Iran condemns US mosque seizure

TEHRAN – Iran yesterday denounced as ‘disgraceful’ US moves to seize four mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim nonprofit organisation suspected of Iranian links.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the moves show that President Barack Obama’s slogan for change was deceitful and he was no different from his predecessor George W Bush.’Extension of sanctions and restrictions against Iran for another year by the American president and the blocking the accounts and assets of the Alavi foundation in America is a real disgrace,’ he told parliament.’After a year of empty speeches and slogans, the behaviour and conduct of this president in practice is no better than the actions of his predecessor,’ Larijani added, in a speech broadcast on radio.In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in US history, prosecutors on Thursday filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centres consisting of schools and mosques in New York, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story Manhattan office tower.Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which the US government has accused of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb, charges Iran has denied. – Nampa-AP