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<keyword id="41568" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Srinagar">Srinagar</keyword>, <keyword id="67657" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Former-Chief-Minister">Former Chief Minister</keyword> and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief <keyword id="6375812" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mehbooba-mufti">Mehbooba Mufti</keyword> on Tuesday alleged that she was detained at her residence on the Gupkar road in Srinagar. Mufti said she wanted to meet with the families evicted from Central Kashmir's Budgam district, but was stopped by the police and security forces deployed outside her residence. She wrote on Twitter that the government of India was using illegal detention as a method to muzzle the opposition. "Illegal detention has become GOIs favourite go to method for muzzling any form of opposition," Mufti tweeted. "I have been detained once again because I wanted to visit Budgam where hundreds of families were evicted from their homes. "Government of India wants to continue inflicting oppression and zulm on the people of J&amp;K without any questions asked," she further tweeted. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-ril-maruti-suzuki-nmdc-sbi-ongc-eicher-motors-likhitha-infrastructure-tata-consumer-and-others/articleshow/79600409.cms">Top stocks to watch — RIL, Maruti Suzuki, NMDC, SBI, ONGC, Eicher Motors, Likhitha Infrastructure, Tata Consumer, and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/petrol-is-less-than-a-rupee-away-from-being-more-expensive-than-it-has-ever-been-for-indian-consumers/articleshow/79601841.cms">Petrol is less than a rupee away from being more expensive than it has ever been for Indian consumers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stock-movers-ongc-hdfc-bank-nmdc-pfizer-spicejet-indigo-irctc-tata-chemicals-and-others/articleshow/79602525.cms">Top stock movers — ONGC, HDFC Bank, NMDC, Pfizer, SpiceJet, IndiGo, IRCTC, Tata Chemicals, and others</a>

Mehbooba Mufti alleges being detained at her residence again

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Countries are renaming streets with Russian embassies for <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword>. </li><li><keyword id="13125133" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="albania" source="Orion">Albania</keyword> renamed part of a street "Free Ukraine Street," Reuters reports.</li></ul>European countries are showing support <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/live-updates-russia-ukraine-crisis-2022-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">for Ukraine</a> by renaming streets where Russian embassies are located, according to reports.Albania has renamed a segment of a large street in its capital city, Tirana, where the <keyword id="11911306" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russian-embassy" source="Orion">Russian embassy</keyword> is located to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/albania-renames-street-capital-tirana-free-ukraine-2022-03-06/">"Free Ukraine,"</a> Reuters initially reported on Sunday. The street was previously named Donika Kastrioti, after the wife of Albania's national hero, Skanderbeg, the publication reported.Tirana's city council <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/mar/08/ukraine-news-russia-war-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskiy-kyiv-russian-invasion-live-latest-updates?filterKeyEvents=false&amp;page=with%3Ablock-622720e08f087f6d099f36ef">unanimously approved</a> the renaming of the street, according to The Guardian.Ukrainian, Serbian, and Kosovar embassies are located on the same street, according to a <a href="https://twitter.com/erionveliaj/status/1500096583949557762">Twitter post </a>by Erion Veliaj, the mayor of Tirana.Veliaj added that all embassies on the street will be required to update the address on their business cards and that the Albanian postal service will deliver mail only on "Free Ukraine Street." Reuters added that Vilnius, the capital city of <keyword id="12151245" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lithuania" source="Orion">Lithuania</keyword>, renamed the street where its Russian embassy is located to "Ukrainian Heroes Street.""From today, the business card of every employee of the Russian embassy will be decorated with a note honouring Ukraine's fighting, and everyone will have to think about the atrocities of the Russian regime against the peaceful Ukrainian nation when writing this street name," the city's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/10/lithuania-names-road-leading-to-russian-embassy-ukrainian-heroes-street">mayor Remigijus Šimašius said in a statement</a> shared by The Guardian.Latvia's capital Riga has also named the street of its Russian embassy "Independent Ukraine Street," the publication added.This comes amid calls for the UK to take similar action and to rename the street of its Russian embassy in London. The Liberal Democrat political party has appealed to the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council to <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/russian-embassy-london-kensignton-zelensky-avenue-ukraine-lib-dems-b986647.html">rename Kensington Palace Gardens "Zelensky Avenue"</a> in honor of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Evening Standard reports.Representatives for Veliaj and Šimašius did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

