A picture taken in Paris on January 26, 2022 shows the northern facade of the Elysee palace. (File photo by AFP)

Iran has slammed insincere Western concerns over human rights issues, saying murderers of Iranian people are roaming freely in Europe while European officials remain silent.

In a tweet, Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights and the Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs, strongly criticized two European diplomats after they called for the release of a convicted prisoner in Iran.

Earlier, the German Commissioner for Human Rights Luise Amtsberg and the French Ambassador for Human Rights Delphine Borione had denounced what they called the unfair sentencing of Iranian prisoner Narges Mohammadi and called for her immediate release.

If these two French and German officials feel a concern for human rights, instead of defending a convict, they should adopt a stance on the victims of Monafeqin (hypocrites) in Iran who are operating freely in their countries, Gharibabadi tweeted, responding to the European diplomats’ remarks.

Monafeqin is the sobriquet used to describe the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), a terrorist group vehemently detested in Iran due to its history of atrocities against the Iranian nation, including its liaison with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the war he waged against Iran in the 1980s.

Gharibabadi hit out at Amtsberg for turning a blind eye to the case of Kazem Darabi, who has been deprived of visiting his paralyzed daughter in Germany since he was deported to Iran in 2007 after spending 15 years behind bars over his alleged role in assassinations that took place in 1992.

By the way, what’s the stance of the German commissioner on Kazerm Darabi being deprived of visiting his daughter in Germany for 15 years? he asked.

Gharibabadi separately dismissed recent statements made by the French Foreign Ministry threatening to exert pressure on Iran to secure release of two convicts.

He said, The difference between Iran and France is that we deal with criminals according to the laws, but France protects and welcomes criminals and terrorists. The fact that some members of the MKO terrorist group are freely and actively present in this country confirms this point.

He also made clear that a country that uses its citizens to spy on other nations and later threatens to exert pressure to secure their release has no right to pretend to be righteous.

The senior Iranian rights official added that France has to be held accountable before the Iranian nation due to its numerous violations of their rights, especially in the case of the MKO group, stressing that Paris is in no position to dictate its will to the Iranian judicial system.

The MKO has conducted numerous assassinations and bombings against Iranian statesmen and civilians since the 1979 victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its members fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where they enjoyed backing from former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 fell victim to the MKO’s acts of terror.

The anti-Iran cult was on the US government’s list of terrorist organizations until 2012. Major European countries, including France, have also removed it from their blacklists.

A few years ago, the MKO elements were relocated from their Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala Province to Camp Hurriyet (Camp Liberty), a former US military base in Baghdad, and later sent to Albania.

The MKO terrorists enjoy freedom of activity in the US and Europe and even hold regular meetings in which European and American officials make speeches.