U.S. paying lip service to campaign against terrorism: Iranian Majlis speaker

TEHRAN,Oct.2(MNA)– Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said that the United States’ decision to remove the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from its list of terrorist groups illustrates that this country is paying lip service to the campaign against terrorism. The U.S. State Department formally removed the MKO, whose members are known as munafiqin (hypocrites who claim to be Muslims) in Iran, from its official list of terrorist organizations on Friday. Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Monday, Larijani stated, “Their remarks about the campaign against terrorism, democracy, and human rights are only lip service, and they are actually seeking for a lackey who listens to them, and it will not be a problem for them even if he is a terrorist.” “Such a measure is a very crude measure. In fact, they revealed their true nature with this measure,” he added. Larijani also said, “The United States suddenly paved the way for the removal of the munafiqin group from its terrorist list, and they (have) actually flouted international norms and humanitarian principles through such measures.” He added that the U.S. decision revealed this fact to the Iranian people that “the Americans are an accomplice to those who assassinated Iran’s leaders and scholars.” The measure was a demonstration of hostility toward the Iranian people, Larijani said, adding that MKO members are “political dead”, he added. 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.