Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Hassan DanaifarIran’s Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Danaeifar says Tehran has pardoned most of the residents of Camp Ashraf except those with criminal records.
“Currently 3,400 people reside in Camp Ashraf, 1,000 of them have already returned to Iran and 750 have requested to leave the camp through the [International] Red Cross,” Danaeifar said on Sunday.
Danaeifar added that Tehran has pardoned all the residents of the Camp Ashraf except for less than 100 individuals who have criminal records, and ”the rest can return to the country or travel to wherever they want,” ISNA reported.
The members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) fled to Iraq in 1986, where they enjoyed the support of Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala Province near the Iranian border.
The group is known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
Commenting on the harsh situation of life in the Camp Ashraf, Danaeifar said the residents were under immense pressure, and “they must confess to their sins, and even their sinful thoughts, every day.”
According to the reports coming out of Camp Ashraf and the revelations of former MKO members, telephones, cell-phones, the Internet and other mass media, and even listening to the radio or marriage is forbidden in the camp.
Danaeifar added that even though the MKO guard the camp to prevent the residents from escaping, and insist to remain in the Camp Aashraf, “Iraq’s government is against their presence in the country.”
Earlier in April, Iraq’s government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that the cabinet is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf and disband the terrorist group.
The MKO has also carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.
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.