Trump Admin Puts MEK On Table For New Iran Leadership

Maryam Rajavi (L) and Rudy Giuliani, attend celebration of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, on March 20, 2018, there was a gathering of Iranians Resistance and supporters in Tirana, Albania. As part of this gathering, M... Maryam Rajavi (L) and Rudy Giuliani, attend celebration of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, on March 20, 2018, there was a gathering of Iranians Resistance and supporters in Tirana, Albania. As part of this gathering, Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), members of the international community, such as former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and others spoke in support of Iranian freedom and regime change. (Photo by Siavosh Hosseini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The U.S. government no longer rules out a bizarre, cultish Iranian exile group as an option for taking power in Tehran, Al-Monitor reported Wednesday.

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) is a group known partly for its former designation as a terrorist group, partly for its innovative mixture of socialism and fundamentalist Islam, and partly for its willingness to throw money around Washington.

Two key Trump allies have ties to MEK or have supported the group in the past

None other than Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani spoke at an anti-Iran rally last month, saying that he was representing MEK, and not Trump.

National Security Adviser John Bolton has also voiced support for the group, in part because they represent an organized group with the aim of taking down the current Iranian government. That’s not a judgment on the nature of their organization, so to speak, or on the fact that they were included on a State Department list of terrorist groups until 2012.

“The behaviour and the objectives of the regime are not going to change and, therefore, the only solution is to change the regime itself,” Bolton reportedly said at a 2017 “Free Iran” conference that MEK held in Paris.

Financial disclosure forms show that Bolton was paid $40,000 for that appearance, and has received more than $180,000 in total from the group.

Latest Muckraker

Notable Replies

  1. The best foreign policy money can buy… is it too early to start drinking, not asking for a friend.

  2. And somewhere deep in the bowels of Hell Ahmed Chalabi is laughing his smoldering ass off…

  3. Avatar for tena tena says:

    O yeah, this is going to work. I can tell because Rudy Giuiliani is part of it. Doesn’t he look natural in that picture? hahahahahahahahahahaha

  4. Because it worked out so well last time we got involved in trying to determine who runs Iran?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

157 more replies

Participants

Avatar for silvrfox Avatar for srfromgr Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for clunkertruck Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for inversion Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for emjayay Avatar for karlsgems Avatar for keninmn Avatar for darrtown Avatar for tena Avatar for misterneutron Avatar for lcbo Avatar for jtx Avatar for pere_ubu Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for kelaine Avatar for lady4real Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for c_stedman

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: