UK parliamentary delegation’s visit to Edalat Society(Victims of Mojahedin Khalq terrorism)
British Ambassador to Tehran, Geoffrey Adams, along with members and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons have met and talked with several families of victims of terrorism at Edalat (justice) Society in order to become familiar with terrorist nature and deeds of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO).
The British parliamentarians visited Iran recently on the invitation of the Iranian parliament (Majlis).
Ms Sepehri, a member of the society whose father (a 45-year-old tailor) was martyred by the MKO’s terror teams in 1984, while referring to the memoirs from his father, said that the MKO has assassinated over 12000 individuals in Iran besides cooperating with Saddam Hussein in killings of many Kurds and Shiite Moslems in Iraq.
Mr Mike Gapes, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons who was present in the meeting said,”MKO are quite known to us; we do know them through Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations.”
Then Ms Sobhani whose father (a 46-year-old shopkeeper) was martyred by the MKO’s terror teams in 1982 said:”Utilizing terror is not a tactic or a strategy for the MKO. It is part of their ideology and that is why they could never give in using violence; and this is an important and crucial point for those foreign supporters of the MKO who are aiming to use them as a tool.
“The leaders of this organisation are not trustworthy even for their friends.”
The visit of the UK parliamentarians to Tehran and their meeting with the society of the families of victims of terrorism took place while the MKO is claiming that they are enjoying the support of UK peers.
The MKO is currently in the list of designated terrorist groups in the UK, and the FCO has warned the statesmen not to have any contact with the members of this organisation.
During the one-hour meeting, Ms Sepehri addressed the members of the delegation and said,”Those who have sold their nation and their country to the aliens could never claim to be the advocate of the interests of the other nations and countries. This is a historic lesson that tells us one should avoid those opportunist groups who are terrorists and easily change color and tell lies.”
The chairman of the UK delegation, Mike Gapes, said after receiving some documents indicating the violation of human rights and terror by the MKO,”This documentation and other reports published by the international bodies about the MKO show that there is no doubt about their violent backgrounds. We are victims of terrorism too and the British people are also severely suffering from this phenomenon.”Some documentation about the terrorist activities of the MKO was handed over by the Edalat Society to the UK delegation.
Finally, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons emphasised,”We have issued a joint statement between the governments of France, Germany, and the UK with the Islamic Republic of Iran in Paris. In this statement we reached an agreement that one article of it indicates that three European countries and Iran are decisively willing to tackle against terrorism and they are determined to do so. These groups include Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups such as the MKO.”
