TEHRAN -- Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said here Saturday that the U.S. action in closing down office of the terrorist National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) 'is a positive step that conforms to its international responsibilities'.

To root out terrorism, all countries including the U.S. should confront the scourge of terrorism decisively and uniformly in all its forms, he said as quoted by IRNA.

He said the U.S. should have acted sooner on its published list of terrorist groups to shut down their activities. One should not forget that the head of the terrorist group in Iraq is under the U.S. control, Kharrazi said, adding, "The onus is on the U.S. to confront provocations by the group."

The United States on Friday shut down the offices of the terrorist National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), after U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell clarified that the terrorist People's Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was to be banned under all its aliases.

The order also freezes the group's U.S. assets and bars U.S. citizens from making contributions to it, U.S. officials said.