http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAAPW6REJD.htmlWASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell ordered the closure of two offices in the United States connected to an Iranian opposition group, the State Department announced Friday. He also ordered their assets frozen.
The Washington-based representative of the group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, accused the Bush administration of giving in to demands of the Iranian government, part of President Bush's "axis of evil."
Treasury Department spokesman Taylor Griffin said that nearly $100,000 in financial assets belonging to the group was found in the United States and was frozen. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control carried out Powell's blocking order.
The State Department has considered the Mujahedeen Khalq a terrorist organization since the Clinton administration. The U.S. government says the group, known as the MEK and People's Mujahedeen, is the same as National Council of Resistance, although some resistance officials say they are only close affiliates.
It has been allowed to operate in the United States, where it often holds press conferences near the White House to accuse Iran of making weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorists.
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