Senior MP Blasts US as Symbol of State-Sponsored Terrorism

A senior Iranian legislator lashed out at the US double-standard policy on terrorism, stressing that Washington is the main supporter of state-sponsored terrorism in the world.

"Despite chanting slogans about campaign against terrorism, the US is conducting state-sponsored terrorism," Head of the parliament's Human Rights Commission Zohreh Elahian said at a gathering here in Tehran on Monday on the human rights conditions in the US.

Referring to Washington's support for terrorist groups around the world, she reiterated that the White House has adopted a double-standard policy on human rights by providing support for the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).

"The MKO is supported by them and the issue has raised a global question," she added.

Elahian also condemned the Zionist lobby for their continued attempts to remove the MKO from the list of the US terrorist groups, reminding the MKO's long record of committing thousands of crimes against the Iranian nation.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a letter last year 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).

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.

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.

Some other ranking members of the MKO who have had a role in the assassination of a large number of Iranian citizens and officials are currently living in France.