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Iran summons Slovenian envoy over PM’s participation in anti-Iran terrorist group's meeting

The file photo shows a view of the Iranian Foreign Ministry building in Tehran.

Iran has summoned Slovenian envoy to Tehran to protest an “unacceptable and undiplomatic” move by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who participated in a hybrid physical and virtual meeting organized by the anti-Iran Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group.

In a meeting on Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s director general for Mediterranean and East European affairs handed over an official letter of protest to Slovenian Ambassador to Tehran Christina Radi.

In the letter, Tehran voiced its vehement condemnation of the Slovenian premier's move, while strongly rejecting all baseless allegations raised against the Islamic Republic during the meeting.

Radi was notified that the Slovenian prime minister’s participation in the virtual meeting organized by a terrorist group that is loathed by the great Iranian nation and his unrealistic and groundless remarks run counter to the diplomatic norms and to the spirit of bilateral relations.

The Slovenian diplomat was also reminded that supporting a terrorist group is in violation of the UN Charter, the internationally-recognized principles and the human rights values.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry official called on the Slovenian government to provide the necessary explanation for the move.

The Slovenian ambassador, for her part, said she would immediately convey the Iranian government’s protest to the respective officials of her country.

EU foreign policy chief: Slovenian PM’s remarks not EU’s position

Later on Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a phone call to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and while strongly condemning Slovenian prime minister's remarks on Iran during his virtual address to the MKO meeting, asked Borrell for explanations about Jansa's unacceptable remarks and EU’s positions on those remarks.

During the phone call, Borrell expressed regret about the Slovenian prime minister’s remarks, whose country is the rotational head of the EU, noting that Jansa’s remarks at the MKO meeting do not reflect the EU’s stance on relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

He added that positions of the EU on any matter are adopted by head of the European Council and are only announced by its foreign policy chief. Therefore, Borrell said, Slovenian prime minister’s remarks by no means represent EU’s viewpoints.

The event linked MKO terrorists at their camp in Albania with hired supporters among US senators, British MPs and French lawmakers on Saturday.

The summit also featured speeches by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Slovenian premier.

Infuriated by the massive participation of Iranians in the June presidential election, Pompeo claimed in his online address that the vote was "in fact, a boycott and the regime knows it.”

Similarly, Maryam Rajavi, leader of the MKO terrorist cult and president of its umbrella National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), alleged that the poll was a "sham.”

In response, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Saturday denounced the presence of certain Western politicians in the virtual meeting, saying they are selling themselves cheap for the circus.

Khatibzadeh tweeted, “Bought Western politicians (incl #LyingCheatingStealing Pompeo) sell themselves cheap for a Europe-hosted circus arranged by a once Saddam-backed terrorist cult with Iranian blood on its hands.”

After it was founded more than 50 years ago, the MKO launched a campaign of bombings and assassinations in Iran. Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist attacks over the past four decades, about 12,000 have fallen victim to the group’s acts of terror.

The ill-famed terror group currently enjoys freedom of activity in Albania after being delisted by the European Union and the United States in 2009 and 2012, respectively.

Regardless of its disrepute around the world, the MKO has in recent years held numerous big events, attended by senior American, Israeli and Saudi officials, including former US Senator John McCain, former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton, former US Senator Joe Lieberman, and former director of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency Turki bin Faisal Al Saud.


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