against Iran was in fact another strategy that the MEK pursued.

Presence in Iraq

After a series of ideological revolutions and absolute sovereignty over the organization, leader of the MeK, supposing that the destiny of Iran is tied to the war on the one hand and that the superpowers did not want Iran to win the war on the other, decided to fully and officially side with Saddam.

Intelligence-security links with Iraq

MeK’s cooperation with the Ba'athist regime in Iraq led to the creation of powerful intelligence-gathering centers in Iran. These centers provided the Iraqi intelligence service with valuable information on changes in Iran as well as the movements of the Islamic Republic forces. (Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization Arising & the End, vol. 3, p. 201).

Iran - Iraq war

During the eight years of the war, the MeK provided unparalleled services behind the scenes to Saddam's Ba'athist army such as wiretapping Iranian forces and military bases and providing the Ba'athist army with the latest updates.

Rajavi's former lawyer- Abdul Karim Lahiji- who now lives in France said, “In France, Rajavi and his supporters soon faced shortage of money. Saddam offered to support Rajavi and in return, he turned into the agent of the Iraqi regime.

Suppression of the Iraqi uprising against Saddam

After Saddam's military invasion of Kuwait and his defeat by the International Coalition Forces, thousands of Iraqis in the south and north of the country made tremendous effort to overthrow the regime. These uprisings led to the occupation of several southern provinces. However, after the Americans gave the green light, Saddam used its fighters and the MeK initiated large-scale military operations and together, they could suppress the uprisings. Throughout the suppression, the MEK fought with fresh vigor committing numerous war crimes in northern Iraq, killing dozens of Turkmen and Kurdish citizens in northern Iraq and destroying homes especially those in the city of Tuz Khurmatu.

International Documents on Saddam-MeK relationship

MeK’s crimes against Iraqi Kurds left Saddam standing
Black case website:

After the suppression of the Iraqi Kurd during the Persian Gulf War and the Kurdish and Shia insurgency to overthrow Saddam's dictatorship, the Rajavi cult executed a plan called “boycott and economic blockade of the Kurds”. The plan was finalized in April 1991 by the cult’s leadership and transferred to the members with full details.
The plan first explains the separating borders of Kurdish regions as follows: From South of Khanaqin and North of Jalawla up until the South of Kifri and Tuz Khurmatu until the Kirkuk three-way and Syrian border. The cult distributed this area among its members. In addition to this classic frontline, MeK set up some 100 armored and mechanized infantry units to control the side roads.

Feasibility Objectives:

A) Preventing people dressed in Kurdish clothes and Kurdish-speaking people from entering and leaving the center of Iraq;

B) Preventing importation of any food into the Kurdish area, even a single gram;

C) Preventing importation of any medicine to the Kurdish area, even a single pill.

In this regard, the cult set up a checkpoint and confiscated the property of the oppressed Kurds. I distinctly remember the cult seizing tens and hundreds of trucks carrying all kinds of food, medicine, etc. from the Iraqis. They then packed the stuff and sold in the Iraqi market at exorbitant prices. In fact, MeK with such background is the one who pretended supporting the Iraqi people and published lists of support by hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

Collaboration with Saddam

Baroness Emma Nicholson, a British politician who has been a life peer since 1997, said on February 4, 2004:

“I think that there can be no serious doubt that Saddam Hussein possessed and sought to develop weapons of mass destruction throughout the whole of the 1990s and the early years of the 21st century. Indeed, there is evidence that he was doing so in collaboration with foreign terrorist organizations. Newly unearthed extensive video evidence that I have received on my latest visit to the region shows collaboration between Saddam Hussein (on video) and a leader of an international terrorist organization. Masoud Rajavi, leader of the MeK, is shown with Saddam Hussein discussing various actions locally, domestically and internationally. They are shown plotting and money being given in payment for services rendered and in payment for services to be rendered, which are discussed very explicitly. The evidence clearly shows international terrorist organizational work between Saddam Hussein and outside organizations. Another set of videos shows collaboration between international terrorist organizations and the head of the Iraq secret police.”

