An official at the Foreign Ministry said it is not "adequate" for France to merely describe the terrorist anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization as a "violent" group, as recently reported in the media.
The French Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it maintained "no contact" with MKO, according to media reports.
"Its [MKO's] violent and non-democratic inspiration has led several human rights organizations to underline its sectarian practices and its refusal to formally renounce violence," French Foreign Ministry spokesman, Romain Nadal, said at a press briefing on Wednesday, Press TV reported.
He was speaking following Iran's strong objection to a rally held in Paris by MKO.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned French Ambassador in Tehran Francois Senemaud on Tuesday to hand him a note of strong protest over the rally. When asked about media reports on Nadal's remarks, a source at the Foreign Ministry on Friday described the reported French position as "inadequate".
"Merely calling MKO terrorist and violent and pointing to its sectarian behavior is not enough," the source said. "The French position comes even as the French have in recent years consistently regarded themselves as one of the European victims of the terrorist activities … that are supported by certain reactionary countries and the godfathers and sponsors of Al Qaeda and Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group]."
The MKO gathering held in Paris last Saturday was attended by former Saudi spymaster Turki al-Faisal, who gave a 30-minute anti-Iran speech.
MKO has a bleak history of assassinations and bombings in Iran. The group is particularly despised by Iranians because it sided with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in its eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.
Egyptian Envoy Summoned
In another development, Iran summoned the caretaker of Egypt's Interests Section in Tehran over the presence of several Egyptian parliamentarians in the MKO gathering. The Foreign Ministry called in the Egyptian official on Wednesday and strongly protested Cairo's act of interference and support for the MKO terrorist organization.
The ministry said the participation of several Egyptian lawmakers in the MKO's gathering in France was a clear sign of interference in Iran's internal affairs and called on the Egyptian authorities to adopt a more responsible policy toward supporting stability in the region.
Stressing Egypt's commitment to non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, the official noted that Tehran's protest would be conveyed to the Egyptian authorities.
