EU parliamentarians emphasise support for Iran opposition

Iran Focus: Brussels, Nov. 03 – Parliamentarians from 22 European nations have called for the immediate referral of Iran’s nuclear file to the United Nations Security Council and the removal of Iran’s main opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK) from the EU’s terror list, according to a press release by the European Parliamentary group Friends of a Free Iran received by fax. Iran Focus

Brussels, Nov. 03 – Parliamentarians from 22 European nations have called for the immediate referral of Iran’s nuclear file to the United Nations Security Council and the removal of Iran’s main opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK) from the EU’s terror list, according to a press release by the European Parliamentary group Friends of a Free Iran received by fax.

A statement signed by the 260 members of the European Parliament and several parliaments in European countries also expressed support for a demonstration by Iranian exiles planned for November 7 in Brussels.

“Were it not for the revelations by the National Council of Resistance of Iran about Tehran’s secret nuclear program, especially the uncovering of the Natanz and Arak projects in August 2002, the mullahs would have most probably obtained the bomb by now”, the parliamentarians said.

The statement added that any further delay in referring Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons dossier to the Security Council would “allow the world’s sole terror sponsor regime to get closer to getting the bomb and undermining international peace and security”.

They criticised the EU for failing thus far to adopt a “decisive policy” in the face of Iranian threats. “Indeed, the EU-3 [Britain, France, and Germany”> foreign ministers and the Union’s foreign policy chief themselves acknowledged earlier that Tehran should have been referred to the Security Council three years ago”.

They called on the EU to “annul the pledges” it had made to Tehran in the course of the nuclear negotiations which have now broken down. These included keeping the MeK on the EU’s list of terrorist organisations. “Victimising those who informed the world of the danger of a religious dictatorship arming itself with nuclear arms, in a deal with the very same regime, has constituted the biggest incentive to the mullahs to continue their nuclear programs. Removal of the PMOI (a.k.a. MeK) from the terrorism list can be the most influential factor in compelling the Iranian regime to comply with international law”, the lawmakers emphasised.

“In this respect, we fully support the November 7 rally outside the EU headquarters in Brussels in which the participants will call for the immediate referral of Iran’s nuclear file to the U.N. Security Council”, the European lawmakers said.

They cited the “dramatic rise” in the number of executions, particularly of minors, and the widespread arrests of young people as examples of the deteriorating state of human rights in Iran under the presidency of hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while urging the EU to adopt a firm position against the theocratic regime and “stand with the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom”.