‘Removal of MKO from U.S. terrorist list was an anti-Iran measure’

TEHRAN,Oct.1(MNA) – The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday condemning the United States’ decision to remove the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from its list of terrorist groups. Part of the Foreign Ministry statement read that the U.S. government took another anti-Iran measure and proved that its actions are not based on logic. The U.S. has adopted a double-standard approach toward the issue of terrorism and its most recent decision in regard to the MKO ran contrary to its international commitments, it added. It was also noted in the statement that Iran holds the U.S. government responsible for the terrorist actions by this group in the past, at present, and in future. The statement added that the U.S. formally announced its support for acts of terrorism carried out by the group against Iranian, Iraqi, and even U.S. citizens. In addition, the Edalat (Justice) Society established by families of victims of terrorism issued a statement on Sunday saying that the U.S. decision will not erase the MKO’s dark record, which is replete with terrorist actions. The MKO started its activities as a terrorist group based in Iraq in the early 1980s. In addition to the assassination of hundreds of Iranian officials and citizens, the group cooperated with Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in its repression of the Iraqi people. The U.S. government characterized the MKO as a cult and designated it a terrorist group in 1997, holding it responsible for the assassinations of three U.S. Army officers and three civilian contractors before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.