The government has been outspoken in criticizing France for hosting rallies organized by the banned Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization group, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in remarks to calm skeptical lawmakers.
While Zarif was in Paris on a two-day visit in June 2017, the French government allowed the MKO to stage a protest rally there, which drew the ire of the top diplomat and other officials.
Zarif was in the parliament on Sunday, where lawmaker Javad Karimi Qoddusi, a strong vocal critic of the government, questioned his decision to go ahead with the 2017 trip when it could, he claimed, have been rescheduled to avert the coincidence.
"It is not diplomatically wise to cancel a trip because of a hated terrorist group…Our stance vis-a-vis France is in line with the [principled] policies of the Islamic Republic," responded Zarif, as quoted by IRNA.
He censured the French policy to welcome the MKO's anti-Iran gatherings. "We regard this as an unacceptable act of support for terrorism and have always explicitly communicated our position to the French government. I reiterated this stance in a phone call yesterday with France's Foreign Minister [Jean-Yves Le Drian]."
The phone talks covered bilateral ties, the 2015 nuclear deal and regional developments. Iran, on Friday, dismissed a call by Le Drian for negotiations on Tehran’s future nuclear plans, its stockpile of ballistic missiles and its role conflicts in the volatile region. MKO is designated a terrorist organization by Iran and Iraq. It was also considered as such by the United States and the EU until 2012 and 2009, respectively. The notorious group is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks against civilians and senior government officials in Iran after the 1979 revolution and is estimated to have killed over 17,000 people.
It also fought against Iran in the Iraq-imposed war (1980-88) and helped former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the brutal crackdown of his opponents, especially from the Shia and Kurdish groups. Zarif concurred that Iran's differences with the European power go far beyond the MKO issue.
"Presence of the terrorist group in France is not the only issue; we are also at odds with Paris over its backing for the Zionist regime (Israel), terrorist outfits in Syria, and the Saudi genocide in Yemen, and we raise all these issues in bilateral meetings."
President Talabani’s Funeral
Lawmakers criticized Zarif for attending the funeral ceremony of Jalal Talabani in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, in October 2017, to pay a tribute to the late Iraqi president, while his coffin was wrapped in a flag representing Kurdish separatists instead of Iraq's national flag.
Zarif’s participation came amid escalating tensions between Iran and the Kurdistan Regional Government over the latter's independence referendum last September. The vote was strongly condemned by the government in Baghdad plus Iran and Turkey. The minister said he was complying with a collective decision by the Supreme National Security Council and other authorities.
"The decision to participate in Talabani's funeral was agreed at the highest levels of the SNSC, over which the authorities in the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, the Quds Force had consensus. It was essential that I represent the Islamic Republic of Iran in the ceremony."
He recalled that he was the only foreign dignitary who refused to bow as he was laying a wreath on the coffin of the late Iraqi leader. "We have extensive and influential presence in Iraq, which made it necessary for me to attend the ceremony, along with some IRGC commanders," Zarif told the chamber.
He assured the MPs that any agreement emerging from the ongoing negotiations between the five Caspian Sea littoral state over the share of the sea territory and resources would require parliamentary approval before going into effect.
