Jordan: Majority of Parliament Calls To Guarantee Camp Liberty Residents’ Security

This week mainstream Arab media reported widely a statement by a majority of Jordanian parliamentarians, calling for the safety and security of “Camp Liberty” residents in Iraq.

Almost 2,000 members of the Peoples’ Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the main opposition to the mullahs in Iran, are now residing at Camp Liberty, a former US base, just off Baghdad International Airport. Four years ago, the residents abandoned their former home, Camp Ashraf located north of Baghdad, and settled in Liberty.

“Seventy seven Members of the 17th Jordanian Parliament, establishing a majority of this council, signed a joint statement condemning Iran’s meddling in the region and calling for guaranteed safety and security for Camp Liberty residents in Baghdad until their ultimate departure from Iraq,” the statement, issued by the Jordanian Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, read in part.

Camp Liberty Residents Not Safe

Despite all the assurances provided by the U.N. and U.S. that Liberty would be a safe and secure transitory site for its residents, the camp, in the last four years, has been the target of four deadly missile attacks perpetrated by the Iranian regime’s mercenaries in Iraq. Residents have also been complaining about the misconduct of Iraqi army officers in control of the camp. These officers were appointed during the tenure of former Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki, and have maintained their position.

jordan parliament january 2014.
Jordan parliament, January 2014

“Iran’s meddling in Iraq continues and Camp Liberty, home to refugee members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Baghdad, was targeted in a massive missile attack on 29 October 2015 leaving 24 dead, and large scale destruction across the camp. Tehran’s main crackdown effort is focused on this organization. Iran considers the PMOI/MEK its main enemy due to its widespread popular support and loyalty to a tolerant and pacifist Islam. This is exactly why Tehran loses no opportunity in its crackdown against its members and supporters. The oppressions of ethnic minorities, including the Kurds, Baluchis and Arabs in Iran have intensified parallel to inhumane discrimination against the Sunni community,” the Jordanian MP statement adds.

Tehran’s Fundamentalist Hegemony

Despite all the concessions made to the ayatollahs by the P5+1, Tehran is reluctant to forgo its tenor for terrorism as well as nuclear weapons, needed to impose its fundamentalist hegemony over the region.

“In contrast to many expectations of Iran engaging in a path of moderation following the nuclear agreement, the trend of executions, oppression, export of fundamentalism and terrorism by the rulers of Iran has only intensified. During this period, Iran’s meddling in the region, especially in Syria, has gained unprecedented proportions as 60,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) members and their proxies are busy massacring the Syrian people as we speak. In addition to the IRGC, Iran’s regular army in early April announced the deployment of its commando division to Syria. The main portion of the funds released due to the Iran sanctions reliefs have been allocated to purchase weapons for IRGC and/or regular army from Russia and other sources,” the signatories of the statement added.

The seventy seven Members of the Jordanian Parliament have reiterated their support for the Iranian opposition. They concluded their statement by calling on the “Arab and Islamic governments, the United Nations, the UN Security Council, the United States and European Union” regarding their final demands including: “guaranteeing safety and security of Liberty residents until their ultimate departure from Iraq” and “supporting the Iranian Resistance and its President-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, being the sole response in the face of the mullahs’ dictatorship in Iran as the center of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism in today’s world.”

Shahriar Kia is a member of the Iranian opposition (PMOI /MEK). He is a human rights activist and political analyst on Iran and the Middle East.