European countries are renaming streets where Russian embassies are located in honor of Ukraine

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="3075858" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ebrahim-Raisi">Ebrahim Raisi</keyword>, a hardliner close to <keyword id="41896" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Iran">Iran</keyword>'s Supreme Leader, won the country's presidential election. </li><li>His election was condemned by human rights groups for his involvement in mass executions in 1988. </li><li>Iran's opposition party said the lack of voter turnout should send a message that Iranians don't approve of this regime.</li></ul>Iran's opposition group abroad said Ebrahim Raisi's election as president should be a turning point for how foreign governments, mainly the US and Europe, deal with the Iranian regime. Raisi, the hardline head of the country's justice department, won Iran's election on Saturday. Iran said 28.9 million of the country's 59 million eligible voters cast a ballot, with Raisi winning 17.9 million votes overall, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-election-ebrahim-raisi-judiciary-turnout-middle-east-4d60554fd608a5dea2c76a303ec352d8">Associated Press</a> reported. There were about 3.7 million "white" ballots, or ballots cast without any candidate's name written in. Iranians get a stamp on their birth certificate whenever they vote, suggesting that some did not feel any of the candidates supported their interests, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/world/middleeast/iran-election-president-raisi.html">The New York Times</a> reported. Ali Safavi, a spokesperson for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, told Insider they believe it's more likely that only 10% of the country actually voted, a figure far lower than the official number. Safavi said the percentage was calculated after calls to boycott the election and footage and eyewitness accounts from inside Iran showed very few people at the polls. NCRI, an Iranian political coalition based in France and Albania that calls for replacing Iran's theocratic regime with a democratic one, said Raisi's election was a way for the country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, to hold on to power and prevent democratic reform. <h2>The removal of other opponents, even those who were hard-liners as well, shows the regime's fear of an uprising</h2>"Even some people from Khamenei's faction who are considered his confidants were not allowed to run, indicating the regime has absolutely no capacity whatsoever to even risk having someone as president who may divert from the policies laid down by the Supreme Leader," Safavi said.The country's Guardian Council oversees the election and determines who is qualified to run for any office. Safavi said in order to qualify "each candidate must prove his or her practical and heartfelt allegiance to the principle of the absolute rule of the clerics."The Council disqualified Raisi's strongest competition, including reformists and those backing current President Hassan Rouhani."<keyword id="6355644" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="elections">Elections</keyword> in Iran under the clerical regime have been a travesty and the outcome of the elections have never been determined by the people, but by the regime's internal balance of power, except for the first election that was held in 1980," Safavi told Insider. <h2>Raisi's election has prompted condemnation from human rights organizations</h2>"That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance and torture, is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran," Amnesty <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="international">International</keyword>'s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/06/iran-ebrahim-raisi-must-be-investigated-for-crimes-against-humanity/">statement</a>. In 1988 Raisi was a deputy prosecutor of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran and a member of the "death commission," a group of which forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed thousands of political dissidents in secret. Safavi said the clerics have used the nuclear deal and historical grievances as ways to solicit concessions to continue their regime, which is responsible not just for atrocities towards its own people but for supporting instability across the Middle East. He said the lack of voter turnout should send a message to the west that Iranians themselves don't approve of this regime and western nations should be unequivocal about ensuring a democratic party is put in place in Iran. "Europeans have failed to understand that the Iranian people reject this regime. If they have one reason to hate the Shah, they have a thousand reasons to hate this regime," Safavi said. "This regime has brought them nothing."

