Today, we received reports confirming that the military offensive of the Iranian armed forces against the area of Penjwin, in Iraqi Kurdistan, continues, causing significant material damage and leading to the local population fleeing from their homes, the European Parliamentary inter-group Friends of a Free Iran (FOFI) said in a statement.
The group, which is comprised of numerous Members of the European Parliament, expressed its full solidarity with the victims of the attack and with the regional authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan (Kurdish Regional Government, KRG), and backed their appeal to Iran to immediately end the attack.
Friends of a Free Iran demands a clear and firm position from the European Union on behalf of the integrity and protection of the lives of the Penjwin Iraqi citizens, and indeed of Iraqi citizens elsewhere throughout Iraq. It expects the Allied forces to assume their responsibilities to stop this external aggression against the civilian population of Iraq, said the groups co-chairs Paulo Casaca MEP and Struan Stevenson MEP.
Casaca, a Socialist MEP for Portugal, heads the European Parliaments delegation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Stevenson, a Conservative MEP for Scotland, is Vice President of the ruling EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament.
The statement by FOFI noted with dismay that the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki yet again does not seem to show any interest in protecting their own Iraqi citizenry.
It accused the al-Maliki administration of being always keen to remain in tune with the desires of Teheran.
