Maryam Rajavi meets with Albanian politicians

“The MEK organization already has at least one current terrorist training camp in Albania now operational,” he said, adding, “This fact poses grave risk to Albania, the Balkans and the Middle East.”

Here’s the full transcript of the interview:

What’s your take on the activities of the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) in Albania?

Joachim Hagopian: With Marxist and radical terrorist roots, watch out. Though MEK publicly renounced violence in order to remove itself from the international terrorist organization list, its mission accomplished to build a terrorist training camp in Albania exposes its true intentions to foment future violence and terrorism. The 2013 decision by former President Barack Obama with UNHCR (the UN refugee organization) to cut a deal with the Albanian government (after Romania turned him down) to allow remaining MEK “dissidents” in Iran to safely relocate to Albania was simply a vehicle for spreading abroad seeds of anti-Tehran discontent and subversion against the current Iran government. That 2013 deal provided a welcomed foothold for MEK to set up its operations base in the Balkan region. A contingent to that agreement never implemented was a de-radicalization program requiring all MEK members to be rehabilitated back into society (many of whom voluntarily served as ISIS terrorists). Subsequently neither the Albanian government nor the UN has held MEK accountable for its blatant noncompliance. Moreover, the MEK has further been allowed to persecute and harass former MEK members in Albania as foreign refugees. The MEK has been permitted to violate their human rights, coldly cutting off all financial assistance and given no means to work and earn a living in their host nation as overt coercive punishment for daring to leave the terrorist organization.

Make no mistake, the MEK has always ruthlessly maintained its transparent agenda bent on one day seizing government control and power in Tehran, attempting to achieve its mission by any means necessary, including through terrorism and violent overthrow. And to do that, the MEK organization already has at least one current terrorist training camp in Albania now operational. This fact poses grave risk to Albania, the Balkans and the Middle East. Another relevant fact is MEK was listed for 15 years as a known terrorist group having a record of killing Americans and torturing its own members. But in keeping with the Bush-Cheney neocons’ illegal grand strategy of regime change in 7 sovereign nations within five years made public by retired General Wesley Clark, in 2011 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the campaign to remove MEK as a terrorist organization and instead embrace MEK’s lobbying efforts to support it as a most useful means to achieving regime change in Iran, not unlike she and her boss Obama created ISIS as their best chance of removing Assad from power in Syria.

Since MEK was unsuccessful in generating any actual popular support within the population of Iran, to survive, it has desperately and opportunistically sought alliances with the likes of U.S. Empire, Israel and Saudi Arabia, all common enemies of Iran. Therefore, MEK has aggressively courted and been co-opted as a destabilizing Western tool designed to spread unrest with the specific ultimate goal of regime change in Iran.

With Muslims comprising nearly 60% of the Albanian population per the 2011 census, 65% of all Albanian Muslims are non-denominational. That said, the presence of MEK carries the potential risk of arousing sectarian discord amongst the various Albanian Muslims.

Clearly with the New World Order’s globalist, “bad-will” ambassador, U.S. Senator John McCain’s visit last year paying homage to Maryam Rajavi, the wife of the late MEK leader currently heading the MEK, McCain’s true agenda remains very clear - regime change in Tehran promoting and using MEK as a viable means of bringing it about. In the same way he has fraternized with the terrorist enemy camp of ISIS, secretly nurturing and supporting the world’s largest terrorist organization as a proxy war ally in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, McCain fully supports and endorses MEK as a proxy terrorist weapon against Iran. The globalist objective is to defeat every nation and power on this earth that dares to resist New World Order totalitarianism. As an independent emerging Middle Eastern power to be reckoned with, Iran has long been a thorn in the side of both the Greater Israel Project and U.S. Empire imperialism.

How would the group’s presence in Albania affect the country and the Balkan region?

Joachim Hagopian: As just alluded above, it is a divisive element within Islam carrying a high risk of polarizing Muslim unity in Albania, the Balkan region and beyond. As a tool of Western imperialism, MEK is bad for the Balkans, especially since the organization still promotes violence and terrorism. Since it is currently training terrorists at a funded training camp inside Albania, its objective to potentially export violence to the Balkan region as well as the Middle East is more than self-evident.

Who do you think would benefit from the group’s presence in the Balkans?

Joachim Hagopian: Clearly imperialistic Western interests are investing in MEK as a destabilizing tool for U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia and the entire [Persian] Gulf States alliance. The ultimate aim of both Trump and Netanyahu is to make independent Iran just another Empire puppet state for the New World Order. And rival Saudi Arabia would secure its continued hold as the strongest Muslim nation in the Middle East. Again, it’s the same three culprits that would most benefit by MEK’s growing presence and strength in the Balkans.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a policy of regime change toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. Does this involve the MEK?

Joachim Hagopian: Of course outside vested interests in the Iran protests and Trump’s call for regime change in Tehran have everything to do with MEK. Both Trump and even his main media adversaries - the largest mainstream outlets in the U.S. - CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post - were all having a field day recently broadcasting the Iran protests, distortedly inflating Iranian citizen discontent to be far greater and widespread than it likely is. All the so-called experts and pundits from the imperialistic think tanks would have us all believing an enormous segment of the Iran population is so fed up with the oppressive regime, upset over its purported sexism against women, out of control corruption, spiraling unemployment rate, especially amongst younger Iranians, that a national revolution demanding democracy is but a heartbeat away. Always the humanitarian spin deceptively underpins all U.S. Empire aggressions in this world.

