A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, September 21, 2012

The MEK is Delisted

The controversial Iranian exile group, the People's Mujahedin or MEK, has won its fight to be removed from the US terrorism list. I am no fan of the MEK, but their huge lobbying campaign won a lot of support in Congress.

These guys, once Saddam Hussein's best friends forever, are now getting support from some Israel's best friends. Of course the common element is their hostility to the Iranian regime.Here are some of my comments on them last year.

Comments by Barbara Slavin and Laura Rozen at Al-Monitor here.

Coming on the eve of the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war, this will be seen in Iran as a poke in the eye, but that perception will be shared by many Iranians who despise the Tehran regime, but also consider the cultlike MEK a dangerous group who supported Iran's mortal enemy, Saddam.

While the delisting may have been timed to show hostility to Iran in an election year, it also was buried in the classic news sinkhole of Friday afternoon.

Enjoy your weekend. The People's Mujahedin will.


1 comment:

David Mack said...

State Dept and CIA can take credit for having delayed this by a couple of decades in the face of pressure by ignorant politicians and ill intentioned activists. Since Iranian government had long since stopped giving us any credit for listing the MEK, it did not seem to be accomplishing much anymore. The terrorism list had been corrupted in so many ways, that arguments in favor of maintaining its integrity ring hollow.