Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs Mahdi Safari has lamented the European Union’s “double-standard and hypocritical” approach toward terrorism and warned about dire consequences of compromise with terrorists.
The comments by Safari came as foreign ministers of the 27-nation EU removed the name of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from its terror list on January 26.
The behavior of certain European countries toward terrorism is “politically motivated”, Safari said as he summoned EU ambassadors to protest against the decision on Wednesday.
Pointing to the EU’s international and domestic commitments to combating terrorism, he called the decision “political and unacceptable”.
Safari bewailed the fact that some European countries are interacting with terrorists to achieve their “illegitimate and temporary purposes”.
The MKO was given “carte blanche” after the EU removed its name from terror list, he said, adding that the EU itself will be responsible for the consequences of its decision.
Pointing to the sensitive situation in the region, he pointed out that terrorists are trying to destabilize the region.
Any cooperation with these groups will help intensify their destructive activities and give rise to regional insecurity, he explained.
The Czech diplomat whose country chairs the EU rotating presidency vowed to notify the block of Iran’s views as soon as possible.
The official also underscored the importance of campaign against terrorism and expressed hope that Iran-EU cooperation will continue in this regard and produce positive results.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=188584
The family members of victims of MKO terrorist attacks have cautioned the EU against becoming the organization’s “partner in crime”.
“As victims of MKO terrorism, we advise the European Union 
not to turn into the group’s collaborator in their atrocities against the Iranian nation,” reads a statement from the family members.
The victims had gathered in front of the British embassy in Tehran in protest at a recent decision to remove the group known as the ‘Rajavi cult’ from a list of banned terrorist groups in the EU.
“When Masoud Rajavi and his group launched their terrorist attacks in Iran in 1981, European counties not only did not condemn their atrocities but also gave them refuge in their countries,” adds the statement.
The Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), which identifies itself as a Marxist-Islamist guerilla army, was founded in Iran in the 1960s but was exiled some twenty years later for carrying out numerous acts of terrorism inside the country.
The terrorist group is especially notorious for the help it extended to former dictator Saddam Hussein during the war Iraq imposed on Iran (1980-1988).
The group masterminded a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, one of which was the 1981 bombing of the offices of the Islamic Republic Party, in which more than 72 Iranian officials were killed, including then Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.
“The Rajavi cult has conducted its campaign of terror in Iran with the support of the European governments and from their safe havens inside the European capitals,” the families said.
In recent months, high-ranking MKO members have been lobbying governments around the world to acknowledge the dissidents as those of a legitimate opposition group.
During the revolution in Iran, the group criticized Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for releasing the American diplomats, arguing that they should have been executed instead.
The United States and Canada have refused to drop the MKO from their lists of terrorist organizations.
The group has also been engaged in cult-like activities such as psychological coercion techniques and physical abuse.
The group has also resorted to ‘forced sterilization’ as a strategy to prevent members from leaving the group.
Iran has filed a complaint to the UN on the recent EU decision to remove the Mujahedin Khalq Organization from its list of terror groups. 
"The European Union must realize that a political approach to terrorism, which threatens the lives and security of people around the world, is totally unacceptable for the global public opinion," Iran’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaei, wrote in a Wednesday letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"The EU’s politically motivated decision will not change the terrorist nature of the group. It will not ‘turn the page’ of history on the cult’s terrorist activities and massacre of innocent civilians, nor will it cleanse the terrorist group of its criminal past," he added.
Khazaei added that the removal of the group from the European list of terror organizations had caused great pain for over 14 thousand people who had lost their family members in MKO terror attacks.
The Iranian envoy called on the EU to revise its decision by sending a collection of evidence it has to European courts explaining the terrorist nature of the MKO, and resolving the technical objections that had led to the court ruling.
On Monday EU ministers removed the exiled anti-Iran group from their list of terror organizations, following a European court ruling in favor of the group, which has accepted responsibility for many deadly attacks against Iranian and Iraqi civilians and cooperated actively with the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
In one of their deadliest attacks, the MKO carried out a 1981 bombing that killed Iranian Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohmmad Beheshti and 71 other senior officials.
Among their most recent terror activities is the 1999 assassination of the chief-of-staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Ali Sayad Shirazi, just outside his house in the early hours of April 10th, as he was preparing to leave for work.
MKO is notorious for the cult like tactics it uses against its members, and the murder and torture of its defectors.
