Al-Seyassah (Kuwait), 19 Nov 2012 – Iranian exiled opposition movement People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran warned of the plundering and theft of the assets of nearly 3400 of its members who previously lived in Camp Ashraf located in northern Iraq and in recent months have relocated to Camp Liberty in Baghdad.
Mohammad Eghbal, the spokesman of the PMOI and Camp Ashraf residents, accused the Iraqi government yesterday of attempting to confiscate the property and assets of PMOI members living in Iraq, revealing “Iranian elements in Iraq have begun forging (ownership) documents under orders issued by Tehran.”
“Camp Ashraf and Liberty residents in Iraq strongly protest the plundering of their property in Ashraf, valued at over $25, and their fixed property that is worth over half a billion dollars,” Eghbal said.
“All documents of these assets are available and the residents departed Ashraf after receiving guarantees from the United Nations,” he continued.
“The residents call on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to prevent the plundering of these assets and the violation of their ownership rights, insisting these properties are the result of the work of thousands of members of this organization in Iraq during the past 26 years in Ashraf,” he added.
The residents also demand the UN chief to prevent Martin Kobler from playing his role as the facilitator to plunder these assets.
The “British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom”, with the support of over 200 members of the House of Lords and Commons led by former UK interior minister Lord Waddington, called for urgent UN intervention to prevent the confiscation and plundering of PMOI’s assets by the Iraqi government.
Parliamentary committees in various European countries, Iraqi tribal sheikh councils and democratic movements have made similar demands.
In this regard, Maryam Rajavi, leader of the PMOI and President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran that represents the opposition in-exile declared the delisting of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran from the US list of ‘terrorist’ organization has ‘altered the balance of power in Iran’, paving the path for the rise of a movement ‘able to overthrow the mullahs’.
In a gathering in Paris held on Saturday with around 3,000 participants, Rajavi said “the exceptional achievement that results from this condition can be summarized in one sentence: the time has come to topple the mullahs’ regime.”
“The US decision returned self-confidence and assurance, and allowed for this movement inside the country to reorganize, expand its units of resistance and call for their unification,” Maryam Rajavi said.
“The rare and special moment in the history of our struggle will come and emphasize on fulfilling the mullahs’ overthrow at any price. We can and we must rise for this cause,” she continued.
Rajavi also condemned the “compliments” expressed by “parts of Western policy towards Iran” and called for “closure of embassies”.
Numerous foreign dignitaries participated in this conference organized by the PMOI, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Columbian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.
Following the UK in 2008 and the EU in 2009, the US delisted the PMOI from the black list of ‘terrorist’ organizations in late September.