TEHRAN - The European Union’s decision to remove the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from its terrorist list shows that the EU is not really committed to fighting terrorism, Tehran’s interim Friday prayers leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said here on Monday.
He made the remarks shortly after the EU foreign ministers approved a decision to remove the MKO from the EU list of banned terrorist organizations, even though the organization is recognized as a terrorist group by much of the international community, including the United States. The recent move by the EU shows that its boasting about “liberal democracy” is just lies, he told the Mehr News Agency. Removing the MKO, which has killed 13,000 innocent people, including 72 Iranian officials on one day, from the list of terrorist organizations is total support for terrorism, he noted. “The EU, with this action, showed that it uses terms like human rights and the campaign against terrorism only as a means to serve its own evil interests,” he added. In pursuing its interests, the EU is even prepared to support a terrorist organization like the MKO, Khatami observed. Such evil acts are meant to counter Iran’s great revolution, but in this confrontation the arrogant powers will not win, he stated. Sooner or later the United States and the European Union will have to recognize Islamic Iran as a major power in the world, he noted. Meanwhile, MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Monday that Iran devised a plan to try the group at international tribunals after EU diplomats put forward the proposal to remove the MKO from the bloc’s list of terrorist organizations. However, MKO members who have not participated in the organization’s terrorist activities are allowed to return to Iran, he added. Iranian officials have called on the Iraqi government to intensify its efforts to close Camp Ashraf, where 3500 MKO members are being held under house arrest, and to expel them. Iraq has assured Iran that it will soon close the camp and that MKO members will be expelled from Iraq. Shortly before the EU announced its decision on Monday, MP Eivaz Heidarpour of the Majlis Foreign Policy and National Security Committee said that Iran should reconsider its relations with those European states that are seeking to remove the Mojahedin Khalq Organization from the terrorist list. The Europeans are aware of the fact that the MKO is one of the “most dangerous” terrorist groups, Heidarpour told the Mehr News Agency. The terrorist crimes committed by the MKO are so well documented that no European leaders will agree to rehabilitate the organization, he opined. Iran should reconsider and even break off its relations with some European states, he insisted.
Tehran Times Iranian Regime News Agency
He made the remarks shortly after the EU foreign ministers approved a decision to remove the MKO from the EU list of banned terrorist organizations, even though the organization is recognized as a terrorist group by much of the international community, including the United States. The recent move by the EU shows that its boasting about “liberal democracy” is just lies, he told the Mehr News Agency. Removing the MKO, which has killed 13,000 innocent people, including 72 Iranian officials on one day, from the list of terrorist organizations is total support for terrorism, he noted. “The EU, with this action, showed that it uses terms like human rights and the campaign against terrorism only as a means to serve its own evil interests,” he added. In pursuing its interests, the EU is even prepared to support a terrorist organization like the MKO, Khatami observed. Such evil acts are meant to counter Iran’s great revolution, but in this confrontation the arrogant powers will not win, he stated. Sooner or later the United States and the European Union will have to recognize Islamic Iran as a major power in the world, he noted. Meanwhile, MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Monday that Iran devised a plan to try the group at international tribunals after EU diplomats put forward the proposal to remove the MKO from the bloc’s list of terrorist organizations. However, MKO members who have not participated in the organization’s terrorist activities are allowed to return to Iran, he added. Iranian officials have called on the Iraqi government to intensify its efforts to close Camp Ashraf, where 3500 MKO members are being held under house arrest, and to expel them. Iraq has assured Iran that it will soon close the camp and that MKO members will be expelled from Iraq. Shortly before the EU announced its decision on Monday, MP Eivaz Heidarpour of the Majlis Foreign Policy and National Security Committee said that Iran should reconsider its relations with those European states that are seeking to remove the Mojahedin Khalq Organization from the terrorist list. The Europeans are aware of the fact that the MKO is one of the “most dangerous” terrorist groups, Heidarpour told the Mehr News Agency. The terrorist crimes committed by the MKO are so well documented that no European leaders will agree to rehabilitate the organization, he opined. Iran should reconsider and even break off its relations with some European states, he insisted.
