Iran reacts to the new European sanctions over an alleged terror plot

Tabnak – While failing to fulfill its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the European Union has added to the existing complexities in its relations with Tehran by introducing new sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Reacting to the new sanctions, Iran blasts European countries for providing shelter for anti-Iran terror groups.

According to a Press TV, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has lambasted the European Union (EU) for harboring notorious MKO terrorists, warning that “accusing” Iran and imposing sanctions against the Islamic Republic will not “absolve” Europe of responsibility for housing members of the terror outfit.

Iran’s top diplomat made the remarks on Tuesday, hours after the EU froze the assets of an Iranian intelligence unit and two of its staff over terror charges. It was the first time the EU imposed sanctions on Iran since lifting an array of embargoes following Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

“Europeans, incl Denmark, Holland & France, harbor MEK—who killed 12000 Iranians & abetted Saddam's crimes against Iraqi Kurds—as well as other terrorists staging murder of innocent Iranians from Europe. Accusing Iran won't absolve Europe of responsibility for harboring terrorists,” Zarif said in a post on his official Twitter account.

The Iranian foreign minister referred to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO), a terrorist group which is detested for collaborating with the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during his war on Iran in the 1980s and killing thousands of Iranians in a violent campaign of assassinations and bombings, particularly in those years.

Earlier on Tuesday, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said in a tweet that the “EU just agreed to enact sanctions against an Iranian Intelligence Service for its assassination plots on European soil.” He further described the step taken by the union as a “strong signal from the EU that we will not accept such behavior in Europe.”

Also on Tuesday, the Netherlands government accused Tehran of hatching plots and involvement in two killings in 2015 and 2017, sending a letter, signed by the foreign and interior ministers, to the Dutch parliament to warn of further economic embargos if Tehran did not cooperate with European probes.

The letter said representatives from Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium had met Iranian officials to convey “their serious concerns regarding Iran’s probable involvement in these hostile acts on EU territory,” Reuters reported.