City of Lies Read Online Free Page B

where Group members had bombed, rocket- and mortar-attacked government and military buildings. In 1998 there was the assassination of the director of Evin prison, who had been involved in the mass killings of MEK members during the late 1980 s. In 1999 the MEK executed the Supreme Leader’s military adviser outside his house, as he left for work.
    On the way to meeting the gun-runner, Dariush had noticed that the map Kian had given him was out of date; new alleys had sprung up and many of the street names had changed. There were times when the Group seemed so sophisticated, and times when they looked like a bunch of cowboys.
    The gun-runner raced through the backstreets and disappeared into a concrete block of flats. Dariush followed him to the third floor and into a messy living room with black eighties furniture and brown velvet curtains.
    ‘I can get you an AK- 47 , but that’s about it at the moment.’
    ‘Well I’ll take it then. Are you with the
sazman
?’
    ‘No fucking way!’ The gun-runner was laughing. ‘Listen, I’ve dealt with quite a few of your lot. You all come here thinking we’re all waiting to be saved by you. The truth is that we can’t stand you. Nothing personal. But I bet you 1 , 000 US dollars that in one month, you won’t find one Tehrani here who supports you. Better the devil you know, mate. The sister will sort you out,’ he said, nodding towards a voluptuous redhead in a pink velour tracksuit. And the gun-runner was gone.
    The woman lit a cigarette and stared at Dariush. Everything about him was attractive: he was tall and broad with thick hair, but his boyish features gave him a clean-cut, unassuming appearance. The woman disappeared into the corridor, talking into her mobile. She returned holding a shiny new AK- 47 and a bag full of bullets. Dariush tried to make small talk as he handed over the cash, but she ignored him.
    ‘If you make it out alive, tell your people to leave Iran alone,’ she said, slamming the door shut.
    To outsiders, the Mojahedin-e Khalq is an enigma. Their largest base is in Paris, where they work under the banner of their political wing, the National Resistance Council of Iran. Even some members struggle clearly to define the Group’s principles and politics: a mixture of Marxism, Islam and nationalism. It has been led by Maryam Rajavi ever since her husband, Massoud, mysteriously disappeared out of public view in 2003 . Maryam and Massoud are worshipped by their supporters and revered as gurus. Maryam, green-eyed, middle-aged with a make-up-less face and perfectly plucked eyebrows – a prerequisite for any respectable Iranian female regardless of attempts at modesty – wears a headscarf pulled down past her hairline. She looks more like a suburban, conservative housewife than a leader of Iran’s biggest dissident group. In her soothing, nasal voice she successfully lobbies European and American politicians for support in fighting the Iranian regime, and speaks movingly of a free Iran.
    The MEK spends millions on getting Western governments on side, often paying handsomely for endorsements and speeches by politicians. It is gearing up for a revolution. Or for when the USA or Israel may attack. Or for the moment when they can seize power from the clerics and destroy the regime.
    The first MEK meeting Dariush attended was in a church hall. There were about fifty others there: middle-aged, friendly housewives, professionals, students and a few Americans. Only a handful were card-carrying members, the others called themselves ‘supporters’. The women wore red headscarves pulled down low over their foreheads. They called each other
khaahar
, sister, and
baradar
, brother.
    The Americans gushed about these brave ‘freedom fighters’. They gave updates on the latest senators who had agreed to campaign for the MEK (for a healthy fee). The revered leader of this local branch,
Baradar
Fereydoon, spoke of human rights abuses in Iran – people being imprisoned