Congressional Delegation Meets MEK in Paris

Photo Credit: National Council of Resistance of Iran Website

A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation met with the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi, in Paris Sunday to discuss a broad range of issues, including potential bilateral talks on Iran’s nuclear program, human rights violations, and the protection of Iranian dissidents in Iraq. Led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), the delegation included Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) and Rep. Paul Cook (R-CA). In a statement issued by the group, the lawmakers urged the Obama Administration to revisit its policy towards Iran by engaging members of the exiled opposition rather than officials in Tehran and called for establishing stronger ties with members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a formerly U.S-designated terrorist organization and militant wing of the NCRI. “The Administration should be talking to members of the Iranian opposition…instead of fruitless talks with the Iranian rulers, which has only helped the regime getting closer to the Bomb and legitimize its suppression of dissent in Iran and support for terrorists in the region.” The statement also called for regime change led by the MEK.

In Libya, a parliamentary committee charged with drafting a political exclusion law barring former regime officials from serving in government published Monday a list of 10 individuals–either officials or candidates for government office–deemed “compromised” by their involvement with Qaddafi’s government and unfit to serve. In an op-ed Sunday, Ibrahim Sharqieh cautioned that the proposed law could inflame tensions among disenfranchised and marginalized Libyans instead of ensuring transparency. “The Political Exclusion Law will push a new group of powerful former officials to join these excluded communities. Together, they can regroup to mount a challenge to the revolution and the stability of the country…Libyans should be investing their efforts in building a thorough and transparent transitional justice law.”