Nima Sharif
President Obama, the lives of 3400 Iranian refugees in Camp Ashraf, members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), rests in your hands. They were wrongly designated as a terrorist organization during past administrations while they are truly a democratic resistance movement. The Iranian regime and the government of Iraq that we helped to power now consider United State’s terrorist designation of the MEK as a license to kill. Keeping MEK on the list is literally a green light for those governments to massacre all 3400 unarmed residents of Ashraf.
You may prefer not to be part of this and let someone else decide. You may be right to say that this problem is something you inherited from previous administrations and is not your doing. But it seems as the President of United States you cannot avoid the responsibility that comes with being in the oval office. You will have to decide and your decision will not only mean life or death for 3400 unarmed innocent civilians living in Camp Ashraf who trusted America, but will determine from now and until forever in history telling who you were and who’s side you were on.
It comes down to this Mr. President that you will: either side with the Iranian Ayatollahs who run a tyrannical, terrorist, and anti-American and anti-West regime who want to exterminate their main and only opposition by your hands. They want to make you a part to this. Then they will tell the world and specially the Arabs who are rising up for their freedom that, “look here is the American democracy that you think it is so great.” Knowing the mullahs, we definitely know that they will say that. Or you will decide to take a firm stance against the Ayatollahs who we perfectly know are developing nuclear weapons, meddling extensively in Iraq and sponsoring terrorists who have and are killing our sons and daughters in that country and in simple words are up to no good. Coming to realize that, then you will see that you should delist the MEK.
The Iranian lobby and those who promote regime’s agenda in Washington are trying to tell you and the State Department that MEK should not be delisted and to prove that they bring up some political reasoning and issues; ridicules reasons such as unpopularity issues or MEK being a cult. None of which, even if they were true, constitute a designation.
The Iranian lobby, posing deceitfully as green movement and the opposition that was heavily crushed by the regime during 2009 and 2010, is trying to deceive you into believing that delisting the MEK will help the Iranian regime clampdown on the green movement. That is preposterous. On the contrary, if there is still anything left of the green movement inside Iran, it will in fact receive a boost when and if the MEK is delisted as such move will certainly weaken regime’s ability to clampdown on dissent and that will include the green movement. That is beside the heavy dose of hope and self confidence that delisting will inject into Iranian youth and those who aspire freedom.
Most certainly removal of the MEK is nothing political. It is purely a judicial and humanitarian mater. The MEK does not meet and has never met the statutory criteria for a Foreign Terrorist Organization in the US. They are not a terrorist organization. They are struggling to establish a popular supported representative republic in Iran and value democracy, freedom, gender and ethnic equality and human rights. They value what we value Mr. President.
Nevertheless, with no doubts their removal from the FTO list is good politics.
Removal of the MEK from the FTO list will definitely divert an imminent danger of another devastating massacre such as the one that took place back in April in which 36 innocent civilians lost their lives. A massacre as such will definitely make Ashraf to be an election issue on the upcoming presidential elections as there have been enough warnings in advance coming from the Congress, media, humanitarian organizations worldwide, and well-known and responsible personalities in the US, UK, EU and from all around the world. All these calls come from friends and those who wish the best for America and the President Obama administration.
I hope that President Obama will take a firm stance for humanity and freedom and will announce the decision to remove the MEK from the US FTO list very soon.
