By IRNA,
London : Iran has castigated a court ruling in favour of deproscribing the exiled Mujahideen Khalq organization (MKO) from a British list of terrorist groups under current legislation.
The Iranian Embassy in London said it “strongly denounces” Wednesday’s judgement and “considers the ruling as a clear evidence of insincerity on the part of the Britain in its approach towards tackling terrorism specially in our region.”
The ruling to exclude the MKO “vividly ignored the nature, structure as well as a long record of atrocities of this terrorist cult against Iranian and Iraqi civilians throughout the past three decades,” the embassy said.
It “truly discredits the British position in combating terrorism,” it warned in a statement following a decision by three judges that rejected a British government appeal against a court ruling last November to deproscribe the MKO.
“This politically motivated ruling in no way acquits the British government from its responsibilities in an indiscriminatory fight against terrorism,” an embassy statement said.
“Undoubtedly the instrumental use from this terrorist group and lenity of some countries in dealing with terrorism ensue serious repercussions for international peace, security and our
relationships,” it said.
The British government responded to the ruling by threatening to enact new laws if necessary to ensure that public safety is not endangered by the deproscription of the terror group.
The MKO has “a long history of terrorism and this is why it was proscribed both in the UK and by other countries around the world,” Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said.
“We will ensure that the safety of the public is not in any way jeopardized by this and tighten legislation if necessary,” Smith said.
The terror group, which has carried out wholesale assassinations and terrorist acts in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was among the first organizations to be formally outlawed under Britain’s Terrorism Act 2000.
The British government had argued in the legal challenge that it was not convinced that the MKO has given up terrorism, describing its forced disarmament by US forces in Iraq as being “entirely pragmatic.” But the three judges, led by Lord Phillips, the lord chief justice, argued that the government “could not reasonably have formed the view” then that the MKO “intended in future to revert to terrorism.” The home secretary said that she will “consider the judgment carefully” but reportedly has no further recourse to appeal to the House of Lords, the UK’s highest judicial authority.
It is thought that Smith will eventually have to lay an order before parliament to deproscribe the MKO unless she includes an amendment to the new terrorism bill to overcome the legal ruling and keep the terror group on the UK’s list of banned organizations.