Iran opposition group says US and Western nations must take a different approach to dealing with country after the election of new president Ebrahim Raisi

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>'s renewed invasion of <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> has caused European countries to rethink their security.</li><li><keyword id="11916600" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sweden" source="Orion">Sweden</keyword> made a major defense spending increase after Russia's 2014 attack on Ukraine and now plans to spend more.</li></ul>Russia's aggression against its neighbors has prompted European countries to rethink how they defend themselves, perhaps none more so than Sweden, which over the past decade has rapidly increased its military spending and is now reevaluating its relationship with NATO.Sweden's ambassador to the US, Karin Olofsdotter, told Insider on Wednesday that European security has been deteriorating for some time, pointing to Russia's war with Georgia in 2008 and seizure of Crimea in 2014, considered "a game-changer.""Of course, we all reacted to that, but maybe we didn't react strongly enough, and that maybe paved the way for Putin thinking that this was something he could do," Olofsdotter said at the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC, referring to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-holding-out-as-russia-makes-a-mess-of-invasion-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the renewed Russian attack on Ukraine</a>.Sweden has not formally declared war since 1814, though Swedes have volunteered in other conflicts and its military has <a href="https://www.government.se/articles/2021/08/swedens-engagement-in-afghanistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">participated</a> in other operations. Sweden shed its longstanding neutrality when it joined the EU in 1995, but it remains militarily non-aligned, working closely with NATO but never joining.<div type="image" title="US Sweden marines mortars" height="933" width="1400" msid="91381568" hostid="261"></div>Sweden and its neighbors have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-nordic-neighbors-increase-military-readiness-amid-ukraine-tension-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watched Russian military activity warily</a> in recent years, particularly in the <keyword id="11905238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic" source="Orion">Arctic</keyword>, where Moscow <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/increasing-arctic-military-activity-reduces-us-russia-diplomacy-options-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has added forces, tested new weapons, and opened or refurbished bases</a>.In an interview last year, Olofsdotter told Insider that Russian President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-special-operations-drills-in-alaska-sweden-show-chokepoint-concern-2021-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had shown a willingness</a> to use a military he has rebuilt from its post-Soviet nadir, prompting Sweden to reevaluate its preparedness to face old and new threats.Since 2014, Stockholm has increased investment in its own military, purchasing new aircraft and ships and other weapons, like US-made Patriot air-defense missiles, as well as expanding conscription and emphasizing cyber and psychological warfare.Those planned investments have only grown following Russia's renewed attack on Ukraine. "We had a plan to increase our defense spending by 85% from 2014 to 2025, and now we have just taken a decision" to increase annual defense spending to 2% of GDP, Olofsdotter said Wednesday.Stockholm announced the 2% target in March and is now debating how quickly it can be reached, Olofsdotter said. Sweden's military <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swedens-defence-budget-could-reach-2-gdp-2028-military-says-2022-04-11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in April that spending could reach that level in 2028, with "significant increases in capacity" each year."Security is really looked upon very differently today than just a couple of months ago," Olofsdotter said. "That's how quickly it has gone."<h2>'Trust is definitely gone'</h2><div type="image" title="Stockholm Sweden protest Russia Ukraine" height="1333" width="2000" msid="91381569" hostid="261"></div>Russia's attack has also increased Swedish support for NATO membership. Roughly one-third of Swedes supported it in recent years, but Moscow's actions have pushed that to over half, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/growing-majority-swedes-back-joining-nato-opinion-poll-shows-2022-04-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent polls</a>, which show support is <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20220324/six-out-of-ten-swedes-would-back-nato-if-finland-joined-poll/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">even higher</a> if <keyword id="12047793" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="finland" source="Orion">Finland</keyword> were to apply.Sweden's foreign minister is now leading discussion with the defense minister and the eight parties represented in its parliament, among others, about what NATO membership would entail, said Olofsdotter, who presented an analysis of the US's view of transatlantic security as part of those talks.EU membership comes with <a href="https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/09/sweden-finland-eu-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a security guarantee</a>, but it is not like NATO's "ultimate defense security guarantee" Olofsdotter said. "That's why we are having that discussion, I think, because we see that the European security order that we really believed in is maybe not there."A report on the discussion will be presented on May 13, <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/05/01/finland-and-sweden-intensify-talks-on-joint-nato-application/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two weeks earlier</a> than planned. It won't make a recommendation, but based on it, "a decision will be taken — you know, should we join it or should we not," Olofsdotter said.Following an application, NATO would <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/going-nordic-what-nato-membership-would-mean-for-finland-and-sweden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have to agree</a> to formally invite the applicant to begin accession talks, after which the alliance's 30 members have to agree on admission.