Crackdown Urged for Iranian Group on U.S. Terrorist List

For a group officially designated by both the Bush and Clinton administrations as a “foreign terrorist organization,” the People’s Mujaheddin of Iran has been remarkably active in the United States. Other groups on the State Department’s terrorism list — such as al Qaeda and Hamas — have been relentlessly hunted down, their assets confiscated, their supporters thrown into jail. By contrast, the Iranian group has established a substantial political presence in Washington — lobbying Congress, holding news conferences and raising funds to finance an armed uprising against the Islamic government in Tehran. Outraged by what they see as gaping inconsistencies in the government’s anti-terrorism policies, State Department officials are pushing for the freezing of the group’s financial assets and the closure of its Washington office. Their stance has been bolstered by a major crackdown against the Mujaheddin in Europe and a federal appeals court decision upholding the group’s designation as a terrorist organization. Full Story