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Iran condemns U.S. for removing MKO from terror list

Iran Materials 29 September 2012 23:38 (UTC +04:00)
A top Iranian lawmaker condemned on Saturday Washington for taking Mojahedin Khalq Organization off the U.S. terrorism list, MEHR NEWS reported.
Iran condemns U.S. for removing MKO from terror list

A top Iranian lawmaker condemned on Saturday Washington for taking Mojahedin Khalq Organization off the U.S. terrorism list, MEHR NEWS reported.

"The United States formally announced its support for the munafiqin (MKO) group with this measure," said Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini, the rapporteur of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

"It is natural that the United States will be henceforth directly responsible for any terrorist act carried out by this group because, due to this measure of the United States, members of the group will be able to travel everywhere and transfer their assets and continue their crimes," Naqavi-Hosseini told the Mehr News Agency.

U.S. State Department on Friday formally removed the group from the terror list after sending a classified opinion to Congress earlier in September.

The organization had been designated a terror group by the U.S. since 1997.

According to BBC, the State Department said its decision had been taken in view of the MKO's public renunciation of violence.

But in its statement, the State Department said it had not forgotten the group's past.

"With today's actions, the department does not overlook or forget the MKO's past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of U.S. citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on U.S. soil in 1992," it said.

Velayati said the U.S. is aware of the fact that the group has conducted many acts of terror in Iran and other countries.

Iran says the MKO is responsible for the deaths of more than 12,000 Iranians over the past three decades, including senior government officials.

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