<div type="image" title="Sanna Marin Olaf Scholz Magdalena Andersson" height="1261" width="2000" msid="91381570" hostid="261"></div>NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/05/01/finland-and-sweden-intensify-talks-on-joint-nato-application/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has said</a> that if Stockholm and Helsinki apply, the alliance would make the process "as quick as is feasible." NATO has handled multiple applications simultaneously before — it took 12 months for Croatia and Albania to go from invitation to full membership in 2009.A Swedish or Finnish application is expected to move quickly, given both countries' ties to NATO, political and economic stability, and robust defense capabilities. Olofsdotter <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-live/karin-olofsdotter-on-where-sweden-stands-in-joining-nato-and-rising-tensions-with-russia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Thursday</a> that she hoped if an application was made in the coming weeks then US approval could be secured before the Senate's August recess.Some divides have emerged in Sweden, including among the ruling Social Democratic Party. Some have <a href="https://spectatorworld.com/topic/nato-about-get-even-bigger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cautioned</a> against further NATO <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-finland-and-sweden-don%E2%80%99t-belong-nato-202002" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expansion</a>, but numerous alliance members have said they would welcome Swedish and Finnish bids.There are concerns that members with closer ties to Moscow could thwart such an application. Because NATO is consensus-based, "there's always that possibility," said Jim Townsend, an expert at the Center for a New American Security and former US defense official, "but I think in this case they're going to work it so that there shouldn't be a problem."Sweden's security in the time between an application and the ratification of its membership, when it would receive NATO's mutual-defense guarantee, is also a concern. "That's when we are most vulnerable," Olofsdotter said.Moscow has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-threatens-nuclear-weapons-if-sweden-and-finland-join-nato-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened retaliation</a> should Sweden or Finland apply. While Stockholm and Helsinki say they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-nordic-neighbors-increase-military-readiness-amid-ukraine-tension-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">haven't seen a direct threat</a> from Russia since it attacked Ukraine in February, Moscow has made other aggressive moves, including military flights into the airspace of <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2022/03/03/sweden-summons-russian-officials-after-fighter-jets-fly-near-gotland-island" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sweden</a> and its <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/1/danish-fm-summons-russian-ambassador-over-airspace-breach" target="_blank" rel="noopener">neighbors</a>.Sweden is particularly concerned about cyber or hybrid threats, Olofsdotter said, pointing to <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20220503/fact-check-has-russia-launched-an-anti-swedish-propaganda-campaign/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posters that have appeared</a> in Moscow labeling famous Swedes as Nazis.<div type="image" title="Russian fighter jets Sweden Gotland" height="1125" width="2000" msid="91381573" hostid="261"></div>A European official told reporters in early April that NATO would be "very live" to potential Russian action while an application is considered. "I think we are already thinking about the kind of guarantees and protections they might get to cover them through the transition period," the official said.In recent days, Britain's defense minister said it was "<a href="https://yle.fi/news/3-12430911" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inconceivable</a>" that the UK wouldn't defend Sweden or Finland if they were attacked. and Sweden's foreign minister said there was "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/04/sweden-says-us-has-offered-security-guarantees-if-it-applies-to-join-nato" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an American assurance</a>" of support during that transition. Stoltenberg <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-chief-says-alliance-will-increase-presence-baltic-sea-if-sweden-applies-svt-2022-05-05" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has said</a> NATO would increase its presence around Sweden if it applies to join the alliance.Sweden focused more attention and resources on its security amid Russia's military buildup around Ukraine in fall 2021, including through contingency planning between military and civil authorities, Olofsdotter said, adding to years-long efforts to prepare for a potential conflict. The Cold War-era "total defense concept" that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-civil-defense-pamphlet-shows-europe-preparing-for-war-or-crisis-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sweden reinvigorated in the late 2010s</a> was augmented this year by the creation of the <a href="https://www.mpf.se/en/mission/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Psychological Defense Agency</a>.Other trends point to greater public awareness of the threat. During the Cold War, those who built home bunkers were offered tax deductions. Many were later converted into garages and "party rooms," but Swedes are now reconsidering them for their original purpose, Olofsdotter said.Like Sweden's NATO membership, what Europe's security order will look like after the war in Ukraine remains to be determined, but the often tense relationship with Russia appears irrevocably altered."I think that's something that we have to see what happens when the war is over and how it ends for President Putin and what the world looks like then," Olofsdotter said, "but trust is definitely gone."

