TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry strongly criticized France on Monday for hosting a meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group that Iran considers a “terrorist” organization. The People’s Mujahedin of Iran, also known as Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), held a gathering outside Paris on Saturday, while thousands of their supporters rallied in the French capital.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss were among the attendees, despite initial attempts by French police to ban the event.
Nasser Kanani, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, expressed strong condemnation of the French government’s decision to host the meeting in a tweet on Monday. In a separate statement, Kanani accused French statesmen of providing a platform for terrorists instead of rectifying past mistakes in supporting the “murderers” of the Iranian people. He urged the French government to prioritize the demands of its own citizens over supporting alleged terrorist groups.
Widespread Protests in France
France has been experiencing widespread protests following the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old of Algerian origin in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The ongoing demonstrations have raised concerns about security and public order in the country.
The MEK has been in exile from Iran since the early 1980s and is regarded with suspicion by many Iranians, including those opposed to the clerical authorities. In 2013, Albania accepted MEK members at the request of the United States and the United Nations, with thousands settling there over the past decade.
Last month, Albanian authorities conducted a raid on a MEK camp amid allegations that the group was involved in orchestrating cyber attacks against foreign institutions. Iran praised the raid, and Sepehr Khalaji, the head of the Iranian government’s information council, announced on Monday that Iran had received some of the hard drives seized during the operation, with data recovery efforts currently underway.
The MEK initially supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the Western-backed Shah. However, they later clashed with the new authorities and sought to overthrow the Iranian government. The group subsequently fled to Iraq and aligned themselves with former President Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.
