Senior cleric raps US delisting of MKO ‎

Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami strongly ‎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. ‎ ‎

Addressing a large and fervent congregation of worshipers here in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah ‎Khatami said the US move demonstrated Washington's open animosity towards the Islamic ‎Republic.

‎"They showed through this action that they have stood up against the Islamic Republic. The US ‎has now become the center of campaign against the Islamic Revolution."

Last Friday, the US State Department 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 at the time.

Iran's first reaction came on Saturday when the Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement ‎condemned the US move and said it displayed Washington's double standard policies.

The statement rapped Washington for 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.‎

 

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