Iranian group urges EU to scrap terrorist listing

Reuters, Brussels – An Iranian opposition group urged European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday to take its armed wing off the bloc’s terrorism list, saying its inclusion was in breach of a European court ruling. 

The European court of First Instance last year annulled an EU move to freeze the funds of the People’s Mujahideen, the armed wing of France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran which says it renounced military activity in 2001.

Reuters, Brussels – An Iranian opposition group urged European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday to take its armed wing off the bloc’s terrorism list, saying its inclusion was in breach of a European court ruling. 

The European court of First Instance last year annulled an EU move to freeze the funds of the People’s Mujahideen, the armed wing of France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran which says it renounced military activity in 2001.

But the 27 nation-bloc has kept the group on its blacklist, saying the court, Europe’s second highest, only annulled an old list and not its most recent version, where the group also appears.

“This makes a mockery of the rule of law,” Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said in Brussels.

“The resistance of a nation against religious fascism has been unjustly labelled as terrorist for economic interests,” she said of accusations the European Union did not want to upset the Tehran leadership for fear of damaging major trade ties.

“This is the moment of choice for leaders of Europe, the choice between respecting the rule of law and arbitrary behaviour,” she told a news conference where the group produced a list of around 50 EU lawmakers it said supported their assertion.

The court had annulled the bloc’s decision to blacklist the group for failing to give a fair hearing or adequate reasons. An EU official said the bloc has meanwhile sent the group a letter informing it of the reasons behind its inclusion on the list.

The EU’s terrorism list is not on the agenda of the talks on Thursday and Friday of the bloc’s leaders, which are to focus on fighting climate change.