Sweden hasn't gone to war since Napoleon was alive, but Russia has it preparing for another one

Mario Tama/Getty ImagesFormer New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks in front of portraits of deceased members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK),<ul class="summary-list"><li>US President Donald Trump has sought counsel amid a mounting crisis with Iran from individuals such as Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/rudy-giuliani-and-his-old-iranian-clients-cheer-soleimanis-death?ref=home">reported The Daily Beast.</a></li><li>In recent years the MEK, officially the People's Mujahideen of Iran, has cultivated ties with several individuals close to Trump, including Giuliani and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. </li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/23/iran-usa">The group was until 2012 classified</a> as a terror group by the US, and has been described by defectors as a cult that demands blind obedience from members. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>In the wake of the US assassination of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, an obscure group of Iranian dissidents once classified as a terrorist organisation by the US celebrated the news. "In Tehran, Isfahan, Qom and Qaemshahr, among numerous other cities, MEK supporters were celebrating Soleimani's death by throwing parties and handing out pastries," the People's Mujahideen of Iran tweeted, with pictures of jubilant supporters. The MEK - officially the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or the People's Mujahideen of Iran in English - has waged war against the Islamist regime in Iran since it seized power in 1979. Formerly based in Iraq, the group is believed to have killed thousands of Iranians in terror attacks. But far away from the battlefields of the Middle East, the MEK has also waged a campaign for influence in glossy functions at diplomatic events in western capitals, successfully cultivating powerful allies in western governments. Among them are current and former officials in the top echelons of the Trump administration - including those who Trump regularly turns to advice on Iran, such as personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Soleimani was "directly responsible for killing some of my MEK people," <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/rudy-giuliani-and-his-old-iranian-clients-cheer-soleimanis-death?ref=home">Giuliani told The Daily Beast</a> in an interview on Monday, making no attempt to disguise his closeness to the group."We don't like him very much."Mario Tama/Getty ImagesRudy Giuliani (centre) and John Bolton (left) stand in front of portraits of deceased members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK)And its not just Giuliani who has longstanding ties to the MEK.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pompeo-mek-allegedly-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">In September, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended an</a> event on the fringes of the United Nations assembly in New York alongside the MEK.Hawkish national security adviser John Bolton, who departed the administration in September after reportedly pushing for Trump to launch strikes against Iran, also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/world/middleeast/john-bolton-regime-change-iran.html">had links to the MEK</a>. Bolton has attended the group's conferences, and long served as its most powerful advocate in Washington DC.Eli Clifton, an expert on US foreign policy at the Quincy Institute for Iranian Statecraft, told Business Insider that the MEK had long advocated the assassination of Iranian regime officials. "The MEK clearly endorses the assassination of Iranian government officials and employees. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/05/apparently-terrorism-isnt-terrorism-if-it-targets-iran/328082/">In 2012, NBC News</a> reported that the MEK was directly involved in the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists," Clifton wrote in an email Wednesday.<h2>A cult-like group of Marxist Islamic radicals behind scores of terror attacks </h2>The MEK emerged in opposition to the then ruler of Iran, the Shah, in the late 1960s, inspired by a blend of Marxist ideology and Islamic theology.When Islamist rivals seized control of the country after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the MEK fled to neighboring Iraq, where it fought against Iran alongside then-president Saddam Hussein's forces.Defectors have claimed that the group seeks to brainwash members - forcing them to <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v34/n11/owen-bennett-jones/terrorists-us">confess to sexual fantasies</a> in bizarre public shaming rituals and <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/07/20/why-trumps-hawks-back-the-mek-terrorist-cult/"> to send away their</a> children to be brought up by others. It has been described <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/exmqnz/masoud-banisadr-mek-cult-184">by several ex-members as a cult.</a>Several thousand MEK <a href="https://iran-interlink.org/wordpress/in-albania-shedding-light-on-bizarre-behaviour-of-mek-cult/">members live in a compound in Albania</a>, where they reportedly spend their days on social media distributing anti-Iranian propaganda. