US responsible for Iranian diplomat assault: senior official

Chairman of Iran Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi says the US government is responsible for the assault on Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman in New York.

“The American government should be answerable for the assault on our country’s Foreign Ministry spokesman and severely punish the agents of this insult,” Boroujerdi said on Thursday.

The senior lawmaker noted that according to international laws and the Vienna Convention, the US is responsible for the safety of all delegations that officially visit that country.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was attacked by supporters of the terrorist group, Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), near the United Nations headquarters in the presence of New York City police on Wednesday.

New York City police and the US security forces made no arrests as the attackers physically abused members of the Iranian delegation accompanying Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his visit to the United States to address the 67th session of the UN General Assembly.

Boroujerdi stated that the event showed that Americans who are planning to remove the MKO from the US State Department’s list of terrorist organizations are actually encouraging the organization to commit terrorist acts.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis.

On September 21, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the decision to remove the MKO from the US State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.