Changes
Iran
,restored. why for removing, please?
In May 2007, the Iranian Government charged and in some cases imprisoned a handful of innocent Iranian-American scholars, civil society actors, and journalists, accused by the regime of jeopardizing the security of the state. The international community, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private citizens have joined the U.S. Government in calling for the release of the detained dual nationals, as well as Iranian cooperation in the case of missing retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, last reported on Kish Island, Iran, on March 8, 2007.
An article in the [[Asia Times Online]] by an Indian diplomat asserts that the United States is providing aid to rebels in [[Iran]], who are currently engaged in a revolt against the [[Tehran]] government. [[Stratfor]], a think tank with ties to the American military and intelligence establishments, reported that militant anti-government groups are receiving aid from foreign intelligence agencies. In addition Stratfor stated, "The US-Iranian standoff has reached a high level of intensity ... a [[Low intensity warfare|covert war]] [is] being played out ... the United States has likely ramped up support for Iran's oppressed minorities in an attempt to push the Iranian regime toward a negotiated settlement over Iraq." The state controlled [[media of Iran]] reported that this is an attempt to stir up sectarian violence inside Iran. An Asian Times article refers to this as part of a U.S. policy of continuous fomenting of ethnic strife and sponsorship of terrorism in Iran.<ref name="Asia Times">{{cite journal
|first=M. K.
|last=Bhadrakumar
|date=[[February 24]], [[2007]]
|title=Foreign devils in the Iranian mountains
|publisher=[[Asia Times Online]]
|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IB24Ak01.html
}}</ref><ref name="ZAHEDAN">[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/15/world/middleeast/15tehran.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Car bomb in Iran destroys a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards] The New York Times</ref>
====Jundullah====
The [[Sunni]] militant organization [[Jundallah]] has been identified as a terrorist organization by Iran and Pakistan<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/16/iran.bombing/|title=2nd blast in 3 days hits Iranian city|publisher=CNN|date=2007-02-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsAug2004/cover1Aug2004.htm|title=Al-Qaeda's New Face|publisher=Newsline|date=2004-08-15}}</ref>. According to an April 2007 report by [[Brian Ross (journalist)|Brian Ross]] and [[Christopher Isham]] of [[ABC News]], the [[United States government]] had been secretly encouraging and advising the Jundullah in its attacks against Iranian targets. This support is said to have started in 2005 and arranged so that the United States provided no direct funding to the group, which would require congressional oversight and attract media attention.<ref>[http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/abc_news_exclus.html TThe Secret War Against Iran]</ref> The report was denied by [[Pakistan]] official sources <ref name="Rood"> Justin Rood and Gretchen Peters, [http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/pakistan_denoun.html Pakistan Denounces ABC News Report on Backing Iran Radicals], [[ABC News]], [[April 5]], [[2007]] </ref>.
[[Alexis Debat]], one of the sources quoted by Ross and Isham in in their report alleging US support for the Jundullah, resigned from ABC News in June 2007, after ABC officials discovered he faked several interviews while working for the company. <ref name="WP"> [[Howard Kurtz]], [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202333.html?sub=AR Consultant Probed in Bogus Interview], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[September 13]], [[2007]] {{en icon}}</ref>.
Brian Ross, the correspondent who worked most closely with Mr. Debat, said the Jundullah story had many sources. “We’re only worried about the things Debat supplied, not about the substance of that story,” he said in regard to the Jundullah report.So far, ABC has found nothing that would undermine the stories Mr. Debat worked on, Mr. Ross said last night. But he acknowledged that as the stories of fabrications continue to roll in, the network “at some point has to question whether anything he said can be believed.”<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/business/media/15abc.html?ex=1347508800&en=ade79fbecbd7f5de&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss Former ABC Consultant Says He Faked Nothing]</ref>
[[Fars News Agency]], an Iranian state run news agency, reported that the United States government is involved in PRMI's terrorists acts.<ref>[http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8511270322 Fars News Agency :: 65 Suspects Arrested on Charges of Blast in Southeast Iran<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> On [[April 2]], [[2007]], [[Abdul Malik Rigi]], appeared on the Iranian branch of the [[Voice of America]], the official broadcasting service of the United States government, which identified Rigi as "the leader of popular Iranian resistance movement". This incident resulted in public condemnation by [[Persian-American]] communities in the U.S, as well as the Iranian regime.<ref>http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=018030120070404130601</ref><ref>[http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=4710§ionid=351020101 Press TV - VoA interviews Iranian terrorist culprit in a sign of backing<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.baztab.com/news/63969.php] (in Persian)</ref><ref>[http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Iranian_speaker_says_U_S_supports_terrorists.html?siteSect=143&sid=7692846&cKey=1175790190000 Iranian speaker says U.S. supports "terrorists" - swissinfo<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
====People's Mujahedin of Iran====