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images Iranians tear up a US flag during a demonstration in Tehran on January 3, 2020 following the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Major General Qasem Soleimani in a US strike on his convoy at Baghdad international airport. - Iran warned of "severe revenge" and said arch-enemy the United States bore responsibility for the consequences after killing one of its top commanders, Qasem Soleimani, in a strike outside Baghdad airport. In Paris, where the MEK's official headquarters is located, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/30/rudy-giuliani-mek-iran-paris-rally">the group holds glitzy functions</a> as it seeks to cultivate influential western officials. It has hired Iran hawks in Washington to speak at its events, <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0808/Iranian-group-s-big-money-push-to-get-off-US-terrorist-list">paying them large speaking fees</a>. It was eventually de-listed as a terror group by the US in 2012 following a long lobbying campaign. Despite the rigid control it exerts over members, it has sought to portray itself as the only viable democratic alternative to the current Iranian regime. "When the president's personal attorney and former national security adviser have effectively endorsed the MEK as a legitimate opposition group and a viable government exile for Iran, it certainly raises serious questions about the extent to which the MEK is influencing the administration's Iran policy," Clifton told Business Insider.The group's activities in Europe have attracted the ire of Iran, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45722523">with French officials</a> in October 2018 accusing Iranian intelligence of being behind a plot to bomb a rally held by the MEK's political arm in Paris. The rally was attended by Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, former House speaker and Trump ally. And with the US now taking the hardline stance towards Iran it has long advocated, it will be likely seeking to consolidate its influence in Washington DC. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-missile-strike-iraq-video-2020-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">Video shows Iran launching a barrage of missiles at US forces in Iraq</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-missile-strike-us-open-hostilities-may-end-2020-1">The Iranian missile strike on 2 US bases may be the end of open hostilities between Tehran and Washington - but only if Trump is smart enough to get the message</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlson-criticizes-conservatives-for-pushing-iran-conflict-2020-1">Fox's Tucker Carlson slammed conservatives for pushing Trump to go to war: 'About 20 minutes ago we were denouncing these very people as the deep state'</a> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-years-eve-ball-drop-tradition-sailors-times-square-2016-12">The surprising reason Americans drop a ball on New Year's Eve</a></h3>

Trump has been getting advice on Iran from officials and allies linked to a shadowy Iranian dissident group that celebrated Soleimani's death

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Tensions between Russia and NATO have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-flies-provocative-aerial-operations-2014-11">continued to intensify</a> as the conflict in Ukraine grinds on. 
Both NATO and Russia have exchanged barbs, criticizing the other side for its role in a conflict that has <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/us-ukraine-crisis-un-idUSKCN0J40XC20141120">already killed more than 4,300 people</a>. NATO has repeatedly <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/breedlove-concerned-over-russian-militarization-2014-11">said</a> that Russia has been providing direct and indirect military aid to the separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has accused NATO of overthrowing the previous Ukrainian government, backing fascists in Ukraine, and expanding the organization in alleged violation of earlier agreements.
In response to Russia's frequent claims, NATO has <a href="http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_111767.htm#cl11">released</a> a fact sheet that is also available in Russian and Ukrainian. 
This isn't the first time that the world's most powerful military alliance or its members have directly engaged with Moscow online. NATO <a href="http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_109141.htm">released a similar fact-sheet</a> in April. And Canada's NATO delegation caustically <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/canada-nato-russia-ukraine-putin-2014-8">trolled</a> the Kremlin after the country's invasion of eastern Ukraine in August, with a map reminding Russia of where its borders ended.
 We have highlighted the most interesting facts that NATO has sought to clarify below. 
Russian Claim: NATO promised it would not expand east into the Baltics and eastern Europe following German reunification. 
NATO Rebuttal: Though often repeated as fact, the NATO fact sheet notes that there's no real evidence that such a quid pro quo was ever reached. Indeed, it couldn't have been reached - when Germany was re-unified in 1990, many of the countries targeted for NATO expansion later on were still under Soviet domination or were members of the rival Warsaw Pact.
Per NATO, even Mikhail Gorbachev, then the Soviet premier, says that the "neither NATO nor Soviet leaders ever brought up the issue of NATO expansion."
Russian Claim: NATO enlargement has destabilized the Balkans 
NATO Rebuttal: This is another frequent Russian claim, often tied to the idea that NATO waged aggressive war against Serbia during the Balkan wars of the 1990s (see next item).
In fact, the NATO fact-check claims, the alliance's Balkan members (Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, and Greece) have enjoyed enhanced security and democratic development thanks to their membership in the organization.
