Iran condemns London for removing MKO rebel group from terror list

Tehran  - Iran on Wednesday condemned the British parliament for removing the Iranian rebel People's Mujahedin group, widely known as MKO, from its terrorist list.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said in a press statement that the move as a "disgrace" due to the group's involvement in terrorist acts both in Iran and Iraq.

The British Appeal Court had last month ordered the British government to remove the MKO from the terrorist list.

Tehran immediately condemned the decision and accused Britain of adopting a double-standard approach towards terrorism.

Iran accuses the MKO of having been involved in several assassinations of high-ranking Iranian officials, including Iran's president and prime minister in 1980.

After the group was expelled from France in the 1980s, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein allocated a military base to the MKO near the border with Iran.

Before the collapse of Saddam, the MKO several times infiltrated Iranian territory, leading to clashes with Iranian forces and casualties on both sides.

The MKO remains on the terrorist list of the European Union and Iran's political arch-foe, the United States. (dpa)