The European Parliament Thursday passed a written declaration calling on the U.S. to remove the People's Mujahideen of Iran from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

The resolution became official when more than half the members of the 736-seat chamber signed it, but support was nearly unanimous, a parliament official said. The resolution also called on Iraq to cease its blockade of Camp Ashraf, a settlement of more than 3,000 Iranian dissidents near the border between the two countries

The People's Mujahideen, which aims to overthrow the Iranian government, has been on the list since 1997, when the U.S.'s Clinton administration put it there in a bid to secure closer cooperation with Tehran.

In July, a U.S. federal appeals court ordered the State Department to reconsider its decision. The European Union removed the group from its list of terrorist organizations in 2009.

Specifically, the European Parliament demanded that EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton "urge" the U.S. to remove People's Mujahideen from the list. Mrs. Ashton hasn't yet responded, a spokeswoman said.

Read More

The United Nations human rights chief today voiced concern about the fate of human rights defenders in Iran, whose situation she says is becoming increasingly difficult.

Navi Pillay cited in particular the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was on hunger strike for several weeks in Tehran's Evin Prison....

"I am very concerned that Nasrin Sotoudeh's case is part of a much broader crackdown, and that the situation of human rights defenders in Iran is growing more and more difficult," said Ms. Pillay, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights. "I urge the Iranian authorities to review her case urgently and expedite her release."

 ...
Read More

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - Latin American nations need to be cautious with Iran and its motives when negotiating development of their nuclear capacities, the US defense chief warned here Sunday.

"I think that countries that are dealing with Iran in this arena need to be very cautious and very careful about how they interact with the Iranians in terms of what the Iranians motives might be and what they're really trying to do," US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told journalists ahead of a pan-American defense meeting

 ...
Read More