| Iranian Judiciary Chief Sadeq Amoli Larijani in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Medhat Al-Mahmoud called on Baghdad to extradite the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, PMOI and NCR) to stand a fair tribunal in Tehran. |
"Most of these (MKO) people have admitted to their crimes and we expect the friendly and brotherly country of Iraq to extradite them to Iran within a legal framework to undergo a fair trial," Amoli Larijani said during the meeting.
He reminded that based on proof and evidence, the MKO members are responsible for the assassination of more than 17,000 Iranian citizens.
Also after the meeting with the Iraqi judiciary chief, Amoli Larijani told reporters that he has rigidly asked the Al-Mahmoud to prepare the grounds for the extradition of the MKO members to Iran to account for their crimes against the Iranians.
During their meeting on Sunday, the Iranian and Iraqi judiciary chiefs also explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating their bilateral ties.
The Iranian judiciary chief pointed to the status quo of Iran-Iraq relations, and said, "Tehran and Baghdad have signed four judicial agreements and we emphasized implementation of these agreements during Al-Mahmoud's visit."
The Iraqi judiciary chief arrived in Tehran on Saturday and he is due to confer with other high ranking officials, including President Hassan Rouhani and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, as well.
In mid-April, Iranian Justice Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi and his Iraqi counterpart Hassan al-Shammari in a meeting in Baghdad explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating mutual cooperation.
During the meeting, the Iranian and Iraqi justice ministers signed a memorandum of understating (MoU) on extradition of prisoners. According to the agreement, the Iranian and Iraqi justice ministries would set up a joint committee at the earliest to examine the situation of the prisoners and prepare the ground for their extradition.