NCRI – The main Iranian opposition, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), was placed on the US terrorist list as part of a quid-pro-quo with the Iranian regime, a regime official admitted on Saturday.
In an interview with the state-run Khabar Online website, a member of the regime’s parliamentary committee on national security, said, “The Monafeqin grouplet [regime’s derogatory term for the PMOI] was placed on the list of terrorist organizations in the US on the basis of a deal that was struck during the era of reforms,” referring to the start of the tenure of mullahs’ former president Mohammad Khatami in 1997.
Mohammad Karamirad added that, “At one point, the United States listed the Monafeqin as a terrorist group based on a deal struck during the reforms era. … In exchange for the Islamic Republic’s decision to suspend nuclear activities, they agreed to place the Monafeqin on the list of terrorist groups.”
Khabar Online added that the US State Department blacklisted the PMOI during the Clinton administration on October 8, 1997.
Karamirad also voiced frustration over the defeat of the regime’s ploys against Camp Ashraf, Iraq, where 3,400 PMOI members reside, and said, “Despite the will of the Iraqi people, government and parliament who want the Monafeqin expelled from their country, US and British support has led to the group’s continued presence in Iraq.”
