A group of Iran experts and former diplomats and national security officials have sent a letter urging the State Department that the Mujahidin-e Khalq remain on the list of foreign terrorist organizations:

The experts contend that delisting the MEK would be a huge blow to the pro-democracy “green movement” that formed in Iran during the 2009 presidential election, which Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad is widely viewed as having stolen. Months of protests followed but the movement has since lost its momentum.

“Removing the MEK from the foreign terrorist organisation list and misconstruing its lack of democratic bona fides and support inside Iran will have harmful consequences on the legitimate, indigenous Iranian opposition,” the 37 experts say in the letter.

The letter goes on to say that de-listing the MEK will help consolidate the government’s position:

“By attempting to claim credit for Iran’s democracy movement, the MEK has aided the Iranian government’s attempts to discredit the green movement and justify its crackdown on peaceful protesters by associating them with this widely detested group.”

Among the letter’s signatories are Reza Aslan, Stephen Kinzer, Trita Parsi of the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC), Juan Cole, Ambassador John Limbert, and Paul Pillar. The full text of the letter is available here at NIAC’s website, and The Financial Times has published a copy of the letter here.