IRAN: UK GOVERNMENT APPEALS MEK DE-LISTING ORDER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 004465

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2017
TAGS: PREL PTER IR UK
SUBJECT: IRAN: UK GOVERNMENT APPEALS MEK DE-LISTING ORDER

Classified By: PolMinCouns Maura Connelly; reason 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Summary: The FCO told Embassy London Iran Watcher
(Poloff) that the Mujaheddin-e-Khalk (MEK) will continue to
be listed as a terrorist organization under UK law, and its
UK accounts frozen, until the outcome of HMG,s appeal of the
administrative order issued by the UK's Prohibited
Organisations Commission (POAC). HMG will know by the end of
December whether POAC or the courts will hear its appeal of
the POAC order. End Summary.

MEK Buoyant
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2. (U) According to UK and international press,
Mujaheddin-e-Khalk (MEK) leaders in London and Iraq have
hailed an order issued on or about November 26 by an
administrative tribunal, the UK,s Prohibited Organisations
Commission (POAC) to HMG, to de-list the MEK as a designated
terrorist organization under UK law. The suit had been
brought by several of the MEK,s fervent sympathizers in
Parliament seeking POAC's review of the MEK listing.

HMG: Leopard Has Not Changed Spots
--------------


3. (C) FCO's Iran Coordination Group officials, however,
separately told London Iran Watcher November 30, and also
told Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili when he was in
London the same day, that HMG is fighting the administrative
order through further administrative and judicial appeals
and, in the interim, will not de-list the MEK or unfreeze its
assets. FCO Iran Bilateral Team's Helen Teasdale said HMG is
challenging as a matter of law the POAC,s core finding and
rationale: that the MEK had, by its reorganization and its
forbearance from deadly attacks since 2001, transformed
itself into a non-terrorist organization.

POAC or Courts May Hear HMG Appeal
--------------


4. (C) Procedurally, Teasdale explained HMG is filing with
POAC an immediate request for Leave to Appeal, which will
have 14 days to decide. If POAC grants leave to appeal, the
body will then have an unlimited period of time in which to
decide the merits of the HMG appeal. If POAC refuses to
grant leave to appeal, HMG will file a judicial appeal before
the Court of Appeals, which will also have 14 days to decide
whether to consider the matter; if the filing is allowed, the
court will likewise have an unlimited amount of time in which
to hear argument, and issue an opinion. Teasdale said the
question whether an appeal will be granted will be known by
the end of December. Teasdale would not make a prediction on
the likelihood of a successful appeal in either venue, and
said the FCO had not been surprised by the POAC decision.
Teasdale noted that, as the case and briefs before POAC had
developed over the past year, initial FCO confidence of an
outcome supporting a continuing terrorist designation had
evolved from very high to "no more than 50/50" before the
POAC order was issued, due to the traction MEK arguments had
gained with the POAC.

Policy Concerns
--------------


5. (C) HMG,s Iran-specific policy concern, in addition to
its general one on how the order weakens UK counter-terrorism
efforts, is that any Iranian perception of Western support
for MEK could endanger resolution of the nuclear issue. The
MEK is widely loathed by both the Iranian public for its
collaboration with Saddam during the Iran-Iraq War (some
observers argue Tehran,s sponsorship of SCIRI was in part a
response to Saddam,s support for MEK); MEK is also
apparently feared by the Iranian regime as a fifth column
inside Iran.

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