Human Lives Human Rights: The Albanian police’s anti-terrorist unit raided the People’s Mojahedin Organization’s headquarters on June 20th, confiscating property and equipment and detaining 70 members of the organization’s forces. The operation was met with opposition and clashes from the People’s Mojahedin Organization members.
Meanwhile, a member of the People’s Mojahedin, Ali Mosheshari, succumbed to a heart attack due to tear gas inhalation. But his death is not as simple as it seems. There seem to be some secrets behind it.
As per some recent defectors from the group, the People’s Mojahedin organization have claimed that the organization has tightened its grip on the forces residing in the camp in recent months and this stemmed from the speculation of Iranian agents sneaking into the camp. Moreover, one of the defectors said that the man who died in this event was one of those under close surveillance. This point indicates a possible internal dispute.
It is worth mentioning that over the years, many people like Moshehari faced suspicion from the organization’s heads without any solid proof against them. An instance of the People’s Mojahedin organization’s alleged mistreatment of its members is the case of Maryam Sanjabi, a former member who was suspected of being a traitor in the mid-1970s. Her superiors subjected her to severe torture, interrogations, and even months of solitary confinement to confess her traitorship. Thus, like many others, Moshehari was always in danger of being eradicated physically by the organization’s heads after they doubted him and the event of June 20 gave the organization the opportunity to do so. On the other hand, the ideal situation should have been made in a crowd so that the origin of the assault on Mohshehari would be unclear and hidden in mystery, preparing the ground for the next steps of the organization’s plan. Because then, the organization could pin the blame of Moshehari’s elimination on the Islamic Republic of Iran or even the Albanian police’s anti-terrorist unit. The organization could benefit from this action in three ways simultaneously. First, Mujahedin e Khalq eliminated Mohshehari from their path, and in their mindset they disposed of a traitor. Second, in the crowded and chaotic situation, they could have eliminated him from their way and pinned the blame of murdering him on their foes and exonerated themselves. Third reason when the organization kills its own members, it has a sense of control and power over them. This also helps them gain support and approval from the public, as they appear to be taking strong action against those who go against their beliefs. In the case of the 20th June incident, the organization saw an opportunity to remove a member who they deemed a threat, and they took advantage of the situation to do so.
The tactic used by the Mujahedin-e Khalq is very popular and longstanding. They have used this trick whenever they deemed it necessary for the past four decades. For example, there are strong speculations now that Masoud Rajavi deliberately left behind Mousa Khiabani in Iran in order to not only physically eliminate him but also to remove the potential threat he posed to Masoud’s leadership and to portray Mousa as an innocent victim by blaming his murder on Iran’s security forces. This policy remains in effect till this day.
Also, the same tactic was implemented in the case of Ali Zarkash. After the death of Mousa, Zarkash was the second-in-command of the organization and Masoud felt threatened by his power from 1985 onwards. Therefore, during the Mersad operation, Zarkash was targeted and killed by Masoud’s forces from behind. Then, the Islamic Republic of Iran was blamed for his death by the organization.
In the 1970s, the People’s Mujahedin group was in Iraq. During that time, there were occasional reports of car accidents or explosions involving members of the group. The group’s leader, Rajavi, and his followers would often accuse Iran of being responsible for these incidents.
The internal purges of the People’s Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq involved the Baath regime’s intelligence apparatus, which had a lot of power and influence. This suggests that the accusations made by the group’s leadership about Iranian security forces being responsible for an attack may not be true. The fact that the organization repeatedly claimed responsibility for similar security attacks suggests that their claims may not be true. This is because repeating the same type of attack frequently can make it easier to discover the truth behind it.
Finally, it should be noted that the leaders of the MEK organization have a history of suspecting their own members of being traitors and have taken action to eliminate them when they see fit. This trend is likely to continue in the future. Additionally, the presence of the Mujahedin-e Khalq in Europe and NATO territory is becoming a security concern for European countries. The continued presence of the organization and its supporters in Europe poses a threat to the safety and well-being of European citizens. There have been instances of illegal and criminal behavior by the organization, such as the incident at Camp Tirana and the suspicious death of Ali Moshehari. Additionally, the organization’s supporters frequently hold demonstrations in various European cities under different pretexts.
