Iran summons the Italian ambassador for hosting the leader of an organization they consider terrorist

July 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned this Thursday the Italian ambassador in Tehran, Giuseppe Perrone, to protest the decision of the Italian Parliament to welcome the leader of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), Maryam Rajavi, group considered terrorist by the Iranian authorities.

In addition, they have described the meeting between some Italian legislators and Rajavi as “a clear example of promotion and motivation of terrorism”, as published by the Mehr news agency.

“The Islamic Republic (of Iran) does not tolerate support for terrorism of any kind and categorically disapproves of it. (…) All the governing mechanisms of the civilized world seek the punishment of terrorists, since allowing them to act freely translates into the destruction of the law and the freedom of law-abiding people,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

“There is no doubt that any measure in support of terrorism adopted by anyone anywhere is condemned,” he added, while at the same time ensuring that he respected the sovereignty of other countries and the protection of freedom of expression.

Iran has warned Italy that “supporting terrorism” will not guarantee benefits or constructive relations with the country, and will “seriously” damage the image Iranians have.

According to the ministry, the PMOI is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and government officials since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in which “close to 12,000 Iranians” have been killed.

It has also ensured that the European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan had included the PMOI in their lists of terrorist groups, although as of 2012 they all began to eliminate this designation.

The PMOI, which actively participated in the revolution that overthrew Shah Reza Pahlavi with an Islamist discourse mixed with an adaptation of Marxist ideology, fought on the side of Saddam Hussein’s regime in the war with Iran between 1980 and 1988 after denouncing the actions of the religious dome established by the ayatollahs.

The group was persecuted by the religious authorities established in Iran, which led the then leader of the group, Masud Rajavi, to reach a pact with Hussein in 1986 in the middle of the war between the two countries, after which the then supreme leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, ordered the execution of alleged members and sympathizers of the organization.