Tehran, Iran (Washington Insider Magazine) – United States officials have been placed on the Iranian administration’s “blacklist” because of Washington’s support for a group that Iran regards as a “terrorist” organisation.
According to Al Jazeera, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an organization that openly advocates for replacing the existing Iranian administration, received “deliberate support” from 61 former and present American officials, according to a list the Iranian foreign ministry published on Saturday.
The Iranian regime has already banned some of the people, including former State Secretary Mike Pompeo.
Senators Cory Booker and Ted Cruz, former national security adviser Lincoln Bloomfield, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy were among those sanctioned.
According to the Iranian foreign ministry, the people supported the group by taking part in its activities and supplying political and media assistance.
The Iranian administration claims that over several decades, the MEK has killed around 17,000 Iranians, many of them children and women.
The MEK was one of the organizations that backed Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew dynasty authority. However, it eventually turned into one of the primary rivals of the clerical regime and used violence to overthrow it.
In the early years after the revolution, the organisation has taken credit for a number of murders and bombings. Additionally, it supported Saddam Hussein throughout his 8-year attack of Iran in the 1980s and fought alongside him.
The US and EU both categorised the MEK as a “terrorist” organisation, although it was removed from those lists more over ten years ago when it pledged to stop using violence.
Since then, US government representatives, particularly Republicans who openly favor overthrowing Iran’s current regime, have frequently attended MEK demonstrations and shown their support.
Iranian officials have accused Albania, France, and Sweden of harbouring terrorists since the organisation has organised demonstrations and maintains bases in various European countries, including those three.
In 2021, Iran first imposed sanctions on US government representatives. It banned individuals including former president Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for their part in planning and carrying out the killing of its top commander, Qassem Soleimani.
In response to allegations of supporting terrorism and violating the human rights of the Iranian citizens through unilateral sanctions, it then broadened that list in January and then imposed additional sanctions in April.
Since the people aren’t believed to have any assets or business interests in Iran and don’t visit the country, the sanctions are viewed as purely symbolic.
The US has continued to impose sanctions to put further pressure on Iran’s economy as attempts to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and international powers have faltered.
Under Trump, the US unilaterally ended the nuclear agreement in 2018 and enacted severe, all-encompassing sanctions that President Joe Biden has since continued to uphold.
