TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran's Basij (volunteer) Force in a statement on Wednesday deplored the European Union’s decision to list the military wing of the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement as a terrorist organization, reiterating that Hezbollah will remain the pioneer of resistance in the Muslim world.


"Placing Hezbollah's name in the EU's terror list doesn’t decrease its value and Hezbollah has and will remain a noble movement and the front line of resistance in the Muslim world against the Zionist regime's expansionism and aggressions," Iran's Basij (volunteer) force said in a statement today.

The statement blasted the West for its double-standard stances on terrorism, and said the EU should have condemned the terrorist Israelis, criminal Salafis in Syria or, at least, the massacre of tens of thousands of Muslims in Myanmar instead of the defenders of freedom and human dignity.

The Iranian foreign ministry also deplored the European Union's measure against Hezbollah, calling it a "completely undigested and highly surprising act".

"Hezbollah is part of Lebanon's political structure which is present in the country's political and social arenas and is respected and accepted by the Lebanese, regional and the Muslim world people," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi said in his weekly press conference in Tehran yesterday.

"Putting the name of the group in the list of terrorist groups was a completely undigested and highly surprising measure by the EU," he added.

"We denounce this act and (stress that) it will not make any change in Hezbollah's right-seeking nature and struggle," Araqchi said, adding that the EU measure was taken in line with the interests of the Zionist regime and will further complicate the crisis in the Middle-East.

EU governments on Monday agreed to list the armed wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist group but the EU ignored pressure from the US and Israel to ban the Lebanese organization outright, allowing contacts with its political representatives.

The decision by EU foreign ministers came after months of wrangling among member states, who needed to agree the ban unanimously.

But there was condemnation from Beirut, where the government had described Hezbollah as "an essential component of the Lebanese society". Leading politicians warned the move would play into the hands of Israel. The Lebanese al-Manar TV channel, reported, "Israel has imposed its will on Europe."

By Fars News Agecny

 

The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.