Russian Claim: Russian action in Crimea was identical to NATO action in Crimea 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>NATO Rebuttal: The accusation that the NATO states waged an aggressive invasion of Serbia during the <a href="http://www.nato.int/kosovo/history.htm">Kosovo crisis of 1999</a> is a common Russian talking point used to justify Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
In fact, NATO notes, allied military action in Kosovo was the result of nearly a decade of failed attempts at peaceably solving a longstanding and violent dispute between Serbia's oppressive and human rights-abusing government and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.
Crimea, on the other hand, was never in dispute and never the focal point of a long-running crisis - until Russia annexed the peninsula in March, that is.
Russian Claim: The Ukrainian government is illegitimate and is dominated by Nazis and fascists
NATO Rebuttal: "Ukraine's president was elected with a clear majority in May 25 in an election that the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) <a href="http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/ukraine/119078?download=true">characterized</a> as free and fair," the fact-check notes.
As for those Nazis and fascists that Moscow seems so worried about, "far right parties received less than 5%, the legal limit for parties to become represented in parliament."

NATO Published A Fact Sheet Rebutting Putin's Claims Over The Ukraine Crisis

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>The surprising result of the US 2016 election awoke many Americans to a fact they'd rather not acknowledge: The US is under attack from foreign nations armed with weaponized information.Indeed, the US's top spy agencies <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-reince-priebus-russia-dnc-hacks-2017-1" target="_blank">all credit Russia</a> with hacking the Democratic National Convention's email servers, and subsequently leaking information that helped to sway the election.But from the Russian point of view, the US cast the first stone, and Russia's attempts to influence the US and other countries amounts to little more than an active <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword>. According to Dr. Ken Geers of cybersecurity firm <a href="https://www.comodo.com/" target="_blank">Comodo</a>, Russia has long been a powerhouse of information warfare, and it's "something we haven't gotten our heads around" in the West. US spy agencies since World War II "knew all about the Russia problem," Geers, who has worked with NATO and the NSA, told Business Insider. Russians are good at math, operational security, and have a long history of perceived threats to their regime, according to Geers. "Even in the Tsarist period, Russia had a robust secret police and counterintelligence apparatus, so the Soviets in 1913 already had a lot to work with," said Geers. Today, this 100-year-old history of information security and warfare translates into a laser like focus in the cyber arena. US cyber warriors focus on vulnerabilities, plugins and holes in networks that can be exploited. But in Russia, cyber vulnerability is seen as merely a "means to an end," according to Geers.In the space between cyber security, favored by the West, and information security, favored by the East, Russia and China have left the US behind. No matter how secure US networks become, there will always be some leakage, and Russia and China have proven incredibly capable with deploying information seized in leaks, and controlling the broader information climate. Even objectively true facts can be massaged and misrepresented in Russia's state-run information space, as they were when Russian troops poured into Crimea in 2014.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Since the Russian and Chinese governments are "more Orwellian than ours," Gears said, it gives them strict control over their media and the access their citizens have to the internet. This allows them to "massage the information space more," according to Geers. "It comes up in cyber diplomacy today in international discussions between the East and West," said Geers, where US cyber operators talk about securing networks and Eastern operators talk about securing information, and that often means censorship or even aggressive disinformation campaigns."If you look at 2016 election, Russia had real impact," said Geers. "It makes you reconsider that the Russians may have been much more correct about the topic over time ... it really is about information security. A flash browser plugin exploit is a means to an end. What you do with that can be small or large."With its hacking of a major political party in the US, brutal air campaign that savagely slaughtered civilians in Syria by the tens of thousands, and annexation of a strategic peninsula in Europe under the nose of NATO, Russia has proven it has the correct conception of information warfare, and big plans in the battle space.