Thread by @HeshmatAlavi

In response to @Najmeh_Tehran’s recent @FinancialTimes piece on @AmbJohnBolton & #Iran opposition PMOI/MEK, it should be noted that she is based in Tehran, and to remain there she most likely needs to please the regime with such “journalism,” or else be kicked out.
Thread
(1/15)

.@Najmeh_Tehran still believes #Iran’s regime can undergo “reform” from within (ft.com/content/47cb0d…) & describes ruthless torturers such as Ahmadinejad as “populists” (ft.com/content/ab75c7…).
She’s just another writer providing pretexts & saving face for Tehran.
(2/15)

She describes the #MEK as “banned.” This coalition is only “banned” in #Iran, which is quite a compliment considering Tehran’s atrocious human rights record & support for dictators & terrorists such as Assad, the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi militias & Yemen’s Houthis.
(3/15)

Surprisingly this “journalist” cites #Iran’s top security official Ali Shamkhani when accusing @AmbJohnBolton of receiving money from the #MEK. And she blows her cover further by citing the word “sect,” a known description of Iran’s propaganda machine against the MEK.
(4/15)

She correctly describes the MEK as “#Iran’s most organized” opposition group but lies in claiming they are “armed.” In 2003 the MEK arranged a voluntarily handover of their weapons to the US military in Iraq & have publicly renounced violence.
huffingtonpost.com/ali-safavi/rea…
(5/15)

She claims the MEK’s “affiliate organization, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has a powerful lobbying operation” in DC.
1. MEK is an NCRI member.
2. NCRI has no DC “lobbying operation.” The Iranian Diaspora is very active in garnering support for the NCRI & MEK
(6/15)

She then claims of citing “Iranians,” as if connecting to the people, but goes on to quote “Amir Mohebbian, a commentator close to #Iran’s conservative forces.”
And we’re supposed to believe this is not biased? Please.
(7/15)

She then speaks of how the Trump administration will possibly “further toughen its stance.” This is the entire issue. #Iran is terrified of the Obama appeasement years ending & a new administration raising the stakes against the regime.
(8/15)

The article’s goes on to repeat known anti-MEK allegations dictated by #Iran’s propaganda machine, all rejected by the U.S. judiciary when the MEK was delisted in 2012, after being blacklisted for political reasons.
(9/15)

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(10/15)

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And on the issue of “analysts” arguing the MEK “has little support inside #Iran today,” I wonder why the writer refuses to name these “analysts.” Interesting.
breitbart.com/big-government…
(11/15)

The writer says the MEK is “regarded as a terrorist organization” in #Iran, failing to clarify by WHOM. Only the regime, its agents & Tehran apologies do so. The Iranian people have no such vision, a matter the writer conveniently ignores.
(12/15)

“The Iranian people hate the MEK” is a claim raised by Daniella Pletka, who has a history of slander against the MEK & cites no source for her remarks.
Over 100,000 Iranians from across the globe gather annually in Paris in support of the MEK.

(13/15)

The writer claims of #Iran’s rulers being able to “rally Iranians behind the theocratic regime, analysts say.”
1. No name of analysts.
2. This again shows the writer’s biased approach towards Tehran.
3. Where has she been in the last months of #IranProtests? Seriously?
(14/15)

And when the writer cites Saeed Laylaz, a supposedly “reform-minded analyst” who uses the word “overthrow,” the purposes of the entire piece becomes even more clear: safeguarding the mullahs’ rule in Iran.
Low down dirty shame…
(15/15)

If you’re looking for other perspectives in this regard:
By Prof. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Executive Director of the School of Public & International Affairs – University of Baltimore
thehill.com/opinion/nation…

By Adam Ereli, former U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain & Deputy State Dept. Spokesperson
townhall.com/columnists/ada…

By Prof. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Executive Director of the School of Public & International Affairs – University of Baltimore
dailycaller.com/2018/04/01/bol…

By Cal Thomas
townhall.com/columnists/cal…

If the MEK, as the authors & the so-called experts claim, has no support inside #Iran, is inconsequential & is not part of the US strategic plan for Iran, why are the mullahs "spooked?" Why not let the MEK wither away in oblivion?
The article fails to resolve this contradiction
&

And she did not mention that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called his French counterpart to specifically ask Paris to hinder the NCRI/PMOI/MEK's efforts. Why would he spend so much political capital?
dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/arti…