Under the Wing of Saddam

Dutch Counter-Terrorism Association wrote on October 20, 2005:

Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi dictator, will face trial on Friday October 21. Saddam will stand trial on a number of charges including genocide of Shias, killing Kurds and political dissidents and will answer the judges’ questions.

Cooperation with some European and American allies and chemical weapons’ dealers could have only extended the life his dictatorial regime for a few days, but ultimately led to the destruction of much of his military and intelligence organization.

While in the minority in terms of popular and religious support for suppressing insurgents and his opponents, the former Iraqi dictator had a very powerful war machine and a powerful intelligence agency, which could take advantage of the power equations of all parties involved in the region to its advantage.
After Rajavi's official arrival in Iraq, despite opposition from a wide range of the National Council of Resistance, especially Dr. Bani Sadr, MeK, led by Masoud Rajavi, entered the Iraqi war equations in a short period of time and openly formed Saddam's private army to suppress Shias, Kurds and other political dissidents. In this regard, we want Masoud Rajavi to be tried alongside Saddam Hussein as a war criminal.

Links with Saddam

Cryptome published a document on Saddam’s link with MeK from the US District Court for the District of Columbia dated August 29, 2003:

43. Following its defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq’s approach to dealing with the United States was to resort to terrorism. To achieve its goals, Iraq associated with various terrorist groups. One was the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MeK), that had ties to Ramzi Yousef, who had entered New York in 1992 using an Iraqi passport, and was later convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The MEK reportedly also assisted Osama Bin Laden. The MEK reportedly assisted Osama Bin Laden’s escape to Eastern Iran after the attacks of September 2001 ,11. Eastern Iran is controlled by a Sunni Muslim enclave that was under heavy Iraqi influence.

130. Those locations were the Nahrawan camp at the old Diyala Bridge, southeast of Baghdad and Tell Aswad Ridhwaniya, northwest of Baghdad. The Mukhabarat (Iraqi Intelligence Agency) runs the training facilities at both locations. Relocation occurred due to publicity surrounding Salman Pak, where kamikaze, explosives, and assassination training included “foreigners” said to be Palestinians and Iranians from the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). Iraq supports the anti-Iranian terrorist group, MEK, to which Ramzi Yousef was connected due to his Iraqi background. Bin Laden also reportedly is being sheltered by the Iranian guerilla fighters of the MEK in the eastern portion of Iran. He and close associates reportedly crossed into Iran using smuggling routes with the help of the MEK, and took refuge in caves said to be more extensive and sophisticated than those of the Tora Bora mountain chain in Afghanistan. The MEK, who are fighting a war against the Shiite government of Tehran, are minority Sunnis. They maintain good relations with certain Afghan and Pakistani tribes. When the Iranian government cracks down on the group, MEK members take refuge in the Pakistani or Afghani tribal areas.

Trained by Saddam

Baroness Nicholson said on September 24, 2002:

Our view at the time—and it continues to be our view—was that Iraq certainly posed a threat to regional stability and world security. I remind the House that under UN resolutions from the beginning of the last decade Saddam Hussein has been forbidden to set up training camps for terrorists. Yet we know that he has been training the MKO terrorists. We have all the evidence that we require that he has not stopped this particular action. I would guess that he has been training other terrorists too. But we have the knowledge that he has not stopped.

