Iran allegations on returnees denied by Red Cross

Iran Focus:

The International Committee of the Red Cross dismissed claims by Iran that it supervised the repatriation of a group of 100 Iranians formerly associated with the opposition People’s Mojahedin in Iraq.

Reacting to a report on Iran's state-run news agency claiming that 100 "penitent members of the [Mojahedin] escaped a camp in Iraq and referred to the Red Cross" asking to be returned to Iran, the spokesperson for Middle East and North Africa department of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva said, "This operation did not take place under the auspices of the ICRC and this group of 100 persons never fled Ashraf Camp to be received by the ICRC".

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a grouping of opposition forces including the People’s Mojahedin, said in a statement received in London, "At a time when the ICRC does not have an office in Iraq since the bombing of its headquarters in Baghdad in 2003, the assertion that these individuals had fled Camp Ashraf and went to the ICRC in Iraq only displays the Intelligence Ministry's stupidity".

The People’s Mojahedin announced in a statement two days ago that none of the persons returning to Iran came from the organisation's camp in Iraq. It said the persons in question had gone to stay with U.S. forces outside the camp some two years ago, and were under American guard. ...