In April 2007, [[CNN]] reported that the US military and the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] were protecting the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]], with the US army regularly escorting PMOI supply runs between [[Baghdad]] and its base, [[Camp Ashraf]].<ref name="cnn06apr07">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/05/protected.terrorists/|title= U.S. protects Iranian opposition group in Iraq|accessdate=2007-04-06|publisher=CNN|year=2007|author=Ware, Michael|work=CNN website, [[April 6]], [[2007]]. }}</ref> The PMOI have been designated as a [[terrorist organization]] by the United States (since 1997), [[Canada]], and [[Iran]].<ref name="eu-fto">{{cite journal | title=COUNCIL COMMON POSITION 2005/847/CFSP| journal=Official Journal of the European Union| year=2005| volume=L 314| page=44| url=http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_314/l_31420051130en00410045.pdf}}</ref><ref name="crt">{{Cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2006/82738.htm|title=Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Organizations|accessdate=2007-07-15|publisher=US Department of State|year=2007}}</ref> According to the [[Wall Street Journal]]<ref name="WSJ"> {{Cite |title= Iranian Imbroglio Gives New Boost To Odd Exile Group |date=2006-11-29|publisher=Wall Street Journal |year=2006|author=Andrew Higgins and Jay Solomon }}</ref> "senior diplomats in the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] administration say the PMOI figured prominently as a bargaining chip in a bridge-building effort with Tehran." The PMOI is also on the [[European Union]]'s blacklist of terrorist organizations, which lists 28 organizations, since 2002.<ref name="Bonnet"> [http://www.les4verites.com/Defense-des-Moudjahidines-du-peuple-312.html?PHPSESSID=469e4a14dbc8d2850715f4a791c00dea Défense des Moudjahidines du peuple], [[Yves Bonnet]], former director of the French [[Direction centrale des renseignements généraux|RG intelligence agency]] {{fr icon}} </ref> The enlistments included: [[U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|Foreign Terrorist Organization]] by the United States in 1997 under the [[Immigration and Nationality Act]], and again in 2001 pursuant to section 1(b) of [[Executive Order 13224]]; as well as by the [[European Union]] (EU) in 2002.<ref>[http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00640066.pdf Council Decision], [[Council of the European Union]], [[December 21]], [[2005]]</ref> Its bank accounts were frozen in 2002 after the [[September 11 attacks]] and a call by the EU to block terrorist organizations' funding. However, the [[European Court of Justice]] has overturned this in December 2006 and has criticized the lack of "transparency" with which the blacklist is composed.<ref> [http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/afp/001/mon/061212185631.3avhw1zi.asp Terrorisme: la justice européenne appelle l'UE à justifier sa liste noire], ''[[Radio France International]]'', [[December 12]], [[2006]] {{fr icon}} </ref> However, the [[Council of the European Union|Council of the EU]] declared on [[30 January]] [[2007]] that it would maintain the organization on the blacklist.<ref> [http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/2831/69/ EU’s Ministers of Economic and Financial Affairs’ Council violates the verdict by the European Court], [[National Council of Resistance of Iran|NCRI]] website, [[February 1]], [[2007]]. </ref><ref>[http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/2832/70/ European Council is not above the law], NCRI website, [[February 2]], [[2007]] </ref> The EU-freezing of funds was lifted on [[December 12]], [[2006]] by the [[Court of First Instance|European Court of First Instance]].<ref name="lifted">http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp06/aff/cp060097en.pdf</ref> In 2003 the US State Department included the NCRI on the blacklist, under Executive Order 13224.<ref> [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2003/23311.htm US State Dept press statement] by [[Tom Casey (diplomat)|Tom Casey]], Acting Spokesman, [[August 15]], [[2003]] </ref>
According to a 2003 article by the New York Times, the US 1997 proscription of the group on the terrorist blacklist was done as "a goodwill gesture toward Iran's newly elected reform-minded president, [[Mohammad Khatami]]" (succeeded in 2005 by the more conservative [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]).<ref name="Rubin">{{cite web| url=http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/sloth/2003-07-15.html| title= The Cult of Rajavi| first=New York Times| last=Rubin, Elizabeth| accessdate=2006-04-21}} {{en icon}}</ref> In 2002, 150 members of the [[United States Congress]] signed a letter calling for the lifting of this designation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-71383195.html|title=
U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo: Mujahedin offers hope for a new Iran|publisher=Rocky Mountain News|date=2003-01-07}}</ref> The PMOI have also tried to have the designation removed through several court cases in the U.S. The PMOI has now lost three appeals (1999, 2001 and 2003) to the US government to be removed from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and its terrorist status was reaffirmed each time. The PMOI has continued to protest worldwide against its listing, with the overt support of some US political figures.<ref name="au_act">{{Cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn43.htm|title=Behind the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MeK)|accessdate=2007-07-15|publisher=Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Group, Parliament of Australia|year=2003|author=Nigel Brew}}</ref><ref>United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Argued [[April 2]], [[2004]] Decided [[July 9]], [[2004]], [http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200407/01-1480a.pdf No. 01-1480: National Council of Resistance of Iran v. Department of State]</ref>
Past supporters of the PMOI have included Rep. [[Tom Tancredo]] (R-CO), Rep. [[Bob Filner]], (D-CA), and Sen. [[Kit Bond]] (R-MO), and former [[Attorney General]] [[John Ashcroft]], "who became involved with the [PMOI] while a Republican senator from Missouri."<ref>Michael Isikoff, "[http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/09.30B.nswk.bagdad.htm Ashcroft's Baghdad Connection]: Why the attorney general and others in Washington have backed a terror group with ties to Iraq", ''Newsweek'' ([[26 September]] [[2002]]).</ref><ref name="gso">{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2005/050531-terror-list.htm|title=Group on U.S. terror list lobbies hard|accessdate=2007-07-15|publisher=United Press International|year=2005|author=Angela Woodall}}</ref> In 2000, 200 U.S. Congress members signed a statement endorsing the organization's cause.<ref name="newsweek">{{Cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6242223/site/newsweek/ShadesofGray|title=Shades of Gray|accessdate=2007-07-15|publisher=Newsweek|year=2004|author=Michael Isikoff & Mark Hosenball}}</ref>
==Economy==
