On Friday 18 November, the Government of Iraq (GoI) orchestrated in coordination with the Iranian regime's embassy in Iraq a despicable show outside Camp Ashraf, home to 3400 Iranian opposition members, portrayed as a "massive demonstration" by Iraqi citizens calling for the expulsion of Ashraf residents from Iraq.
It was an early Friday morning. I woke up with the sound of the radio in our living room and the worried voice of my father who was trying to get a hold on an important news through the statics that the Iranian regime was throwing in to block the opposition broadcast. I had never seen my parents that distraught and devastated.
The PMOI, Iran's largest opposition group, has been resident at Camp Ashraf for over 20 years and was until 2009 protected by the US military following the ousting of Saddam Hussein. Since 2009 the 3,400 residents have come under the control of an Iraqi government determined to close the camp at all costs in order to please their Iranian mentors.