Iranian MPs Condemn Egypt’s Anti-Hamas Court Ruling

(FNA)- Iranian parliamentarians in a statement on Tuesday condemned an Egyptian court ruling that designated the Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas as a "terrorist" group.

"The ruling is a dangerous move of hypocrisy to falsify the truth, and attacks the values respected by the Islamic Ummah," the statement, issued by the parliament's Palestine and Islamic Resistance Fraction, said on Tuesday.

"The measure cannot be accepted by any freedom-seeking person, specially people's representatives in the Islamic and revolutionary country of Iran," it added.

Protesting at the ruling, the Iranian legislators said defending the Resistance movement means defending the political values, and called on the Egyptian government to separate the Palestinian issue from its internal conditions and play a principled role in supporting the innocent Palestinian people, as done by the Egyptian people since the start of the Palestinian crisis.

The Egyptian court ruling, both against Hamas and Ikhwan al-Muslimoun (Muslim Brotherhood), was also earlier dismissed by the Iranian foreign ministry.

"Hamas is not a terrorist organization (but) Tel Aviv is an illegitimate and terrorist regime paralyzed against resistance groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday.

Meantime, he stressed that Iran strongly condemned terrorism in every form and every place from Egypt to Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Africa and Europe, and added, "Ikhwan al-Muslimoun is a part of the existing reality in Egypt and we should separate dissident political groups from terrorism through a realistic view."

Amir Abdollahian underlined that "any side which embarks on terrorist actions will be hated by the world people".

His remarks came after an Egyptian court branded the Palestinian Hamas resistance group a "terrorist" organization.

From Gaza City, Hamas reacted by condemning the ruling, calling the act as "a great disgrace which soils the reputation of Egypt".

An Egyptian court on January 31 banned the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, declaring it a "terrorist" group.

In March last year, Egypt banned Hamas from carrying out any activity on its soil and froze the assets of the Islamist movement which controls the neighboring Gaza Strip.