Iranian resistance condemns Israel, Iran

PARIS, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran issued an official condemnation of the Israeli air assault on the Gaza Strip.

"The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and the killing of innocent civilians, in particular women and children," the NCRI said. "It mourns with the Palestinian people, especially with the relatives of those who have perished."

Israel Wednesday rejected international calls for a cease-fire, embarking on its fifth day of air strikes on the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory. An Israeli ground invasion appears imminent.

The NCRI called on the international community to speak out against what it described as "warmongering" on the part of the Iranian leadership toward the Gaza conflict, saying clerical leaders in Tehran were benefiting from it.

"The (Iranian) regime has been the main obstacle to the goals and legitimate demands of the Palestinian people over the past three decades," the group said, adding Iranian influence should be eliminated in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq.

The NCRI advocates regime change in Iran. It describes itself as the "parliament in exile" and is affiliated with the People's Mujahedin of Iran, a dissident group holed up in Iraq's Diyala province.

The NCRI and the PMOI are considered terrorist organizations by the United States and several other nations, though it recently won delisting cases in a European court.