Iran

Iran’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Gholam Hossein Dehqani called on the United Nations to hold an international conference attended by all countries’ high-ranking officials to study ways of fight against terrorism.

"The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) assumes the present measures to counter terrorism in the international arena as to be inadequate and calls for increased movement by the international community in this regard," Dehqani who was addressing a UN Security Council meeting on behalf of the NAM said.

"Increasing multilateral cooperation among countries under the supervision of the UN can act as the most effective tool to counter international terrorism and therefore, NAM offers to hold an international summit under the UN supervision to study and give a shared response to terrorism and its different forms," he added.

Dehqani also condemned the politically-tainted and double-standard behavior of certain states towards terrorism, and describing it as an obstacle on the way of decisive campaign against terrorism.

In relevant remarks in December, Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi voiced Iran’s strong support for all-out cooperation in the war on terrorism, but meantime underlined the need for identification and removal of the root causes of this devilish phenomenon.

"Extremism, terrorism and violence is not acceptable any noble and rooted culture, religion or nation. The Islamic Republic of Iran as the biggest victim of terrorist operations in the region and the world in the recent years expresses its readiness for comprehensive cooperation in fighting terrorism," Rahimi said in the 11th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit meeting in Kyrgyz Capital city of Bishkek at the time.

He further stressed Tehran’s emphasis on "the identification and eradication of the roots" of terrorism as a main task which needs to be taken by the international community.

Iran has long been a victim of the US and Israeli terrorism, specially state-sponsored nuclear terrorism. The US and Israeli spy agencies have admitted that they have assassinated Iran’s nuclear scientists and tried to infiltrate virus and other types of malware into Iran’s cyber network to hinder the country’s progress in the field of civilian nuclear technology.

Western spy agencies, collaborated by the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), have assassinated several Iranian scientists in the last three years.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the grouplet are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.

According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

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 argued for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.
2013-01-16
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107136313

Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani rapped the West’s double-standard policies and stances on human rights issues, saying that western states shelter terrorist groups like the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and award them in the name of defending human rights.

"Our people are familiar with the West’s discriminatory and hostile attitude towards the Islamic Republic of Iran," Larijani said in a meeting with Head of Iran-Germany Parliamentary Friendship Group Bijan Jirsarayee in Tehran on Wednesday.

Larijani rapped the double-standard polices and behavior of the western states towards the human rights issues in Iran.

On one hand, the western states shelter and support terrorist groups like the MKO (also known as the MEK, NCR and PMOI) and the PJAK terrorist group and cooperate with the US in imposing unilateral sanctions against Iran which have inflicted great losses on the Iranian people and is a blatant violation of human rights, and on the other hand, they suddenly emerge as advocates of human rights and grant awards to culprits in Iran as if they are defenders of human rights, he added.

The European Parliament announced that this year’s winners of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are two Iranian culprits, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film director Jafar Panahi. Sotoudeh is now imprisoned in Iran for security crimes and Panahi is a fugitive living outside Iran.

Also after the EU delisted the MKO from its list of foreign terrorist organizations, the US in September 2012 adopted the same measure. The decision made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the grouplet are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.

According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

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.

Leaders of the group have been fighting to shed its terrorist tag after a series of bloody anti-Western attacks in the 1970s, and nearly 33 years of violent struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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 argued for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

In recent years, MKO ringleaders have been lobbying governments around the world in the hope of acknowledgement as a legitimate opposition group.

The MKO spent huge sums of money over years lobbying for removal from the US terror list, holding rallies in European capitals and elsewhere that featured luminaries like former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge from the administration of George W. Bush. Former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was among those recently welcomed by the MKO to Paris.

The MKO is responsible for carrying out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian officials and civilians as well as the people of Iraq.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move.

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi condemned the removal of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, NCR and PMOI) from the US list of terrorist group, and said Tehran has detailed information about the various types of the western states’ support for the terrorist group.

"At present, we have precise information displaying that the US and sometimes European countries provide Monafeqin (hypocrites as they are called in Iran) with abundant facilities and equipments," Moslehi told reporters in Tehran on Monday, adding that Iran has envisaged and implemented plans to confront such supports and plots.

He said that the inimical stance shows that the arrogant powers are feeling desperate in their confrontation against the Iranian nation.

"These supports are meant to prevent annihilation of Monafeqin," the Iranian intelligence minister added.

The US State Department last Friday removed the MKO from its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The decision made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with American entities, the State Department said in a statement on Friday.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry last week condemned the US administration for striking the MKO (also known as MEK, NCR and PMOI) off the list of terrorist groups, saying the move displays Washington’s double standard policies.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement accused Washington of applying double standards in dealing with terrorism, reminding that the terrorist MKO is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iranian civilians.

The delisting of MKO was "a violation of America’s legal and international obligations" that could threaten US interests. The decision "will bring US responsibility for past, present and future terrorist operations by this group," the statement said.

The MKO is blacklisted by much of the international community.

Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

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.