Armed by Saddam

Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a report on the MeK on July 28, 2014:

Saddam armed the MEK near the end of the Iran conflict "with heavy military equipment and deployed thousands of MEK fighters in suicidal, mass wave attacks against Iranian forces." Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Saddam was the MEK’s primary financier, experts say. But in recent years, the group claims to rely on the largesse of wealthy Iranian expatriates in the United States and Europe, and others opposed the clerical regime in Tehran.
Death Squads of Saddam

Ben Wallace, a British politician, said December 4, 2009:

At home, we are faced with pressure from some to de-proscribe the terrorist group the Mujahedin-e-Khalq—or the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran. The PMOI group has been active in terrorism since the 1970s, both inside and outside Iran. We should not forget that in the 1970s, it killed a number of US citizens and supported the storming of the embassy in Tehran. As well as acting as Saddam’s death squads inside and outside Iraq, the PMOI has consistently waged attacks on the Iranian Government. As recently as January this year, the US Department of State reconfirmed the MEK as being a foreign terrorist organization. I know that the UK Government support that listing and I implore them to keep the group proscribed, whatever it takes.

Supporting Saddam in Iran-Iraq war

Peter Hain, a British politician, said on July 12, 2000:

Some of my hon. Friends may not be aware that NCRI is dominated by the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq organization, the MKO, which claims responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks in Iran. The NCRI and the MKO are on the USA State Department’s proscribed list of terrorist organizations. We do not recognize either of them, neither did the Opposition when they were in government. The MKO is despised by most Iranians--it is important that hon. Members understand that--as it supported Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war.

Assisting Saddam in suppressing opposition

In his remarks at On-the-Record Briefing on the Release of the Annual Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002 report on April 30, 2003, Ambassador Cofer Black, US Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said MKO assisted the Saddam Hussein regime in suppressing opposition within Iraq, and performed internal security for the Iraqi regime.
QUESTION: What does the State Department think about the ceasefire that was signed between the MEK and the U.S., U.S. CENTCOM, in Iraq?
Since this group is still on the terrorist list, as I understand it, Americans are not supposed to deal with them at all. And that’s always been kind of a -- there is a problem in Washington, D.C., because they keep an office open here.

So can you tell me how this squares with the MEK’s terrorist status?

AMBASSADOR BLACK: Sure, I’ll be happy to, happy to try. The Secretary has recommended that the President determine that the laws that apply to countries that support terrorism no longer apply to Iraq. The President’s determination to provide greater flexibility in permitting certain types of trade with and assistance to Iraq; thus, we can treat Iraq like any other country not on the terrorist list. I think it’s important to underscore some facts here. MEK is designated by the U.S. Government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. This organization mixes Islam and Marxism in their battle to establish what they claim would be a secular state in Iran.

Until the recent war in Iraq, they were allied with the government of Saddam Hussein and received most of their support from this regime. They have assisted the Hussein regime in suppressing opposition within Iraq, and performed internal security for the Iraqi regime. MEK, or as some recently referred to as the People’s Mujahedin, has also attacked and killed Americans.

The MEK and its many aliases, including the political NCRI, are designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The United States Government does not negotiate with terrorists. MEK’s opposition to the Iranian Government does not change the fact that they are a terrorist organization. We understand the agreement on the ground in the field is a prelude to the group’s surrender. Commanders make tactical decisions to end conflict with enemy combatants successfully.

There’s a lot of activity in various areas underway in Iraq -- of which this is one -- I would refer you to CENTCOM and their briefers to get better insight to the decision-making and the actions of our commanders, coalition commanders on the ground.

This is a pretty special group. They are a Foreign Terrorist Organization. They are not well liked in Iraq; they could not be put with the general prisoner population. They are following the orders of the coalition commanders, and their situation will be addressed in the coming days and weeks.

