-- Senior Iranian diplomat says Tehran has pardoned several former members of the MKO terror group, allowing them to return to the country.

“During the past two years, numerous members of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization have abandoned the MKO base. They have also expressed regret for their past actions,” Iran's Ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, said on Saturday.
“Iran has pardoned a number of these people, allowing them to return to the country and their families,” he added.
Iran, Iraq, Canada, the United States, and the European Union recognize the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) as a terrorist group.
The group is responsible for bombings, killings, and attacks against Iranian government officials and civilians over the past 30 years, including the assassination of the late president Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, prime minister Bahonar and judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.
The MKO is also known to have cooperated with Iraq's U.S.-backed former dictator Saddam Hossein in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
On Tuesday, Iraq's government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that his country is seeking to gain full control of the terrorist group's Camp Ashraf from the U.S. forces. The comment came after the Iraqi military forces surrounded the camp on Wednesday.
Situated in Iraq's Diyala province, Camp Ashraf was used as an MKO base during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Following the 2003 occupation of Iraq the camp--under U.S. control-- was converted to an MKO training center.
In August, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution setting a six-month deadline for an MKO departure from the country, threatening expulsion.
Iraq's Government Spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, Tuesday modified the stance, saying that the country will support the voluntarily return of MKO members to Iran or any other country. He added that Baghdad will not expel MKO members forcefully, and will deal with them according to international regulations. (Source: Press TV)