MSM is pushing the false Western narrative that Tehran’s so-called backing of foreign entities like the Palestinians (against genocidal apartheid Israel), both Assad in Syria and Iraqi security forces (against ISIS terrorists), Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthis (against ISIS/al Qaeda/Saudi genocidal crimes), have looted the Iranian people dry of their long overdue wealth. As the Zionist tool, Trump and his administration even make the boldface lie claiming Iran is the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism when historically it’s always been the U.S. and its usual suspect allies Israel and Saudi Arabia. Clearly the Western propaganda machine is attempting to promote an austere false picture where the religious oppression of the Iran government has become unacceptably severe and increasingly out of touch with its suffering citizens longing for the freedom never delivered by the Islamic Revolution. Also Western media is hyping the notion that Iran’s citizens have been gravely let down and disappointed that their nation’s anticipated economic boost with the nuclear deal lifting of sanctions never really happened, and that their stagnant economy, rising unemployment, food and fuel costs are driving the protests for a regime change. The fact that Trump is busily applying pressure for more economic sanctions against Iran hardly gets mentioned. Yet in contrast, the Western media ensures that Iran protesters calling for “death to the dictator” (almost as if staged for cameras) is loudly heard around the world.

Additionally, Western media has enthusiastically posted multiple photos that are somewhat misleading. As an example, the MEK protesters in Paris depicted in news accounts is aimed at providing evidence of a global solidarity supporting the Iranian people when it belies the fact that MEK is not in support of the Iranian people protesting rising costs but only gaining power in a country where MEK has proven only to be an unwelcome entity by the Iran people themselves.

All of this slanted Western propaganda hype of Iran protests has played like music to eager MEK ears. With renewed hopes, the MEK organization wants to be the immediate benefactor of perceived Tehran instability so that its funding coffers and political support from Western powers and interests can increasingly offer a chance to overthrow the current Tehran government. But undoubtedly much to the chagrin of both MEK and the West, the so-called nationwide protests demanding regime change that flared up a month ago actually never quite took hold, petering out as quickly as it sprang up. Moreover, MEK’s active efforts to ignite nationwide protests, major violence and national tumult has been both detected and thwarted.

In recent years, the group has held an increasing number of events, backed by the Saudis and Israelis. What’s your analysis about the two countries’ support for the group?

Joachim Hagopian: Iran as a nation has long been the common enemy of the Saudis and Israelis who with U.S. Empire have historically supported al Qaeda and ISIS terrorism. They see MEK as just another proxy war terrorist ally that can be used to foment domestic unrest and potential revolution in Iran. Because Israel views Iran as its biggest threat and obstacle to its Greater Israel Project, posing as its primary impediment to both expansion of Israel’s borders and Israel as the dominant regional power, the Jewish State will readily continue to utilize MEK as an allied resource for plotting subversion and insurrection within Iran. And in Saudi Arabia’s quest for regional dominance as well as Islam’s most prominent Sunni leader in the Middle East, Iran is seen as its largest threat to its regional power and control as well. So relative obscure groups like MEK are artificially elevated to strategic importance in the covert regional geopolitics chessboard game.

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), announced that a number of people involved in the recent riots across Iran had been trained by the MEK. What could we get from this?

Joachim Hagopian: I would not be surprised if it turns out to be true. Iran intelligence apparently has uncovered an MEK terrorist cell in a western Iran province. A plot was recently exposed to create political upheaval later in 2018 but when the rural protests over rising costs occurred spontaneously, it’s been concluded that the MEK jumped the gun by attempting in vain to foment instability nationwide. For many decades going back to the MEK terrorist training camp Ashraf 1 in Iraq, established at Saddam’s invitation during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), and joined by its heavy hitting villainous trio, MEK would jump at the chance to covertly lead a massive revolt in Iran against the current government. And so would its funders - the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia.

We’ve seen what happened when Washington invested $5 billion of its vast resources through Hillary Clinton and Victoria Nuland’s NGOs aligned with neo-fascist Maiden in Ukraine to overthrow a democratically elected leader there four years ago. Right now the allies of the New World Order - the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia - are pouring their money into MEK coffers to pull off yet another coup against another democratically elected leader where 70% of the Iranian citizenry a mere 8 months ago exercised their right to reelect its incumbent leader by a landslide 56% to 38.5% margin and doubling his number of voters from 2013. Compared to Trump’s meager 26% of the U.S. voting population where near half of all Americans choose not to vote, that’s a mammoth sized citizen mandate giving President Hassan Rouhani every legitimate claim to not have outside interference plotting his overthrow. Yet with MEK and the likes of Trump and the West, that’s exactly what is clear for all of us to see.

The axis of evil’s mission for regime change failed yet again this time. But you can bet the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia will continue propping up its terrorist proxy ally in its malevolent obsession to destroy Iran and any other nation in this world that insists on exercising its sovereign right to independence.

Joachim Hagopian is a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer. He has written a manuscript based on his unique military experience entitled “Don’t Let The Bastards Getcha Down.” It examines and focuses on U.S. international relations, leadership and national security issues. After the military, Joachim earned a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a licensed therapist in the mental health field with abused youth and adolescents for more than a quarter century. In recent years he has focused on his writing, becoming an alternative media journalist. His blog site is at empireexposed.blogspot