Success: relocation# of Iranian# exiles points to rising prominence of Iranian# resistance

Patrick J. Kennedy says the liberation of the residents of Camp Liberty is a significant step toward the liberation of the Iranian people as a whole.

By Former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.)
On Sept. 9, the last group of Iranian dissidents residing in Camp Liberty, Iraq left the country for Europe. Although collective international action was slow in coming, its eventual success helps demonstrate that recognition of and sympathy for the Iranian resistance is on the rise.
The dissidents are members of the principle Iranian Opposition, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). Thirteen years ago, after the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. recognized them as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. But in January 2009, their security was handed over to the Government of Iraq. Since then, they were subjected to several deadly attacks by Iraqi security forces acting at the behest of Tehran or paramilitary terrorists in Iraq affiliated with the clerical regime in Iran.
Some in Congress and elsewhere were concerned that the U.S. had failed to uphold its commitment to protect the dissidents and criticized the Obama administration. But to its credit, the U.S. State Department helped, in the late stages, to guarantee that the resettlement outside Iraq would proceed to its completion. Many dissidents went to Albania, while a number of Western European countries took in smaller numbers of the MEK refugees.

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