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In a letter to
British Interior Minister Mr. Charles Clarke, Massoud Khodabandeh who runs
Iran-Interlink group in Britain asked for investigation into the activities
of the National Council of Resistance in the UK and preventing what he
called “the MKO’s assault on reporters”. Iran-Interlink was formed three
years ago with the purpose of helping those who separate from the MKO. Last
week in a press conference in London, this group displayed films and
documents showing the MKO’s cooperation with the former regime of Saddam
Hussein. However, a number of MKO supporters protested the event. In an
interview with Mr. Khodabandeh, I asked him why he had sent a letter to the
British Interior Minister:
Khodabandeh: On November 10, we held a press
conference in London titled “Saddam’s Relations with International
Terrorism” and a number of media took part in the event. Unfortunately, some
MKO members came to attack the participants, but they failed as the police
came to the scene. A reporter, however, leaving the place was assaulted by
MKO members. I expected the NCRI to release a statement, apologizing for
what they had done, but instead they started threatening their opponents,
particularly reporters and journalists. Therefore, as a British citizen, I
wrote to Mr. Clarke; the previous letter, signed by 70 to 80 people asking
for investigation, was sent to him on September 26. In this letter, I asked
for a full investigation on the status of the MKO and NCRI’s office and
their activities in London. In addition, I requested for a guarantee against
possible similar acts by this group in future. As the organizer of this
conference, and on behalf of Iran-Interlink and others, I apologize for the
behavior of Rajavi’s agents towards the participants, particularly the
correspondents of the BBC and VOA.
- Those who, according to you, disrupted the order of conference claim that
the meeting was held by the cooperation of Islamic Republic’s intelligence
forces. What’s your response to these accusations.
Khodabandeh: I wrote this letter as a British citizen, but we are now
speaking in Farsi as Iranians. Calling 700-800 people abroad the “agents of
regime” and claiming that a VOA correspondent, a BBC reporter, Human Rights
organizations and opposition figures are all agents of the Iranian regime is
not helpful at all. This is only exaggerating a system inside Iran. I don’t
think that even CIA has such power. Even if you are right, and I’m not the
agent, but the head of the regime’s Intelligence Ministry, why do you attack
VOA’s correspondent? You have assaulted a woman. This is not the way
Iranians behave. They never attack a lonely woman in a corner of a building.
She had only come to listen. She said nothing; she had only come to watch
the films and no one knew if she was going to write a report or not!
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