Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 240: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has received communication from the Iranian opposition in exile who have been accorded dubious status in some jurisdictions; if his attention has been drawn to the attempts of this group to meet with European Union institutions and Governments with a view to establishing official status and recognition for democratic principles; if he has met with or received a request from Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10818/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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We regularly receive communications from individuals who state that they are members of the Iranian opposition. Some of these individuals are members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, NCRI, or of groups linked to it. The NCRI has very close links with the Peoples' Mujahidin of Iran, PMOI, which is also referred to as the OMPI, the MEK and the MKO, and which is regarded by the European Union as a terrorist group. The NCRI has not been so listed by the EU.

The NCRI has campaigned actively in recent months, at European level and in Member States, to have the PMOI removed from the EU list of terrorist organisations. The Government has received documentation setting out the case being made by the NCRI. However, I have not received a request for a meeting with Ms Maryam Rajavi.