Two hard-line US lawmakers have called for greater efforts to topple the Tehran government, going as far as to suggest support for anti-Iran terrorist groups.

Democratic Representative and Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Bob Filner called, on June 26, for greater support for what he called "resistance groups" in Iran, putting a special emphasis on the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), UPI reported.

On Sunday, Former House Speaker and leading Republican hawk Newt Gingrich also called on the Obama administration to "sabotage" Iran's oil and gas industry to trigger an economic crisis - which he claimed would bring down the Iranian government.

"[We] should use covert operations to create a gasoline-led crisis to try and replace the regime," he was quoted by UPI as saying.

The idea of attacking Iran's oil industry is not a new concept in US politics as many leading analysts and politicians have already explored its feasibility and effectiveness, but outward talk of support for a group that is listed as a terrorist organization in the United States is a rare move.

The MKO, listed as a terrorist group in Iran, Iraq, Canada, and the US, has claimed responsibility for bombings, killings and attacks against Iranian government officials and civilians over the past 30 years.

The attacks include the assassination of the late president Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, prime minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.

The MKO is also known to have cooperated with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

The organization is also notorious for using cult-like tactics against its own members and for torturing and murdering its defectors.

This is while a report by Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has revealed that the US is already spending USD 400 million to fund covert operations inside Iran.

Other than the MKO, other terrorist groups, such as PJAK and Jundullah, are believed to be the beneficiaries of the US plan.

PJAK is an offshoot of the internationally-recognized terrorist group the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK that carries out its deadly operations in Iran's Western Kurdish populated regions.

A 2006 article published by The New Yorker suggested that the US military and Israel provide PJAK separatists with equipment, training and intelligence to destabilize Iran.

A 2007 Sunday Telegraph report revealed that the CIA had created Jundullah and provided it with 'arms-length support' and 'money and weapons' to achieve 'regime change in Iran'.

Another report posted by ABC also revealed that US officials had ordered Jundullah to 'stage deadly guerrilla raids inside the Islamic Republic, kidnap Iranian officials and execute them on camera', all as part of a 'programmatic objective to overthrow the Iranian government'.

MJ/SME/MMN

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