WASHINGTON - The main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahideen Khalq, said on Friday it would challenge its listing by the United States as a "terrorist" organization in the U.S. courts.

The State Department included the group only as a sop to the new Iranian government, it added in a statement from its Washington office.

The group again denied the "terrorism" charge, raised by the State Department in a controversial 1994 report to Congress…

"It (the listing) is merely the continuation of a policy that began in the course of the Irangate fiasco as part of secret deals struck with the religious, terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran," the Mujahideen said in a statement.

The group noted that the new Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, has called on Washington to change its behavior and to show whether it was willing to accept what he called the realities of Iran.

"This leaves no ambiguity as to why the accusation of terrorism has been repeated against the Mujahideen," it added…

"A Goodwill Gesture to Tehran", The Los Angeles Times, October 9 

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright designated 30 foreign organizations as terrorist groups Wednesday…

Newly listed organizations include the People's Moujahedeen, an anti-Iranian guerrilla group based in Iraq that maintains an office in Washington and has parlayed its anti-Tehran activities into substantial support on Capitol Hill.

One senior Clinton administration official said inclusion of the People's Moujahedeen was intended as a goodwill gesture to Tehran and its newly elected moderate president, Moahammad Khatami…

U.S. Move on Iranian Resistance Welcomed in Tehran, Reuter, October 13 

DUBAI - A U.S. decision branding Iran's main rebel group "terrorists" is being seen in Tehran as the first positive sign of American goodwill towards the new government of Mohammad Khatami.

Washington last week named Mujahideen Khalq, Iran's main opposition group, among 30 foreign "terrorist" organizations…

Iran's Foreign Ministry said it expected the United States to fully apply the listing's legal consequences.

The newspaper Iran Daily, published by Iran's official news agency, on Monday welcomed the move against the group...

"It is not every day the Islamic Republic can welcome a decision taken in Washington, but just for a change it should, in response to the U.S. State Department move," the paper said.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who still wields weighty political influence in Tehran after being replaced as president by Khatami in August, on Friday spoke approvingly of the move.

He said Washington had been right to put the group's name on a list of 30 "foreign terrorist organizations,"…

An Iranian analyst said it was significant that Washington had addressed one of Tehran's main concerns as there had been many rumors about secret U.S. backing for the Mujahideen...

"… first reactions from Tehran were positive and if Washington could follow up with overtures on the assets and sanctions, things might move forward," the analyst said.

The Mujahideen were suppressed in a widespread crackdown launched in 1981. Iran's government brands the group terrorists. The Mujahideen has denied attacking civilians but has claimed responsibility for hitting military, economic and state targets.

Iran Hails Designation of Foes as "Terrorists", The Washington Times, October 12 

TEHRAN - Iran welcomed yesterday the U.S. decision Wednesday to declare the Iranian armed opposition Mujaheddin Khalq a "terrorist" group, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported…

The group is the most highly organized and military effective Iranian opposition to the Islamic fundamentalist regime in Tehran. It operates mainly from Iraq but has offices in Europe and the United States.

[Yesterday, in an statement, the Washington press office of the People's Mojahedin said: "It thus becomes clear how much the recent action by the US State Department serves the mullahs' repressive and terrorist objectives. Iran's rulers consider the report as a green light for further terrorist crimes against the Iranian Resistance...

[The Irangate scandal serves as a stark reminder that all efforts aimed at placating and finding a moderate faction within the clerical regime have utterly failed. Renewing such initiatives after Khatami's presidency and the formation of a triumvirate leadership, will again be futile.]

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