An official in US President Donald Trump’s Cabinet and at least one of his advisers gave paid speeches for an Iranian exile group that killed Americans before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ran donation scams and saw its members set themselves on fire over the arrest of their leader.
Taiwan-born Elaine Chao (趙小蘭), confirmed last week as Trump’s transportation secretary, received US$50,000 in 2015 for a five-minute speech to the political wing of the Mujahidin-e-Khalq (MEK), previously called a “cult-like” terrorist group by the US Department of State.
Former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani also was paid an unknown sum to talk to the group, as well as more than two dozen former US officials, both Republican and Democratic, including former House Speaker and Trump adviser Newt Gingrich.
Some have publicly acknowledged being paid, but others have not. While nothing would have prohibited the paid speeches, they raise questions about what influence the exiles may have in the new administration.
Already, a group of former US officials, including Giuliani, wrote a letter to Trump last month encouraging him to “establish a dialogue” with the MEK’s political arm.
With Trump’s ban on Iranians entering the US, his administration’s call last week to put Iran “on notice” and the imposition of new sanctions on Friday, the exile group may find his administration more welcoming than any before.
A potential alliance with the MEK would link the US to a group with a controversial history that has gone against US interests in the past by supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran.
After fleeing Iran, the MEK joined forces with then-Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. It later exposed details of the clandestine nuclear program run by Iran, which views the MEK as its sworn enemy.
“The mujahidin have backed the winning horse. They are going to have some at least entree into the administration,” said Ervand Abrahamian, a professor at the City University of New York who wrote a book on the MEK. “I think it weakens the US because the more they have access to the administration, the more people in Iran are going to be scared of anything the US does.”
The MEK long has cultivated a roster of former US and European officials to attend its events opposing Iran’s clerically run government. It pays for the appearance of many.
Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, spoke before an MEK conference in 2015 in Paris. She also had a seat next to Maryam Rajavi, the “president-elect” of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the political arm of the MEK.
Chao received a US$50,000 honorarium from the MEK-associated Alliance for Public Awareness, according to a report she filed with the US Office of Government Ethics. She received another US$17,500 honorarium for speech she gave in March last year to the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, which MEK opponents also link to the exile group.
Chao did not respond to requests for comment about the MEK.
Giuliani has acknowledged being paid for his appearances at MEK events. However, he has not filed a government disclosure form since his failed 2008 Republican presidential bid, so it i unclear how much the MEK has paid him in total.
Giuliani did not respond to a request for comment.
Gingrich has also spoken to the MEK before, including at a gala last year, although it is not clear whether or how much he was paid. He could not be reached for comment.
The White House also did not comment.
The MEK welcomes the incoming Trump government, as “some people within this administration” plan to change US policies toward Iran, said Mohammad Mohaddessin, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of its political arm.
“The core of the policy that we are advocating is to be tough with the Iranian regime, to not ignore its crimes against the Iranian people,” he said.
The MEK formed in 1965. It embraced both Marxism and the idea of an Islamic government after the violent overthrow of the US-backed shah who ruled Iran at the time. Its name, Mujahidin-e-Khalq, means “the People’s Holy Warriors.”
They carried out a string of targeted assassinations hitting Iranian officials, as well as Americans. However, the MEK today blames a Marxist splinter faction of the group for killing the Americans.
After fleeing Iran and taking refuge with Saddam, MEK forces launched cross-border raids into Iran during its with war with Iraq, further alienating the group from average Iranians. The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001.
The US Department of State has described the MEK as having “cult-like characteristics.” When French police arrested Rajavi in 2003 as part of a terrorism investigation, MEK members responded by setting themselves on fire; at least two died.
Over the years, the MEK has said it receives money from Iranians to fund its operations. However, the group has been targeted by a series of investigations around the world for running charity scams, which Mohaddessin has blamed on a misinformation campaign by Iran.
Whether Trump’s administration forms closer ties to the MEK is yet to be seen.
However, exile groups have not always been proven to be reliable US allies in the Middle East. Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi lobbied the administration of president George W. Bush to invade Iraq by pushing false allegations of weapons of mass destruction and links to al-Qaeda.
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