Iran National Television conducted an exclusive interview with Judge Michael Mukasey, former US Attorney General, on the perspective of Iran’s future following the removal of the PMOI from the US list of terrorist organizations.
The campaign to delist the MEK was from the beginning a very complex campaign, did you expect it to end in favor the MEK and the Iranian Resistance?
Yes, I did, which is why I joined it, because the facts and the right were on the side of the Iranian opposition. And the other side had no facts and no right on its side. And so I think that yes, ultimately we would succeed. When I read the submissions in a court case in Washington, D.C, in which the MEK had gone to court to petition the delisting, and I saw what the MEK had said in their papers and I was what the State Department in their paper. When I got done reading that I didn’t really have any doubt about who is right.
What elements resulted in the victory of this campaign?
It was hard. It was the determination of a lot of people including the back in that room in that rally (Paris International Conference), the people of Ashraf of course, Mrs. Rajavi especially, and the determination of the American’s, Democrats, Republicans, military people all of whom united, and having the law on our side, really the leadership of the MEK having the courage to back into court to urge that the State Department be forced. That is a risky thing to do. And there were some people who said no we might lose. But they had the courage to do that. And they had the courage to compromise even when no compromise was called for, in order to help the situation move on in moving people from Ashraf to Liberty. So there was a lot of courage on the side of the MEK.
During this campaign there was a lot of negative advertising about the supporters of the MEK in the US who were involved in this campaign, what happened that despite all these pressures you stood steadfast on your position?
I have been in public life for a long time and I have been praised and I have been criticized. And you know what, if criticism in not justified it’s very easy to bear. The hardest thing to bear is justified criticism. And I think that if I had abandoned the MEK at that point and quit the fight and said no no this is too risky for me, the criticism that I would have gotten for doing that would have been impossible to bear because it would have been right. Whatever criticism I got for participating in the fight was very easy to bear because it was wrong.
In your view, what role did the perseverance of the MEK at Ashraf and Liberty have in this victory?
They were the rallying point. They were the example. They showed what real courage is. These people stood up to armed soldiers with no arms at all, with nothing but their faith. And that is something that people who see it have to be inspired by it. And it puts you in shame if you don’t stand up yourself after seeing what they did.
What do you think to US policy should be towards Iran on one side and the Iranian Resistance on the other side?
So far as dealing with the Iranian opposition, I think the US has to make it clear and it’s the president who makes things clear with his voice. Next time we have a 2009 situation don’t just sit there in silence, say that you stand with the people in the streets. And then in dealing with the Iranian regime, I think the only solution is regime change. We should do everything we can to bring it about. I just hope that I live to see the day when I can visit Tehran with the people who are part of this movement. That would please me no end.
