Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is a designation for non-United States-based organizations deemed by the United States secretary of state, in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA), to be involved in what US authorities define as terrorist activities.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) maintains a separate list of such individuals and entities.
[3] (Reflecting Amendments to Section 219 of the INA in the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act) The U.S. Department of State lists the following items as additional considered beneficial effects of designation:[5] Official designation of a group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization also triggers more robust means of combat under the Authorization for Use of Military Force act enacted in 2001, which is still in force today.
The MEK had been designated a "foreign terrorist organisation" in 1997 in order to improve relations with Tehran and then president Mohammad Khatami.
[20][6] In August 2014, the Christian Science Monitor reported that U.S. military was coordinating with Kurdish forces in Iraq, including elements of the PKK, seemingly in violation of the ban on assistance to a designated FTO.