TIRANA (Dispatches) -- The
anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) group has postponed a summit just hours before its commencement due to what the notorious terror outfit claimed to be “security threats.”
The so-called Free Iran World Summit was scheduled to take place on July 23 and 24 outside the MKO’s headquarters in the Albanian capital of Tirana.
In a statement on Friday, the notorious group said the event was postponed “upon recommendations by the Albanian government, for security reasons, and due to terrorist threats and conspiracies.”
The Albanian authorities have yet to comment on the issue.
The U.S. embassy in Tirana on Thursday evening tweeted about a “potential threat” targeting the summit and warned its citizens in Albania to avoid participation in the event.
The annual summit has been hosted in Albania after the Balkan country agreed to take in some 3,000 decrepit members of the anti-Iran terrorist group at the request of Washington and the United Nations in 2013.
After it was founded more than 50 years ago, the MKO launched a campaign of bombings and assassinations in Iran. Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians martyred in terrorist attacks over the past four decades, about 12,000 have fallen victim to the group’s acts of terror.
The ill-famed terror group is currently based in Albania, where it enjoys freedom of activity after being delisted by the European Union and the United States in 2009 and 2012 respectively.
Regardless of its disrepute around the world, the MKO has in recent years held numerous big events, attended by senior American, Israeli and Saudi officials, including former U.S. Senator John McCain, former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, and former director of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency Turki bin Faisal Al Saud.
Last Week, Iran’s Foreign Ministry updated its sanction list of former and current American officials and individuals who deliberately support the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization.
The blacklisted individuals include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former White House National Security advisor John Bolton, who have attended the terror group’s meetings. Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Bob Menedez are also among the designated other persons.
The ministry said the U.S. officials have supported the MKO terrorist group through participation in its gathering, acknowledging their terrorist acts and objectives as well as providing political and propaganda support to it.