Simorgh5555

You cannot come on Iranian.com and mention the words Maryam Rahavi and the ‘NCRI’ (that’s the Mujahedeen to the rest of us) without hearing a torrent of abuse aimed towards them and condemnation for their betrayal of receiving the hospitality of Saddam Hussein during the war with Iran in 1980.

Now mention the name of another organisation beginning with ‘N’, called the NIAC (that’s Trita Parsi’s abhorrent group of ragtag apologists of the IR) and then the responses range from admiration or ambivalence. There is only a small handful of users who actually recognise this shabby group and its unabashed support of the IR.

I liken this attitude to the Iranians who routinely hate being labelled ’Arab’ but universally support Palestinians against Israel. They are the same mob who condemn American imperialism and whip up a non-exhaustive list of catastrophic American policy from Hiroshima to the overthrow of Mossadeq but nevertheless still ‘love’ this ‘great country’ which has allegedly been the cause of its plight and forced them to exile.

These wretched soul never seem to learn. What is worse? The NCRI or NIAC? There has been numerous blogs and articles written about NIAC’s well known and documented support of the IR and I do not intend to fully explore them. I will give a summary of the charges against the IR based on NIAC’s defamation law suit against Hassan Dai , The Washington Times article ‘Exclusive: Iran advocacy group said to skirt lobby group’ written by Eli Lake and the defences given by Parsi in response to the charges. My overwhelming impression is that they are acting in concert with the IR on a range of issues and that they have done more damage to Iran than Rahavi’s NCRI organisation.

Judge for yourself:

Trita Parsi’s association with the IR

There is numerous emails which show that Trita Parsi has close contracts with high ranking members of the IR. One such correspondence relates to him and Mohammad Javad Zarrif intending to introduce him to members of Congress who have become disillusioned with George Bush’s policies and could be interested in reaching out to the IR. With such evidence in the public domain Parsi knew it would be absurd to deny he had close contact with the IR and said his intention was to broker peace between the government of Iran and the USA and avoid a catastrophic war.

Questions

• However there is no evidence in any of the correspondence Parsi expressing concerns over the Islamic Republic’s many human rights violations which he admits many members of his organisation have? Why does he not once press on Zarif to address the appalling and well documented incidents of rape, torture, execution of minors and arbitrary imprisonment? The email correspondence addresses Bush’s foreign policy and hostility towards Iranian students entering into the country but at no time does it appear that Parsi bring up the issue with Zarin or recommends that this should be a topic of an agenda for meetings with congressman. This is despite NIAC’s recent policy that human rights guarantee should be a part of any final agreement as a result of negotiations between the IR and the USA.
• Why is Trita Parsi, an American green card holder and not even a citizen of the USA doing meeting high profile members of the Islamic Republic and lobbying in their interest (whether intentionally or not)? Is he not aware that the IR is a state sponsor of terror according to the US state department?
• Some members of the NIAC such as Sorya Sepahpour Ulrich are unashamed about that they voted for and admire Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the prime human rights abuser since coming into office.

NIAC as an ‘educational group’ and not a lobbying group to register as a non-pfofit organisation and avoid declaring lobbying activities

This has to be the biggest joke! What exactly do they do in terms of education? What the hell is Parsi doing speaking to congressmen and arranging meetings with members of the IR? Exactly what is NIAC doing in terms of ‘education’? When you talk about ‘educational’ The Iranian Heritage Society immediately springs into mind or the ‘Magic of Persia’. I have not even found an Iranian flag or any information which advances my knowledge on the history of my country. The only thing it has done is lobby (to its credit) for the preservation of the Persepolis tablets but what about the cultural heritage in Iran such as Cyrus’s tomb in Pasargaad, Shapur’s Castle and other historical pre-Islamic sites being destroyed by the Islamic Republic’s wanton neglect.

NIAC policy on Human Rights and Rajav’s NCRI

The NIAC has of 2009 have released policy statements condemning Iran’s human rights violations coincidentally at the time when accusations against the NIAC for lobbying on behalf of the IR was being made. Trita Parsi puts this down to his concern of the post-election violence and that thiss is an issue of concern for his members.

Questions

• Was Trita Parsi born yesterday? Is the NIAC implying that the Islamic Republic reared its ugly head and developed a blood lust towards its own people only after the election? Why is it that since 2001 and prior to the post-election violence the NIAC did not take a strong position on human rights or condemn the atrocious human rights record of the IR and attack on civil liberties in the last 30 years?
• Observe the language used in NIAC’s policy statements on Human Rights. It says it condemns the human rights violation of the IR and that it stands up in ‘solidarity’ with the Iranian people but at the end of every statement it returns back to the issue of sanctions and implying that the reason why Iranians are being beaten , clubbed to death and systematically executed is because of American imposed sanctions and that it is sanctions and not the brutal nature of this regime which is the cause of deteriorating human rights condition.
• Ah, but notice that the concession that the NIAC has made and it supports ‘intelligent sanctions’ which target ‘human rights abusers’ Duh! The entire Regime IS a Human Rights Abuser from its Spiritual Leader down to its President and judiciary. What are ‘smart sanctions’ anyway? Who are the ‘Human Rights’ violators Mr Parsi? Can you give names? Please explain Mr Parsi. The NIAC has taken its members for idiots!
• For every policy statement condemning the IR it ends up with an inoffensive statement to the IR that human rights is best handled though negotiations without preconditions with the IR. Why treat the IR with kid gloves and not condemn the IR for the terrorist government that it is? Parsi has no qualms about calling Rajavi’s NCRI a ‘Terrorist’ organisation but uses diplomacy and tact in addressing the IR Terrorist Regime.
• Observe the selectiveness by which the NIAC reports human rights violations in Iran. Most of the time it fails to speak about specific incidents such as the recent brutal and inhumane attack on Camp Ashraf killing defenceless men and women by the Iraqi security forces but follows up with an Islamic Republic style propaganda effort by releasing an article by which an escapee from Camp Ashraf alleged human rights abuses by the NCRI. It has also condemned NCRI as a terrorist organisation many times but fails to use the same condemnation or the use of the word ‘Terrorist’ for the Islamic Republic even though by definition of the US state department it is .

Trita Parsi has no scruple in having direct contacts or arranging to meet a bona fide representative of a terrorist regime such as Mohammad Javad Zarrif but has the audacity to call Rajav’s NCRI a ‘Terrorist’ organisation. The hypocrisy is flabbergasting!

• The NIAC claims it has members from ‘all walk of life’ and from different sides of the political spectrum but feels threatened by the NCRI by exhibiting the same paranoia the Islamic Republic does. The behaviour of the NIAC is more revealing than they can possibly imagine
• There is no mention of ‘regime change’ only that its members are opposed to the policies of the IR and not the terrorist apparatus of the IR. Do all its members think the same way?
• Please judge for yourself and join me in condemning the NIAC for its insidious support of the regime which has done more damage to the aspirations of freedom seeking Iranians than Rajavi and her group has ever done.