<h2>How Russia sees itself as a victim of US informational warfare</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Russian lawmakers recently tried to ban the US film "Beauty and the Beast" from the country because it features a homosexual character. Russian news outlet <a href="https://ria.ru/society/20170304/1489282691.html" target="_blank">Ria Novosti</a> reported that State Duma deputy Vitaly Milon wrote a letter to culture minister Vladimir Medinsky urging that action be taken as the movie is a "blatant, shameless propaganda of sin and perverted sexual relationships," according to <a href="https://time.com/4691642/beauty-and-the-beast-russia-ban/" target="_blank">Time</a>.But the film "Beauty and the Beast" wasn't crafted by the US government as a piece of pro-LGBTQ propaganda.It's just a Disney movie.Geers said to look to France for examples of how the US's massive footprint in the information space makes waves that can irk even its closest allies."For years France has been quite annoyed with the US and also like other countries, fascinated," said Geers. "Think about from a French perspective," McDonalds, Apple, Microsoft, Coca Cola, Google - all English words, all US companies, and all threaten France's cultural identity, according to Geers.While McDonalds and Coca Cola promote themselves as good products and businesses, their purpose does not match a company like RT, a Russian state-run broadcasting agency purpose-built to counter Western media.US brands promote capitalism and prosperity, which reflects well on the US. But the autocrats of Russia and China have long known their oppressive societies cannot survive direct comparison with the West, and so even McDonalds becomes a grave threat to regime preservation.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Even if the US started funding films and propaganda networks, free speech in the West means that this information would have to go toe-to-toe with more accurate, balanced, verifiable information in the media. Americans and Europeans can disagree with their governments and back whatever products, philosophies, or lifestyles they enjoy. In this way, Russia's weaponized information has made a meal of the US's open, non-militarized information space, but Geers has a message for those who fear the sun is setting on the West: "Relax.""You cannot equate the opinion of NATO to the opinion of the Kremlin," said Geers. "NATO is 28 functioning democracies. If you look at the map you see Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Albania - they all joined NATO. Why? Because it's the future. It's providing a secure space in which you can build culture and economy."With just 145 million living in Russia, less than half the population of the US, Geers said the information war is "mathematical in nature." Countries on Russia's border who have seen the freedoms enjoyed by the West, like some current NATO states and Georgia, have all made "incredible efforts to prepare their country" for ascension into NATO, said Geers. When a country wants to join NATO, "you start buying the right weapons and using the right uniforms and calling and enforcing democracy and civil rights," said Geers. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>The slide towards the US's sphere of influence among some of Russia's neighbors has been nothing short of terrifying for Russia's autocrats, who don't hold power temporarily or democratically. Additionally, the US's second-to-none military and long streak of interventionism horrifies the Kremlin.Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst based in Moscow, told <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/untitled-article-1460061782?preview&amp;cb=v1460061844208" target="_blank">Vice News in 2016</a> that Russia's paranoia grows each time the US removes a murderous dictator from power. "They killed Saddam. They killed Qaddafi. Now they want to kill Assad," Felgenhauer said. "And Putin believes he may be next in line."Perhaps the last straw for Putin's Russia was the 2014 Euromaidan protests in Kiev, Ukraine. NATO had been <a href="http://www.ndc.nato.int/download/downloads.php?icode=512" target="_blank">openly improving ties with Ukraine</a>, a buffer state that would put NATO on Russia's doorstep should Kiev join the alliance. A recent <a href="http://www.ndc.nato.int/download/downloads.php?icode=512" target="_blank">NATO research paper</a> cites multiple Russian military officials and publications saying that the Kremlin saw many of the color revolutions and Arab Spring uprisings of the early 2010s as being engineered by the West to undermine stable governments. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>With color revolutions sweeping MENA and Europe, the Kremlin's paranoia took a turn for the worse, and they assumed that Moscow must be next should they fail to act."From Moscow's perspective, you see the whole revolution move Eastwards towards you," said Geers. There were protests in Moscow against Russia's autocracy "but you don't see anything about that," due to Russia's command of media and information. Putin critic Boris Nemtsov was killed on the Kremlin's steps, part of a larger intimidation campaign by Russia, according to Geers. Still, Russia's iron grip on information could be its undoing. Because Russia's internet has few points of access and few servers, a US cyber attack could cripple the whole country in moments. The very nature of the internet is pro-Western. The information revolution brought about by an open internet has spread like wildfire across the world in a way that uniformly undermines dictators. So while Russia may be winning the information warfare right now through very active measures, it's an uphill battle, and time isn't on their side. "Putin will also find, speaking even more broadly, the internet is on the side of the West. It looks more like democracy than it does autocracy. We have all kinds of vulnerabilities in the West - that's true, but it's also part of the point that tells me the West we can relax, and not overreact ... You can use those tools for surveillance, but ultimately they're going to come get you. The pitchforks will come for you," said Geers. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/aclu-police-law-brutality-reform-order-responsibility-2017-3">ACLU: These are the reforms that should be implemented in every police department</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="V0ajQ0YTE6NNiGzf-U53ELt2Vv66E7wa" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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