Numerous articles and letters posted on the internet by family members of MKO recruits confirm reports of the horrific abuse that the group inflicts on its own members and the luring recruitment methods it uses.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail.aspx?id=84026§ionid=351020101
Iran devising plan to try Mojahedin Khalq members as EU ministers endorse the terrorist group
Iran is mulling over a plan to take terrorist MKO members to court following the European Union’s decision to lift a ban on the group.
Iranian lawmakers are devising a plan to try the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) members who have taken an active part in terrorist activities against the country.
“The plan was conceived after the European Union decided to remove the MKO from its blacklist, prompting the Islamic Republic to take the required steps on the issue,”Member of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) Heshmatollah told Mehr news agency on Monday.
According to the lawmaker, the trials would be held either in the Islamic Republic or outside the country. The MKO members who have not participated in the organization’s terrorist activities are allowed to return home, he added.
Earlier on Monday the EU removed the group from its blacklist, although the organization is recognized as a terrorist group by much of the international community, including the US.
The MKO is responsible for numerous acts of violence against Iranian civilians and government officials. Iran has repeatedly called for the expulsion of the MKO members from Iraq, which has been housing them since 1986.
The Iraqi government, in response, has ordered the members to leave their headquarters, Camp Ashraf, and return to Iran or take refuge in a third country. Iraq blames the group for conducting a significant role in destabilizing the Baghdad government.
Several members of the group have now defected from the organization and returned to Iran. According to a May 2005 Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group imprisons defectors and even tortures them.
Defectors accuse the group of resorting to mind control in an effort to brainwash supporters and to establish a cult mindset among members.
Protests in Tehran against EU removing PMOI group from terror list
Hundreds of Iranian students, pupils and families of veterans of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) staged a protest gathering in Tehran Sunday against the decision by European Union foreign ministers to remove the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) from their list of terrorist organizations.
The crowd first gathered in front of the French embassy in Tehran and shouted slogans against France and the EU for their intention to approve the decision in favour of the PMOI at a meeting Monday in Brussels.
The official news agency IRNA reported that a similar protest gathering was to be held later Sunday in front of the German embassy in Tehran but according to the demonstrators themselves, the next protest gathering would be on Monday in front of the British embassy.
The EU move followed a ruling by the European Court in Luxembourg, which in December said the EU was wrong to keep the PMOI’s assets frozen after it was taken off a British list of terrorist organizations.
Iran regards PMOI as a terror group due to its involvement in the assassinations of several high-ranking Iranian officials, including the president and prime minister in 1980.
After the group was expelled from France in the 1980s, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein allocated a military base to the PMOI near the border with Iran.
Before the ouster of Saddam, the PMOI frequently infiltrated Iranian territory, leading to clashes with Iranian forces and casualties on both sides.
Middle East
Two Iranian exiles detained on Sunday. Iran is demanding that Finland extradite two Iranian men whom it accuses of being members of the MKO organisation, which it considers a terrorist group.
The two were stopped while entering Finland on Sunday.
The chairwoman of the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, Heidi Hautala (Green) says that the men came to Finland to take part in preparations for the visit of the organisation’s leader Maruam Rajavi, who was invited to Finland by the Parliament’s human rights group.
Officials held the two at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol.
Helsingin Sanomat has learned that the warrant was issued at the request of Iran. There was no suspicion that the two would commit crimes while in Finland.
The police kept the two in custody from Sunday until the Wednesday court hearing.
Police asked the court to allow the two to be kept in jail until Finland decides on Iran’s extradition request.
The court let the men go, but they were ordered not to leave the country.
The Ministry of Justice will decide on the extradition request. Helsingin Sanomat was not able to reach Minister of Justice Tuija Brax (Green).
“It is very dangerous to let them go even for a short time, as they can flee. The Finns are not used to these kinds of people”, said Iranian Ambassador Reza Nazarahari to Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday evening.
He says that the two should be handed over to Iran to face trial (…)
Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Section: General News – Iran strongly condemned the United States for double standards in its treatment of terrorist groups such as the MKO.
"The Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by many countries. The US State Department has also identified the group as a foreign terrorist organization," Iran’s mission to the UN said in a letter to The Chicago Tribune published on Tuesday.
The letter added, "It is regrettable, and certainly a sign of outright double standards, that the US shelters this terrorist group. US media give its spokespeople free space to disseminate their political propaganda."
The MKO launched terrorist operations against Iran following the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88). The group is also known to have cooperated with Iraq’s US-backed former dictator Saddam Hossein in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
The terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks against Iranian officials and civilians.
