Leader of the Monafeghin Terrorist Group; an actor in Europe’s human rights claims

While internal crises within the Monafeghin Terrorist Group have sharply accelerated its disintegration and collapse, Western actors who claim to champion human rights are more greedily than ever exploiting the group’s futile struggle for survival, tailoring it into a source of financial and political gain for themselves.

Western countries that present themselves as defenders of human rights—despite having previously placed Monafeghin on their terror lists—have for years, driven by profit-seeking and the instrumentalization of these human rights violators to exert pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran, turned the corridors of parliaments and congresses and their hostile planning rooms into platforms for the group’s ranting and photo ops.

The appearance of Monafeghin leaders and members in the European Parliament has dealt a significant blow to the institution’s credibility. The Parliament’s human rights claims, in light of the repeated presence of a group for which credible documentation and reports of human rights violations exist, are a clear manifestation of Western double standards that cannot be denied.

At the same time, there are numerous reports of substantial fees and enormous sums paid by the Monafeghin to lobby European politicians and institutions—bloody payments whose outcomes are evident in European politicians’ appearances at Monafeghin bases in Albania and France, participation in the group’s events, and written statements and endorsements in its favor.

Numerous media outlets have produced and published investigative reports and analyses on this matter. For example, a 2011 report by The New York Times detailed how the Monafeghin paid large sums—while it was still designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department—to prominent American figures to speak at its conferences and rallies; these payments reportedly ranged from $10,000 to $50,000 or more per appearance.

Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton, Newt Gingrich, Howard Dean, and Tom Ridge are key figures frequently cited in these reports.

The Monafeghin’s efforts in the European Parliament have largely included expenses related to events, travel, luxury flights, accommodation, and public relations, involving figures such as Struan Stevenson, a former Scottish Member of the European Parliament.

The reality is that the Monafeghin spends significant sums on lobbying activities in Europe and the United States to focus its efforts on rehabilitating its image, promoting its own narrative of historical events and concepts, and attracting political support.

These documented facts raise a fundamental question: why do Western countries, despite being aware of the Monafeghin’s severe human rights violations, continue to roll out the red carpet and welcome the group? How do Members of the European Parliament who greet Monafeghin leaders in the Parliament’s corridors turn a blind eye to the group’s violent past, including the killing of civilians and human rights abuses in its camps in Iraq, France, and Albania?

The recent presence of the Monafeghin leader in the European Parliament on World Human Rights Day is a bitter irony created by Western human rights claimants. Using a platform deliberately provided by Europeans within the framework of anti-Iran policies, she spoke in line with the wishes of her sponsors and desperately attempted to cloak the Monafeghin’s collapsing and criminal structure in the garb of human rights, women’s rights, and similar slogans.

In recent years, the body responsible for shaping and implementing the European Union’s foreign policy has degraded itself to the level of a mouthpiece for a notorious group. The speech of the Monafeghin’s terrorist leader—whose record is stained with human rights violations, crimes, and betrayals—on Human Rights Day at the European Parliament underscores the blatant contradiction in Western human rights slogans and their double standards.

The presence of the leader of one of the most notorious terrorist groups—one that has openly admitted to the bloodshed of thousands of Iranian citizens—at the European Parliament on the occasion of World Human Rights Day has further eroded the credibility of the Parliament as one of the EU’s most important institutions.

Seyyed Mohammad Javad Hashemi-Nejad, Secretary General of the Habilian Foundation (Families of Terror Victims), told Mizan that the Monafeghin’s fear of being left behind by rival terrorist groups has driven it to ingratiate itself with certain European countries and the United States.

According to Hashemi-Nejad, buying current and former American and European politicians is a solution the Monafeghin has adopted to consolidate its position with these actors.

Amir-Reza Dehghani, the judge presiding over the Monafeghin case, also stated during the 49th court session—referring to Europeans inviting defendants in the case as speakers to European parliaments—that under international commitments undertaken by European countries to combat terrorism, these countries are not permitted to host individuals accused of terrorist acts—especially charges such as bombings, aircraft hijackings, and the torture of children and civilians—or to provide them with platforms for speeches.