Iron Gates

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Six Years , Albania is home to One of Iran's main opposition groups, the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, or Mek . But hundreds of members have walked - Some complain about the organization, the rigid rules, the enforcement of celibacy and the control of the contact with the family. Well, dozens languish in The Albanian capital, Tirana , is not in the location of Iran, return, or your Life to come.

"I didn't want to talk, my wife and my son thought for over 37 years, I would have died. But I told them, 'no, I Am alive, I live in Albania ..." she cried. "

, That is, the First Contact by phone with His Family after so many years, it was difficult for Gholam Mirzai,. He is 60, and took flight two years ago from the Mek -the military-style Camp outside of Tirana .

Now, he is scrapes in The City , full of regret and accused his former Mujahideen comrades of spying for their Nemesis, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Mek has had a turbulent and bloody history. As an Islamist-Marxist radical who supports his members of the 1979 Iranian Revolution , the overthrow of the Shah. But the relations with a triumphant Ayatollah Khomeini soon clouded. If the government cracked down hard, the Mujahideen run your Life had to.

Mek members, rounded up in Tehran in 1982, Neighboring Iraq sanctuary offered, and from your desert citadel during the Iran/Iraq war (1980-1988), the Mek fought on the side of Saddam Hussein against your home.

Gholam Mirzai was the service in the Iranian military when he was captured by Saddam Hussein 's troops at the beginning of the conflict. He spent eight years as a prisoner of war in Iraq . But In Time , prisoners from Iran, such as Mirzai were encouraged, together with the people of your country. And this is what he did.

Mirzai is now a distance "a" - One of hundreds of former Mek members to leave the organization, since moved to Albania . With The Help of funds from the family, Some paid, people have to take the smugglers to which you have made elsewhere in Europe , and maybe two, back in Iran. But dozens remain in Tirana , stateless and officially no longer work.

also learn how the battle - hardened members of the Mek used a banned terrorist organization in the United States and in Europe - your way in this corner of Europe ?

In 2003, the invasion of the allies in Iraq is dangerous for the Mek . The organization protector, Saddam Hussein , was suddenly gone, and the Mujahideen were attacked again - hundreds were killed and injured. Fear of an even worse humanitarian disaster, The Americans approached The Albanian government in 2013, and persuaded them to receive around 3,000 Mek members in Tirana .

women's Mek fighters, the training during the Iran/Iraq war (1984) "We offered you protection from attacks and abuse, and the possibility of being attacked lead a normal Life in a country where you are not harassed or ill-treated," says Lulzim Basha , the leader of the Democratic Party , which the government at the time, and is now in the opposition.

In Albania , politics are deeply polarized - all this is controversial. But almost uniquely, The Presence of the Mek is not - is open to the public, both the government and on the opposition to support their Iranian guests.

For the Mek was Albania in a completely new environment. Gholam Mirzai was amazed That even children cell phones had. And because Some of the Mujahideen first building in the apartment on the outskirts of the capital, the organization's grip on its members was looser than it was before. In Iraq it was in control of every aspect of your Life , but here, temporarily, it was an opportunity to exercise a certain degree of freedom.

"There was a bit rough behind the apartments, in which The Commanders said to us, we should take exercise every day," recalls Hassan Heyrany, other "distance".

Heyrany and his colleagues took advantage of The Cover of the trees and bushes to sneak up to the Internet Cafe in the vicinity and put you in contact with their families.

"As we call in Iraq , if you wanted to" home, the Mek called them weak, we had no relationship with our families," he says. "But when we got to Tirana , we found The Internet for personal use. "

Hassan Heyrany today Against the end of 2017, when the Mek moved to new headquarters. The camp is built on a gently sloping hill in The Albanian countryside, about 30 km (19 miles) from the capital. Behind the imposing, Iron Gates , there is an impressive Marble Arch , crowned with Golden lions. A tree-lined boulevard runs up to a monument to the thousands of people who have lost their Lives in the Mek in its fight against the Iranian government.

Uninvited journalists are not welcome here. But In July of this year, thousands of the Mek took-Free Iran event in the camp. Politicians from all over the world, influential Albanians and people from the village in the vicinity of Manze, joined thousands of Mek members and their leader, Maryam Rajavi , in the glittering auditorium. US President, Donald Trump 's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani , turned to The Crowd .

Rudy Giuliani : "If you think this is a cult, then there is something wrong with you" "these are people who are dedicated to freedom," he said, referring to the uniformly dressed and separated by gender Mek members present in the hall.

"And if you think That the are a cult, then there is something wrong with them," he added, down bring The House down.

Powerful politicians, such as Giuliani's support for the Mek is the target of the regime-change in Iran. The Movement , the Manifesto contains the commitment to Human Rights , gender equality, and participatory democracy for Iran.

't buy But Hassan Heyrany it. In the last year, he left the Mek , the rejection of what he saw as the leadership of the repressive control over his own Life . Heyrany had joined the Mujahideen in his 20s, attracted by the commitment to Political Pluralism .

"It was very attractive. But if you believe in democracy, you can not suppress the soul of its members," he says.

the low point of the Heyrany living with the Mek was a night of meeting, he was obliged to participate.

Hassan Heyrany in Iraq in 2006, "We are a small notebook, and if we had no sexual moments, we should write it down. For example, " this morning I had an erection. '"

Romantic relationships and marriage are forbidden by the Mek . It was not always so That Parents and their children used to the Mujahideen. But after the bloody defeat of a Mek -offensive by The Iranians , the leadership argued it had happened because the Mujahideen were distracted by personal relationships. Mass divorce followed. The children were sent Away to be committed to often care for families in Europe - and single - Mek members to stay.

In this notebook, Heyrany says, you had also to write to, any personal daydreams.

"For example," If I saw a baby on TV, I had the feeling That I wanted to have a child or A Family of your own. '"

And the Mujahideen had read from their notebooks in front of their commanders and comrades in The Daily meeting.

"This is very hard for a person," Heyrany.

Now, he compares the Mek camp in Manze to Animal Farm , George Orwell 's criticism of the Stalinist era in the USSR. "It is a cult," he says simply.

A diplomatic source in Tirana , described the Mek as "a unique cultural group - not a cult, but cult-like. "

The BBC was not able to put to the Mek since the organization refused to be interviewed too. But in Albania , a people, to punish the bear, closed, Communist regime for decades, there is Some sympathy for the Mek leadership to the Position , at least on the prohibition of personal relationships.

"In extreme situations, extreme decisions," says Diana, ge, writer, women's activist and former Deputy of the ruling Socialist Party .

"you have sworn to fight her whole Life for the liberation of their country from a totalitarian regime. Sometimes we have difficulties, the adoption of strong faith, a cause. This is a personal victim, and it is a mentality That I Understand . "

Female guards at the Mek headquarters in Albania , Even so, Some Albanians fear That the Mek 's presence is a threat to the National Security .

Two Iranian diplomats following allegations about the violent attacks against the Mujahideen were expelled, and the European Union has accused Tehran behind conspiracies against the regime's opponents, including Mek members, on Dutch, Danish and French soil. (The Iranian Embassy in Tirana rejected the BBC's request for an interview. )

A highly-placed source in the Socialist Party is also concerned That The Intelligence services do not have the capacity to monitor More Than 2,500 Mek members with military training.

"anyone would with a brain, you have accepted here," he says.

A diplomat says That Some of the "distancing" is certainly the work for Iran. Gholam Mirzai and Hassan Heyrany have accused the Mek of being agents for Tehran. It is a charge they deny.

iraq, iran, albania, long reads

Source of news: bbc.com