Senator McCain Meets with Leader and Supporters of the National Council of Resistance in Albania

The National Council of Resistance, an umbrella organization comprising several opposition groups to the Islamic Republic, including the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, reported on Senator John McCain's visit to one of the Mojahedin's centers in Albania. In a press statement published on Saturday, April 15, the National Council of Resistance announced that Senator McCain's meeting with Maryam Rajavi, the leader of this council, took place on Friday, April 14, and that the discussions focused on 'the latest developments in Iran' and 'the criminal interventions of the Iranian government in the region.' Additionally, images released from Senator McCain's presence at 'one of the centers of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran in Tirana' show the senior Republican senator among hundreds of the organization's supporters in the Albanian capital. Some supporters of the People's Mojahedin, who had resided for years in Camp Ashraf and later Liberty in Iraq, have been settled in Albania under UN supervision since 2013, and it was announced last summer that the transfer of these individuals from Iraq to Albania has been fully completed. In a report published by the National Council of Resistance from the meeting on Friday in Albania, Senator John McCain described the members of the Mojahedin as those who have 'risen for freedom, the right to live freely, and the right to choose their future,' and have 'struggled and sacrificed,' serving as a 'model' for those who 'fight for freedom around the world.' According to this report, Senator McCain told the Mojahedin supporters that 'there is no doubt that you have not only suffered much pain and suffering yourselves but have also lost many of your relatives due to the tyranny of the Iranian regime.' Senator McCain's office has not yet released a report regarding his trip to Albania, but he has met with leaders from Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, and Slovenia during his recent travels in the Balkans. The Islamic Republic of Iran has not yet reacted to Senator McCain's participation in the gathering of Mojahedin members and supporters in Albania. In the 1980s, many opponents of the Islamic Republic inside the country, including supporters of the Mojahedin, were killed during mass executions, especially in the summer of 1988. The 1988 executions, which had been covered up for years inside Iran despite numerous revelations abroad, have recently gained prominence in the news due to two events: the release of an audio file of a meeting between Ayatollah Montazeri, the then-deputy leader of Iran, and the decision-making committee regarding the executions, and the candidacy of Ebrahim Raisi, a member of this committee, for the presidential elections. Of the four members of the decision-making committee for the executions, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former security figure and the current Minister of Justice in Hassan Rouhani's government, reacted to the release of the audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri's statements last year and defended his actions. However, neither Hossein Ali Nouri, the Deputy of the Supreme Court, nor Ebrahim Raisi, the former Attorney General who is now a presidential candidate, have ever officially responded to this issue, and Morteza Eshraqi, the Tehran prosecutor at the time of the 1988 executions, has long since withdrawn from official responsibilities without commenting on this matter. The National Council of Resistance, one of the main and most organized opposition groups to the Islamic Republic, has good relations with some influential political figures in Europe, America, and the Middle East, and typically, several current and former politicians from Arab and Western countries attend the annual meetings of this group. In this context, in December of last year, shortly before Donald Trump's presidency began, 23 former senior American officials wrote to him, urging him to reconsider Washington's policy towards Iran and to work and consult with the 'National Council of Resistance of Iran.' Earlier, at the previous annual meeting of this group in July 2016 in Paris, several well-known international figures, including Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi official, attended, and in August of that year, Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, met and spoke with Maryam Rajavi, the leader of this group. Both events faced criticism from Iranian officials, and Iran officially protested to France, as the host country of the National Council of Resistance meeting, and to Mahmoud Abbas for meeting with Ms. Rajavi. In this regard, 23 former American officials called for Trump's cooperation with the group associated with the Mojahedin. The reaction of the People's Mojahedin Organization followed the release of the audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri. Three decades of the official presence of the members of the People's Mojahedin Organization in Iraq came to an end. The Director General of International Affairs of the Parliament severely criticized Mahmoud Abbas for meeting with Maryam Rajavi. The President of the Palestinian Authority met and spoke with Maryam Rajavi. Iran expressed its 'dissatisfaction' with France's reaction regarding the Mojahedin group. Iran protested to the presence of Egyptian parliament members at the Mojahedin meeting. Iran summoned the French ambassador in protest against the Mojahedin gathering in Paris. Thousands of supporters of the National Council of Resistance gathered in Paris.