Iranian Police Chief Slams Delisting of MKO as Terrorist Group
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari slammed certain Western countries for removing the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization’s (MKO) name from the list of terrorist organizations.
Today, terrorism is “a major global challenge” and no country can fight it alone, Brigadier General Ashtari said, addressing the 13th working group meeting of the International Police Organization (Interpol) under the framework of Project Kalkan in Tehran on Monday.
Therefore, he added, it is necessary to boost international cooperation to prevent organized crimes and combat terrorism.
The commander further criticized the international community’s inaction regarding MKO terrorists who continue their terrorist activities abroad after escaping from the country.
The MKO is a major terrorist group that has killed more than 12,000 innocent people in the country, he said, adding that it even committed massive crimes, including genocide and the massacre of 5,000 people of the Iraqi Kurdistan, under Saddam Hussein's rule.
“Unfortunately, for some unknown reasons, the name of this group was removed from the list of terrorist groups a while ago…,” Ashtari deplored.
The MKO - listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community - fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq and was given a camp by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
They fought on the side of Saddam during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-88). They were also involved in the bloody repression of Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq in 1991 and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
The notorious group is also responsible for killing thousands of Iranian civilians and officials after the victory of the Islamic revolution in 1979.
More than 17,000 Iranians, many of them civilians, have been killed at the hands of the MKO in different acts of terrorism including bombings in public places, and targeted killings.
Sponsored by Iran’s Police, the two-day meeting in Tehran has been attended by Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock, Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, and 75 guests representing the Interpol offices in the other countries.
