Press Release Contact: Prof. Raymond Tanter
For Immediate Release 202-249-1142
26 January 2009 rtanter@iranpolicy.org
EU Delists Main Iranian Opposition
that Bush Administration Listed as Terrorist
Washington, DC—On Monday, 26 January 2009, the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers decided not to renew the terrorist listing of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), the main Iranian opposition group. The decision came on the heels of the delisting of the group in the United Kingdom and several European Court of Justice decisions that found insufficient evidence for the EU designation.
According to IPC President and former member of the National Security Council Staff at the White House, Professor Raymond Tanter, "The EU decision represents an important example for the Obama administration of one means for reaching the Iranian people if Washington reaches out to Tehran with a new diplomatic initiative. The rulings in Europe are consistent with IPC research and could serve as justification for Washington also to delist the MEK as a terrorist organization."
According to General Thomas McInerney (Lt Gen, US Air Force Ret, Chair of the IPC Advisory Council), "The continued designation of the main Iranian opposition groups as terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department is unwarranted by the historical facts, contrary to the rule of law, and incompatible with the American interest to counter the threat of a surging Iran. Now that the European Union decided the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, (MEK) should not be listed as a terrorist organization, U.S. designation is out of step with our primary allies. Such continued designation encourages Baghdad to extradite the leadership of the main Iranian opposition groups from Iraq to Iran where they could be subject to persecution and provides a rationale for countries unwilling to accept the rank and file members of such opposition groups for fear of being threatened by the Iranian regime."
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