Spokesman Calls US Biggest Sponsor of Terrorism in Decades
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast condemned the US for sponsoring and conducting terrorist operations across the globe while accusing other countries of state-sponsored terrorism under false pretexts.
"Under such circumstances that instances of the US behavior show this country has been the biggest sponsor of terrorism during the last three decades, Washington projects the blame and levels void accusations against other countries in a bid to conceal its acts in this regard," Mehman-Parast said on Monday.
Addressing the international community, he stressed the necessity for preventing the outburst of such unfounded and biased claims and accusations, and warned that such a trend can negatively affect international trust as the main pillar of global stability and security.
He also deplored the US State Department’s annual report on terrorism which has accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism, and said the Islamic Republic of Iran has always made special efforts to cooperate with the international community in fighting terrorism.
Mehman-Parast blasted the double-standard policy adopted by certain western countries, specially the US, on terrorism, and said while these states accuse others of sponsoring terrorism, they provide support for the anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), and the terrorist Jundollah group.
The Jundollah terrorist group is responsible for several terrorist operations which have killed tens of citizens, officials and security forces in southeastern Iran. The group is directly sponsored and supported by Washington.
Abdolmalek Rigi, the ringleader of the terrorist group, confessed after his arrest in late February that his group was assisted and supported by the US and disclosed that he was on route to Bishkek to meet a high-ranking US official at a nearby military base when he was arrested by Iranian security forces.
Rigi also said that he and the US official were going to discuss new terrorist attacks on Iranian territory.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
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.
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.