The Iran Policy Committee is recommending the removal of an Iranian opposition movement from the terroist list. Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) is the biggest anti-Iranian militant group and has been on the US terrorist list since 1997 and most European lists since 2002. (Resource: Council on Foreign Relations)Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) said: "The reason the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) ended up on the terrorist watch list was a sop to the mullahs. It was something that the previous administration did to mollify the mullahs and obtain some sort of rapprochement with Iran. That was the quid pro quo. In order for Iran to take one step forward, we had to show a good faith effort and that was to place the MEK on the terrorist watch list. Now we are questioning whether or not that was a good idea. I certainly do not think it was."
Support for removing MEK from the list appears to be bipartisan:
Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), opened the event and said: "The Iranian government is sponsoring terrorism, and developing nuclear weapons, meddling in the future of Iraq, and violating the fundamental human rights of their own people. The world community cannot afford to allow the Iranian mullahs to continue as a regional threat or grow into a nuclear threat. For too many years we have done nothing to help the Iranian people inside and outside of Iran in their struggle for democracy." Congressman Clay added: "I am troubled by the strategy of our government that treats the Iranian government and the Iranian opposition, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, as equal threats to peace and freedom. There is no logic in this reasoning."
A military strike to enact regime change should still be considered:
Lt. General Tom McInerney (USAF, ret.), former Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and an IPC Co-Chair, examined the military option and said: "The United States has the ability to target the known nuclear sites of Iran and delay its nuclear weapons program. With such capability in hand and in the context of failing diplomacy, we should leave the military option on the table." General McInerney added: "However, military alternatives have risks, which suggest that choosing the military option should be a last resort. Prior to taking military action, it is important to begin a regime change clock." McInerney concluded: "Regime change begins when the Great Powers remove Iranian opposition groups from so-called terrorist lists. I favor removing of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq from such lists; empowering the Iranian people by recognizing their main opposition groups; building an Arab political coalition to support these opposition groups; and eroding the legitimacy of Tehran regime to point where it collapses in face of determined efforts of the Iranian people working through dissidents and exiles."
The framing of the Iran issue continues to develop.
