Frequent COMMENTARY contributor Sohrab Ahmari has an important piece over at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s website regarding curious inconsistencies in the positioning of the National Iranian American Council(NIAC), a group which cloaks itself in Iranian American advocacy but seems to spend most of its time lobbying Congress against sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program.
Like Sohrab, I believe that the Mujahedin al-Khalq (MKO) should remain listed as a terrorist group. Its enemy — the regime in Tehran — may also our own adversary, but it’s not the enemy that matters but the willingness of the group to target civilians for political gain. Terrorism should be a black-and-white issue. The minute policymakers make exceptions is to open a floodgate that legitimizes all terror. Political ideology should never be a mitigating factor. Add to that the fact that the MKO remains a somewhat creepy cult, has killed Americans in the past, and is regarded by most Iranians in the same way that Americans view John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, then the recommendation of well-paid lobbyists and former officials to rehabilitate the group is truly counterproductive. The fact that the MKO killed American servicemen and refuses to acknowledge its past is simply icing on the cake.
Yet, as Sohrab points out, NIAC was front-and-center against the effort to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity. The IRGC is responsible for far more deaths — both American and otherwise — than the MKO. Why then oppose IRGC listing and favor MKO terrorist designation? Consistency matters. If the IRGC is acting as a rogue operator—something which I seek to disprove here—then it certainly is a terrorist group. If it acts on the orders of the leadership in Tehran, then the whole regime is a guilty of state-sponsored terrorism.
NIAC opposed efforts to promote civil society – and regularly targeted its proponents in the most callous way until the 2009 disputed elections. Likewise, it downplayed the human rights issue until that time, before suddenly seeing which way the wind blew. It has wrongly opposed efforts to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear development and missile proliferation efforts, and it has sought to give the IRGC a free pass. It might be right on the MKO, but it’s wrong in its dedication to the Islamic Republic. Iranians and Americans deserve a future free of terrorism, be it MKO or Islamic Republic. It’s time to stop playing cynical games, and to take a true stand on principle. Thankfully, the Iranian community has people like Sohrab Ahmari who do stand on principle. If only NIAC had their moral compass.
