A senior Iranian legislator has slammed some European countries for supporting the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), saying the group has slain some 16,000 Iranians.
In a Sunday meeting with Co-Chairman of the Iran-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Group Ettore Rosato in Tehran, Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s Majlis Alaeddin Boroujerdi said supporting such terrorist groups runs counter to democracy.
“The actions by some European countries in support of such a terrorist group are not consistent with the principles of democracy,” stressed the Iranian lawmaker.
The MKO fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it received the backing of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein and set up a camp near the Iranian border. The terrorist group also sided with Saddam during Iraq’s eight-year war on the Islamic Republic in 1980-1988.
The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and is notorious for committing numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis.
However, the European Union removed the MKO from its list of terrorist organizations in 2009 after the group filed a petition against the blacklisting in 2008.
Elsewhere in his comments, Boroujerdi called for closer Tehran-Rome ties, saying parliamentary cooperation between Iran and Italy could lead to the further enhancement of bilateral relations
He also pointed to the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear energy program, stressing that US and EU bans will not have any impact on the “iron resolve” of the Iranian nation.
Rosato, for his part, described the Islamic Republic as a significant and effective country in the Middle East and the entire world, saying the Italian government is keen to bolster ties with Iran in different domains.