March 17, 2023
The Islamic Republic says legislation introduced in Congress to express support for the ongoing protests endorses the Mojahedin-e Khalq and proves that the US backs terrorism.
One problem is that nothing in the resolution even mentions the Mojahedin-e Khalq, let alone endorses the group. What’s more, the text is a resolution, not a bill, and will not have the force of law even if passed; it will just express the view of the majority of the House of Representatives, not the view of the Senate or Biden Administration.
None of this, however, stopped, the Islamic Republic. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted, “The US Congress’ worthless resolution in support of the Monafeghin [the regime’s term for the group] terror cult demonstrates, just once more, their insatiable appetite for instrumentalizing terrorism and Daesh-modeled scenarios, that wrecked Syria and Iraq, for destroying Iran.”
And Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said, “The regime that founded Daesh and used it as a tool is not ashamed of supporting and instrumentally using the murderers of 17,000 Iranians.”
While the Mojahedin is neither mentioned nor endorsed in the text of the resolution, the fingerprints of the group are all over it.
The resolution was introduced by California Republican Rep. Tom McClintock, who is a long-time supporter of the Mojahedin. And he had the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi, appear by Zoom at the press conference announcing the introduction of the resolution.
One of the 30 “whereas” paragraphs in the resolution names Rajavi and her 10-point plan for Iran, but does not endorse her or her plan. The text was clearly drafted to be friendly to the Mojahedin while at the same time avoiding any endorsement of the group that would have spelled defeat for the resolution. The resolution now has a total of 222 co-sponsors, or 51 percent of the House membership. The sponsors are 146 Republicans and 76 Democrats-a two-thirds majority of the Republican members but only one-third of the Democratic members. The resolution has been referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee, which has so far taken no action on it.
