Iranian Dissidents Dispute Charges on Immigration

An Iranian dissident group denounced as a “sheer lie” allegations by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles that members of the Mujahadeen Khalq organization used the services of an immigration fraud ring to gain entry to the United States.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an umbrella organization, said in a statement from its Washington headquarters that the allegations are “apparently intended to please the religious, terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran.”

It said none of its members or affiliates were involved in any immigration scams and it called on the Justice Department to clarify the matter.

The denunciation came after the arrests in Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Tuesday of 15 people accused of providing bogus documents to illegal immigrants from Iran, including members of the Mujahadeen Khalq, which is on the State Department’s list of international terrorist groups.

Formed by Iranian students in the 1960s, the organization helped the Ayatollah Khomeini topple the Shah of Iran in 1979 but later came under attack from Iran’s ruling mullahs. The group is now based in Iraq, Iran’s archenemy.

Last year, 220 congress members from both parties signed a statement calling on the State Department to remove the Mujahadeen Khalq from its terrorist list. They described the group as a “legitimate opposition to the repressive Iranian regime” and called the State Department’s action “wrong-headed.”