Iran urges France to hand over fugitive ex-president

TEHRAN (AFP) - The Iranian army’s deputy commander called on France on Tuesday to hand over former president Abolhassan Bani Sadr, accusing him of ordering deadly attacks against Iranian civilians from his Paris exile.

“France must hand Bani Sadr over to Iran,” Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said in a speech marking the anniversary of the former president’s 1981 overthrow.

“There are numerous documents proving that Bani Sadr has planned and ordered acts of terror in cooperation with the hypocrites that have led to the deaths of Iranian civilians,” he added, referring to the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO).

“If the French government wants to make good on its claim to defend democracy and fight against terrorists, then it should hand these elements over to us,” the Mehr news agency quoted the general as saying.

Bani Sadr was elected president in January 1980 hot on the heels of the previous year’s Islamic revolution but was ousted in June 1981.

Maryam Rajavi, one of the MKO leaders, is also based in France.

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