Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian foreign ministry summoned EU countries’ ambassadors to Tehran on Wednesday to condemn the block’s double-standards and political approach towards terrorism.
At the meeting, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Mehdi Safari, expressed Iran’s deep concern regarding EU action on delisting the anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from the block’s blacklist.
He also warned EU about consequences of compromise with the terrorist groups that have clear and absolute record of massacring innocent people.
Recalling EU’s international and internal commitments to the war on terror, Safari described EU foreign ministers’ decision to remove the MKO from the block’s blacklist as “political and an unacceptable action”.
The MKO has never denied its dark and terrorist records and made no changes in its nature, structure, ideology and armed opposition policy, lamented the Iranian diplomat.
Referring to the sensitivities of the Middle-East and the terrorist groups’ efforts to create insecurity in the region, he said any compromise with these groups will cause increase in violence and terrorist actions.
The Czech Republic’s ambassador, who represented European envoys to Tehran in the session, for his part, promised to reflect Iran’s point of view to the EU members and bodies.
He also stressed the necessity to fight terrorism and expressed hope that Iran and EU cooperation regarding campaign against terrorism would continue and produce desirable results.
The Czech Republic holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
The EU last Monday removed the MKO terrorist group from its black list which provoked strong condemnations by Iranian officials.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
Before the overture, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.
The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).
Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.
The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.
Leaders of the group have been fighting to shed its terrorist tag after a series of bloody anti-Western attacks in the 1970s, and nearly 30 years of violent struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In recent months, high-ranking MKO members have been lobbying governments around the world in the hope of acknowledgement as a legitimate opposition group.
The UK initiative, however, prompted the European Union to establish relations with the exiled organization now based in Paris. The European Court of First Instance threw its weight behind the MKO in December and annulled its previous decision to freeze its funds.
The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.
Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.
