As in previous years, the annual meeting of Mujahedin-e-Khalq (National Council of Resistance of Iran) was held in Paris. In this meeting, foreign guests and a handful of Iranians were present.
In this meeting, too, the number of Persian-speaking speakers, other than the members of the Mujahedin, did not exceed the fingers of one hand. However, apart from the guests and speakers, special attention should also be paid to others presented in the hall.
As a witness of this meeting, I saw that the Hall No. 5 of the “Paris Exhibition” was filled with people. The crowd was genuine, and, like many other cases, the photos were not manipulated or photoshopped. Yet, this is another story in itself.
The hall consisted of various parts. On the left side of the hall, there were guests, speakers, and invited delegations from different countries. At the time of their speech, most of these guests emphasized that they had come to represent their country. However, a few of these speeches stood out more. Apart from the importance of the speech of Rudy Giuliani, the legal advisor of the President of the United States, and other American and European figures, the speeches of several Arab speakers were also notably well received.
When Nazir Hakim, the Secretary General of the Syrian National Alliance, said, “Syrian people were happy about the uprising of the Iranian people,” at the back of the hall, we could see Syrian flags, the green sign of which indicated that Bashar Assad’s opponents were happy with these words. Or when Nejat al-Astal, a representative of the Palestinian Territories Parliament, said in Arabic, “I greet you from the wounded Palestine, and we are on the side of the resistance,” the voices of joy and support mainly came from the end of the hall, which showed that the guests of the second part of the hall are more familiar with this language than Persian or even English.
But what is this second part of the hall?
The distance between the stage and this section was filled by group members and invited guests. Behind them, there was a group of media representatives who were separated from others by a rod. A group of reporters with cameras were present on the right side of the hall. Behind this row was another group, among whom you could find at least one person from every nation there, from young people who spoke Swedish to the blonde girls who came to the salon tired from the Warsaw-Paris.
Before entering the hall, you could see a large number of buses from most European capitals and even the northern cities of Sweden and southern Spain. A photo of Maryam Rajavi was sometimes seen next to the windows of these buses, and in front of some of them, there was a placard with the title “Deputy for the meeting of free Iran.
One of these people not only didn’t know Farsi, he didn’t even know where exactly Iran was. He had only heard of the Middle East and war and war and war. But why did they come for this meeting?
On Monday (July 11th), this issue was also mentioned in the Guardian newspaper in London. Most of them were young tourists or low-income immigrant families who were promised a two-day recreational trip in Paris for 25 Euros (a little higher or lower) and on the condition of attending a one-day meeting to support “Human rights in Iran.”
That is why the side issues of the meeting sometimes create interesting scenes. A family was sitting on a rug, and the smell of their hookah filled the air. Girls and boys were lying on the grass to enjoy the sun, even for a few hours of the “human rights” day, away from the eyes of “the guide.” Those at the back of the hall gathered in turn to receive food, and after eating sandwiches and chicken wings, it was time to rest again.
“The great meeting” with Mujahedin opponents
Separatists from the “Mujahedin-e-Khalq Group” say that sometimes they “don’t dare to approach the meeting,” but I run into one of them.
A middle-aged woman shouted, “I want to see Maryam [Rajavi] so that I can take back the 40 years of my lost life from her.” The woman was yelling at the young officers who did not allow her to enter the hall: “When I was ruining my life in Ashraf, what the hell have you been?”
The woman refused to stand in front of the camera. She said that I am so sick of seeing these scenes that I am speechless.
She said: “I have made this scene myself for years, and I know how this show is arranged. Now I have to face this ruined life that I have no way back from.” She slowly left while crying and shaking her head, looking back now and then and murmuring.
No place for Iranians
I had a discussion with a member of the “Mujahedin-e-Khalq Group.” Our conversation led to why Iranians were not present in this meeting. He said the line of conflict between “Mujahedin” and others is very narrow.
Those standing on the other side of the line are either “Iran’s mercenaries” or “ignorant people who do not have enough knowledge.” However, he said we are ready to unite with all subversive forces. Maybe he was right because on the cover of the uniform of the guide of this “great meeting,” there was a sign or the same hashtag that is seen a lot these days: # I am a subversive
But this claim was not visible in the hall. Few of the guests or journalists were Iranian. There was no sign of the representatives of the parties that each considered themselves to have a part in the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
Whatever it was, the “Great Meeting” with all its margins is over. But the margins are sometimes more important than the text.