Iran blasts UK for removing opposition group from terror list
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iran's Foreign Ministry blasted Britain on Wednesday for its decision to remove an Iranian opposition group from a list of banned terror organizations, saying the move was tantamount to support for terrorism.
Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the decision "discredits" Britain and asked European institutions not to be "influenced" by the "politically motivated" British move.
British lawmakers on Monday formally removed the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, or PMOI, from the country's list of banned terror groups.
The group is considered a terrorist organization in the United States and European Union, and it was banned in Britain in 2001. After a seven-year campaign by PMOI, the British Court of Appeal ruled in May that the group should no longer be proscribed.
The British lawmakers' decision followed up on that ruling.
"This measure by the British government ... is totally condemnable," Hosseini said in a statement. "By adopting a policy of supporting terrorist groups, it (Britain) is pursuing specific, provisional interests."