Tehran, April 12: Iran has warned the European Union (EU) against its all-out support of terrorist groups, calling on the body to stop its backing for the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO).
“We expect international organizations and circles as well as countries that claim to advocate human rights to condemn acts of terror based on an approach far from dual standards or political motives,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday.
“They should also stop providing shelters for terrorists,” he added.
The spokesperson emphasized that the EU should immediately amend its position regarding terrorist cells, reiterating that “It would be better for European countries to stop interfering in internal affairs of independent countries and adopt an appropriate approach.”
The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and is responsible for numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein and set up Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border.
The organization is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government.
Mehmanparast pointed to a decision by the Iraqi government on the expulsion of the MKO from Iraq by the end of 2011 and said, “The Iraqi government has acted in accordance with the country’s constitution and regulations.”
He added that the MKO terrorists have carried out over 12,000 acts of terror in Iran and committed numerous crimes against the Iraqi people.
“MKO activities in Iraq have generated a feeling of hatred among the Iraqi nation and government,” the spokesman reiterated.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Monday that the cabinet is determined to shut down MKO’s Camp Ashraf located, north of the capital Baghdad, and disband the terrorist group.
He added, “The council of ministers is committed to implement an earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group by the end of this year at the latest” and to arrange for their ouster from the Iraqi territory.
——–Agencies