Boroujerdi Urges France to List MEK as a Terrorist Organization

Simultaneously with the visit of the French Foreign Minister to Tehran, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament called on his French counterpart to end the activities of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in France. According to the House of Representatives news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of this commission, on Wednesday, August 7, urged France to revert to its previous approach towards the MEK by including it in the list of terrorist groups. In July 2003, the French police raided the headquarters of the National Council of Resistance, the political branch of the MEK, in the suburbs of Paris, discovering $9 million in cash and arresting around 150 members of the group, including Maryam Rajavi, the wife of the MEK leader, Massoud Rajavi. Many of these individuals were released after interrogation. At that time, the French intelligence agency claimed that the group was attempting to carry out terrorist operations against Iranian diplomats and intelligence agents in Europe. However, in 2011, French judicial authorities dropped terrorism charges against 24 members of the National Council of Resistance, including Maryam Rajavi, issuing a non-prosecution order for the defendants in this case. Ultimately, on Wednesday, September 17, 2014, French judges announced that 9 other members of the MEK were also acquitted of money laundering and fraud charges, and their cases were closed. On the other hand, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs severely criticized the MEK in June of the previous year, accusing it of having 'undemocratic and violent ideals,' a 'cult-like nature,' and 'intense lobbying and efforts to spread misinformation.' The European Union placed the MEK on its list of terrorist organizations in May 2002 but refrained from including the National Council of Resistance of Iran on this list. The MEK was removed from the EU's list in 2009. The United States also removed the group from its blacklist in 2012. Boroujerdi's meeting with the head of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the French National Assembly coincided with the visit of Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister, to Tehran. Fabius met with President Hassan Rouhani and several Iranian government ministers during his visit on Wednesday. Boroujerdi also called for compensation for Iranian victims in the 'contaminated blood' case during his meeting with the French official. Fabius's visit faced opposition from groups, media, and conservative figures in Iran, who labeled him a 'Zionist' and brought up the issue of the contaminated blood exports from France to Iran nearly 30 years ago. However, Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi, Iran's Minister of Health, described the mention of the 'contaminated blood' issue ahead of Fabius's visit as having 'political' objectives.