A U.S. appeals court has given Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, four months to decide whether or not to remove an Iranian group from the U.S. terror blacklist.
The group is called Mujahideen e-Kahalq or the MEK. The MEK claims that its presence on the blacklist has put its members across the world under threat, particularly in Iraq.
The MEK also known as the Peoples Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI) rose to prominence in the 1970s when it opposed the Shah rgovernment as well as the clerical rule that replaced it. The PMOI found refuge in the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
A BBC report says that the intentions and purpose of the group has incredible "ideological and tactical flexibility," that the group at times has expressed Islamist views, while on other occasions highly secular ones.
Many in the U.S. too feel that the MEK does not deserve to be on the national terror list. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is one of them.
The U.S. appeals court has given Clinton 120 days to make the decision. If she fails to do so, the court has said that it will issue a writ of mandamus and have the group removed from the list.
