Iranian MEK cult courted by Conservatives, as monarchists are sidelined
On the left side, MEK activist Shahram Golestaneh is seen - third person from right to right - with Conservative leader Pierre Polievre. On the right side, Golestaneh is seen - first person from left to right - beside Zionist Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman.
Written by: Marthad Umucyaba
An activist with the Mujahideen-e-Kalq (MEK) Iranian cult has recently been spotted with Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and prominent Zionist Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman. Images shared with The Canada Files show Shahram Golestaneh, the MEK activist, beside these two MPs.
The MEK has gained influence in Canadian politics over the last decade, ever since ex-Liberal Attorney General, Irwin Cotler, helped them get off the terror list in 2012.
But the MEK is just one part of the Iranian colonialist faction of the diaspora in Canada and NATO more broadly. This overall faction is not unified, with the two main factions being the MEK and the monarchists. This came as a result of political dynamics arising from the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and the soon-following Iran-Iraq war.
These two major factions are now competing for influence in the two major political parties in Canada, allegedly establishing bases of operations in Canada and appealing to the US security apparatus. The NATO states will have to make their pick of which faction is more suited for effective regime change against Iran. This comes as the political battle for ‘Iranian democracy’ develops in the colonial states, and shapes future antagonisms against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Enmity between the Monarchists and the MEK and its origins
The MEK first drew the ire of the monarchists as a militant student movement that waged an insurgency against the government of the Pahlavi dynasty (the Shah) in 1973. The Shah was famously deposed with the support of the MEK and the larger revolution of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. The MEK used insurgent tactics against US and UK targets within the Shah’s Iran starting in 1973. It was a remarkable show of courage, considering what would await them if captured. The secret police, known as Sazman-e Ettela'at va Amniyat-e Keshvar (SAVAK), were infamous for sexual and physical torture, including the use of electrocution.
Their tactics and brutality gave them a place in the Iranian Revolution, and they were welcome within it for a short time. Their welcome was up after they both boycotted the Islamic Constitution vote in 1979, and committed terrorist attacks on the government in 1981 - resulting in the death of the prime minister, the president and 71 members of parliament.
The monarchist movement, therefore, has nothing but enmity for the MEK. This is particularly true considering the MEK’s role in deposing the Shah, and their association with Saddam starting in 1986, that inadvertently entrenched the Islamic government in Iran after it successfully routed the Iraqi invasion in 1989. This killed any hopes of a revival of the monarchy in the minds of the Iranian public, and reinforced the popularity of the Islamic government.
Monarchist Goldie Ghamari vs the MEK
Minister of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and Ontario Progressive Conservative party member Goldie Ghamari has made her disdain for the MEK known many times.
MPP Ghamari has also posted tweets about her text conversation with Kaveh Shahrooz, where she said he was against a constitutional monarchy for Iran and that “We pro-democracy and anti-IRGC/MEK Iranian-Canadians see you.”
Ghamari’s reactionary pro-monarchist outlook was laid bare in her own tweets. She has even tried to showcase a poll showing the majority support for the monarchy among Iranian dissidents. All of this has been to no avail, as the support for the MEK among the political apparatus in NATO has progressively increased, and the monarchist camp has progressively become less relevant over time.
Conservative politicians seen with MEK activist
Naturally, the relationship of the MEK with the Liberals and Conservatives is a relationship mired in corruption. It comes with some attempted obsfucation, as Global Affairs Canada said last year that, “Canada does not recognize the Mek as being a credible political actor, does not endorse it, and does not engage in any communications with it.”
Quid Pro Quo arrangements involving free trips to the MEK’s operations in Albania were offered to the representatives of both the Liberals and Conservatives, and both party representatives accepted, along with a Bloc Quebecois member.
MEK members like Shahram Golestaneh have also been seen in political rallies alongside prominent Conservative members like Melissa Lantsman. Golestaneh has even been seen beside Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition Conservative Party. Poilievre was even exposed by protesters who barged into a political rally, where he’d been trying to sell the Gaza ethnic cleansing plan to the public by claiming that ‘Gaza is occupied by Iran’.
The Battle for ‘Iranian democracy’ and its implications in NATO and Canada
The MEK has had a more ‘measured’ response to the Israel Palestine conflict, explicitly placing the blame on Iran for ‘rejecting peace’, and hypocritically labelling the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, yet haven’t gone fully pro-Israel. The monarchists, on the other hand, in a drastic push to overcome the organisational advantage of the MEK, have towed the pro-Israel line to an extreme degree. Reminiscent of the former Shah’s pro-Israel stance, the Monarchists, especially far-right Goldie Ghamari and the Crown Prince Pahlavi she supports, have tried to outdo the MEK. Ghamari and other monarchists have taken an explicitly pro-genocide stance on the Zionist occupation of Palestine.
Monarchists seek to prove to NATO that monarchy in Iran will be far more beneficial to their interests. The main point being made is that restoring the monarchy’s rule will more reliably remove the main opposition, the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the colonial project in the middle east known as Israel, and will allow NATO’s ethnic cleansing plan to continue uninterrupted. The far right, and even the closet racists in the Liberal party, however, are presently more receptive to the MEK.
Currently, the MEK is the likely choice to get the funding to have a go at unleashing colour revolution on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
However, monarchists will definitely be welcome to serve as prominent Iranian colonialists for the Canadian colonial project. The Canadian political elite will continue to give overtures to the monarchist faction. Monarchists such as Goldie Ghamari will continue to be granted a prominent role in provincial and federal politics. They’ll at least have a place to compete with the MEK for wasted colour revolution money. This will make the reactionary nature of politics in Canada more entertaining to watch, but Canadians will suffer for it.
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Marthad Shingiro Umucyaba (formerly referred to as Christian Shingiro) is a Rwandan-born naturalized Canadian expat. He is known for his participation in Communist/anti-imperialist national and international politics and is the radio show host of The Socially Radical Guitarist.
He is also a freelance web developer in Hong Kong, China, striving to provide “Socially Radical Web Design at a socially reasonable price”.
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