Planning to assassinate George H. W. Bush

The American author James M. Lutz revealed, in his book, Global Terrorism, the Iraq’s terrorist activities, its cooperation with MeK and their failed terror attempt on the life of former President George H. W. Bush:

In the war with Iran, Iraq supported dissident groups in that country, particularly the leftist Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO). This group had fought to overthrow the Shah in conjunction with other groups, including the supporters of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

The MKO resorted to terrorist attacks against the new Islamic Republic, scoring some spectacular successes. The new Iranian regime, however, was able to defeat this campaign and eliminate many of the members (R. Anderson 1997). Iraq undertook to support the MKO, primarily as a means of weakening Iran, a country with which Iraq had a number of grievances (Rathmell 1997b). During the long war with Iran, the MKO cooperated with Iraq in the hope of establishing itself in power in Iran. When Iran and Iraq agreed to end their war on the basis of the boundaries before the Iraqi invasion, Saddam Hussein abandoned the MKO to its fate, one of the clearest examples of a government only using a dissident group in another country as long as it proved useful to foreign policy goals. Iraq also equipped, supplied, and trained the National Liberation Army (NLA), a group made up of Iranian dissidents that fought alongside Iraqi army units during the long war. These dissidents, like the MKO, were seeking to establish a leftist, non-Islamic government in Iran.

The most daring plan was an effort (that was discovered in time) to assassinate former President George Bush with the help of MKO operatives in 1993 (Mylroie 2000: 114).

Apparently, Saddam Hussein was seeking revenge for US attempts to kill him with Smart bombs during the war to liberate Kuwait (Richelson 2002: 252).

Acting as Saddam Hussein’s puppet

In another piece on Iran-US relations published by Cryptome on April 29, 2010, MeK was described as a terrorist organization backed by Saddam since 1986.

After the fall of Baghdad, the U.S. military had disarmed the MEK's thousands of fighters and taken custody of the group's heavy military equipment, more than two thousand tanks, artillery pieces, armored personnel carriers, and other vehicles provided by Saddam Hussein. But the Bush administration was divided over what to do with the group next.
After all, the MEK had been a puppet of Saddam Hussein, conducting assassinations and sabotage operations inside Iran from its sanctuary in Iraq. The MEK was officially listed as a foreign terrorist group by the State Department; back in the 1970s, the group had killed several Americans living in Iran, including CIA officers based there during the shah's regime.
The MEK's political arm, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, understands how to gain attention in the West, particularly after watching the prewar success of the Iraqi National Congress, the Iraqi exile group headed by Ahmed Chalabi. Like Chalabi's group, the Iranian exiles have used the American press to issue claims about Iran's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs in order to build the case for a tougher U.S. policy toward Tehran.

Perpetrating acts of treason during Iran-Iraq war

A report by the Office of the United States Director of Central Intelligence dated June 23, 1988, reveals a part of MKO’s high treasonous acts against the Iranian nation during the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

“The Mujahedin-e Khalq (People’s Mujahedin) is an anti-Khomeini, anti-western group that advocates dismantling the revolutionary regime and replacing it with a Marxist-based program of Islamic socialism. It formed the National Liberation Army (NLA) a year ago and has its headquarters, training facilities, base camps, and clandestine radio stations in Iraq.
It claims 15000 fighters but probably has some 3000-6000 equipped with small arms and some captured Iranian tanks and artillery supplied by Iraq. The group was initially organized as a guerrilla force and probably still is not capable of more than hit-and-run attacks of infiltration operations without substantial Iraqi support.

Its exploits are highly exaggerated in print and film by the Mujahedin-e Khalq’s aggressive propaganda offices in Europe and the US.

IRAN-IRAQ: The Capture of Mehran

Iraqi forces were indispensable in the successful attack the National Liberation Army-- the combat arm of the dissident Iranian Mujahedin-e Khalq -- made on Mehran Sunday... Iraqi aircraft, armor, and artillery units strongly supported the dissidents, and the advance of Iraqi tanks almost certainly forced the Iranian withdrawal.

Comment: The victory, though minor, is another setback for Tehran and means problems for the already stretched Iranian ground forces. Rather than risk facing an Iranian counterattack, the national Liberation Army probably will withdraw from the city it captured. Baghdad is likely to continue helping the dissidents, who survive primarily on Iraqi support and on publicity from their exaggerated claims of military success. Their association with Iraqi probably will continue to alienate most Iranians and impede expansion of their limited network of sympathizers in Iranian cities.”