Disarmed by the Americans in the wake of the Iraq war, and with their offices in France raided by authorities, Iran's armed opposition People's Mujahideen defiantly say they are stronger now than before the war.
"Demonstrations in Iran show the mullah's regime is weakening and international pressure is growing, while we gained international recognition from the affair involving Maryam Rajavi and from our attitude during the war," Mohsen Nadi, a leader of the Mujahideen's political wing, told reporters.
Last month, French authorities raided a dozen or so locations of the Mujahideen in the northwest of Paris and initially detained some 165 people, among them the symbolic leader of the group Maryam Rajavi, Massoud's wife.
On Wednesday, a French court ordered Maryam to be released on bail, while eight other detained members were also due to be freed.
"Maryam is the symbol of the struggle against the misogynous regime in Tehran and a hope for all Iranian women," said Nadi, speaking at Camp Ashraf, the group's largest camp in Iraq, some 100km north of Baghdad.
The Mujahideen lent its backing to 10 days of demonstrations by students and reformers that kicked off in Tehran on June 10.The protests spread to other cities in Iran and saw many slogans shouted against Iran's clerical regime.
Iranian authorities cracked down on the demonstrations, arresting some 4,000 people, 2,000 of whom are still being held for trial, according to state prosecutor Abdul Nabi Namazi.
Nadi said the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) also played a key part in bringing international pressure to bear on Tehran, notably over its nuclear program, which Washington says is being used to develop weapons.
"We gave the Americans information on the plans of the Iranian government," he said.
At Camp Ashraf, more than 5,000 Mujahideen fighters could be seen training, as they have been doing for years, but without their weapons.
In 1986, the Mujahideen under the leadership of Massoud Rajavi took refuge in Iraq, from where they organized attacks inside Iran as part of their goal to overthrow the Islamic regime.
In May, the group, considered terrorists by the US State Department and the EU, struck a deal with US occupation authorities in Iraq to disarm and relocate its fighters to one camp.
The organization is still receiving new young recruits from Iran. Two musicians, Anushirvan Riahi, 18, and Mohammed Macek, 19, arrived here five months ago from the central city of Shiraz to join the struggle.
"To join the Mujahideen, we traveled for awhile on foot and went through Turkey," one of them said.
Nadi said the accord with US forces was the result of the neutral position taken by the group during the war. "We did not fire a single shot, even when we were attacked. We left 17 of our bases and fell back to this camp to avoid any incidents, and our attitude has been rewarded."
For him, allegations that the group is involved in "terrorist" activities and was planning attacks on Iranian targets in Europe are "ridiculous."
"Do you think we will overthrow the Iranian regime by staging attacks against Iranian embassies in Europe?" he asked.
The crackdown on the group, which has operated in France for the past two decades, was launched over allegations it was to make France its new international headquarters.
It sparked demonstrations across Europe with several people setting themselves on fire in protest at the French action.
In a statement last week, the NCRI accused Iran's intelligence ministry of sending agents to France to direct a misinformation campaign against the group.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other