Senior MP condemns MKO's crimes against Iranians

A vice-speaker of the Iranian parliament reminded the crimes committed by the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) against the innocent Iranian civilians during the last three decades, and stressed that the terrorist group should be brought to justice as soon as possible.Addressing a parliament session here on Sunday, First Vice-Speaker of the parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar said that the MKO has carried out heinous and monstrous actions that are much more disgusting than the crimes committed by a number of the world criminals. He reminded the big criminal acts carried out by the MKO mercenaries against the Iranian nation during the revolution, and pointed to the assassination of Ayatollah Ashrafi Esfahani in 1982 as among the same major acts of terrorism conducted by the MKO. These days, people in Iran's Isfahan province are commemorating the 29th martyrdom anniversary of Ashrafi Esfahani, one of the four Friday Prayers Leaders and representatives of Imam Khomeini who were martyred by the terrorist MKO in the early era after the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets. The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran's new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981. The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country. The terrorist group joined Saddam's army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran. Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list. The MKO has been in Iraq's Diyala province since the 1980s.