In October, Seyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, head of the Iranian based human rights group, Habilian Association, accused US military forces in Iraq of colluding with the MKO to "address the interests of America".
"The US has entered into a contract with the MKO, declaring this terrorist organization as being protected by the international law," he said, adding that such double standards have led to the protection of terrorists by America in the past five years.
Whilst ostensibly keeping the MKO on its terror list, the US recently granted citizenship to 16 leading members of the group and according to a senior Iraqi lawmaker, the US is studying the records of certain MKO members to select those who may help American forces pursue their anti-Iran goals.
Tuesday’s letter to The Chicago Tribune stated, "It is imperative that the next US administration recognizes the true nature of individuals and groups that purport to speak for democracy and yet have a discredited record of violence, suppression of internal dissent and dangerous, totalitarian ideology."
A change in the US attitude toward such groups would be ‘a positive step’ forward in the fight against global terrorism, added the letter, concluding, "These groups lack the slightest legitimacy in the eyes of the Iranian people because of their common cause with the enemies of Iran."
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
The MKO is on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze, and has been designated by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visits Brussels and despite the ban enjoys 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).
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to 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 30 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 also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.
The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s. – FNA
Hatred towards the Mojahedin Terrorists is an indication of close ties between the people of Iran and Iraq
In a meeting with a number of Iraqi cultural figures as well as academicians in Tehran on Monday, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani said, "From the start of the US and other occupiers’ invasion of Iraq, we described the military campaign as a ‘quandary.’ Now, years after the assault, the occupiers are in reality mired in Iraq’s quagmire."
"Colonial acceptance has no place in Muslim states particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan and if the occupiers seek to linger in these two countries under any pretext, they should satisfy public demands," he added.
According to Press TV, the Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council meanwhile termed the Iraqi nation as prudent and resistant, adding that the high turnout of Iraqis at the parliamentary elections was a true representative of their commitment to Islamic values.
He noted that Tehran calls for Iraq’s perseverance of territorial integrity as well as the establishment of stability and tranquility in the war-torn country.
Hashemi Rafsanjani meanwhile called on Iraqi scholars and academician to seal a bright future for their country through teaching and training Iraqi students.
The Ayatollah also referred to the Iranian and Iraqi nations’ hatred towards the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) as an indication of close ties and feelings between the officials and people of the two countries.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
The MKO is on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze, and has been designated by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visits Brussels and despite the ban enjoys 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).
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to 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 30 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 was 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.
The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s. – FNA
Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Jordan’s Ambassador to Tehran Ahmad Jalal al-Mefleh on Saturday to voice Iran’s protest against Amman’s support for the terrorist group, Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, and participation of the Arab country’s officials at an MKO banquet in Paris.
The Jordan’s ambassador was asked to obtain explanation from his country officials.
The Jordanian envoy, for his part, vowed to convey Iran’s protest to his country’s officials.
Al-Mefleh said Jordan’s foreign minister, on the sidelines of NAM foreign ministers meeting in Tehran, had stressed that the country does not recognize the terrorist group.
He emphasized that the Kingdom severed ties with the MKO in 1998.
A total of 33 Jordanian officials, including the vice-speaker and 11 other members of the country’s parliament, took part in a rally organized by the MKO in Paris in June.
The rally was aimed to mount pressure on the European Union to remove the MKO from the EU’s terrorist list.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
The MKO is on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze, and has been designated by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization.
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 Iran-Iraq war.
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to 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 30 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.
Along with at least six other sites in Iraq, Camp Ashraf was given to the MKO as their headquarters and training site by the former Iraqi dictator.
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.
The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s. The future of the MKO in Iraq is uncertain and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said he is looking for ways to end their presence.
The Iraqi government and parliament have given the terrorist group six months to leave the country.
Iran mulls repatriation for members of dissident group in Iraq – envoy Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad comments on a recent ultimatum issued by the Iraqi government giving the Iranian dissident group Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) six months to leave the country. In an interview with Iranian state television (IRTV1) Hasan Kazemi-Qomi said, "Apart from their criminal leadership, many members of this little group are repentant and regretful. In the past couple of years we have witnessed a number of them repatriated and returned to their families. What they explained is a picture of dejection and suffering. Many have endured hardship and they would have taken any opportunity to remove themselves from this grouplet earlier had it been available. Currently, many of them those who were duped and are repentant, would like to return to Iran and we would have to review this matter. "
BBC Monitoring Middle East