US to remove Iran's opposition group (MEK) from terror list

The US is expected to remove the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-eKhalq (MEK) from its terrorist list, the Washington Post reported here Friday. The US newspaper cited senior administration officials who said that the State Department was preparing to remove MEK from the US government's terrorist list, "siding with advocates who say the controversial organization should be rewarded for renouncing violence and providing intelligence on Iran's nuclear program." It added, according to officials, that "the decision to begin the process of formally lifting the terrorist label is expected to be conveyed to Congress in documents as early as Friday." When asked to comment on this, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in her briefing that "what I can say is as part of the review process that we have made clear has been ongoing here for some time, the Department is now in the process of sending a classified communication from the Secretary (of State Hillary Clinton) to the Congress today regarding the designation of the MEK." She stressed that she was "not in a position to confirm the contents of this because it's classified, but we anticipate being able to make a public announcement about it sometime before October 1."