Iran warns of ‘danger’ if slain general’s ‘assassins’ go free

Iran has urged the United Nations to take formal legal action against the US for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani ahead of the two year-anniversary of his killing, which brought the two countries to the brink of war.

In a letter to the UN General Assembly on Saturday, the legal department of the Iranian presidential office called for “all legal initiatives within its authority,” including the “adoption of a resolution” to condemn such killings and to “take measures to prevent such crimes in the future.”

The missive, which stated that then-US President Donald Trump had openly claimed responsibility at the time, said American governments have long exhibited an “extreme unilateralism.” It also accused Washington of infringing upon international laws and regulations while the “international community remains silent.”

The letter warned that international peace would be in “even more danger” if the “perpetrators of the terrorist attack are free to walk with impunity.” According to Fars news agency, Iran’s chief civilian prosecutor has indicted several individuals in connection with the assassination, including Trump, the head of US Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie Jr., and former US secretaries of state and defense, Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper.

At a service for Soleimani on Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that his “assassins, including Trump and the like” will be consigned to “history’s garbage bin” after paying “retribution in this world for the crime they committed.”

After the January 2020 airstrike, Trump had called Soleimani “the world’s top terrorist” who “should have been terminated long ago.” Although he cited Iranian-backed plots on American interests in Iraq, officials later admitted that Soleimani was merely “saying bad things” about the US.

In July 2020, a report by the UN rapporteur for extrajudicial killing concluded that the killing was “unlawful,” “arbitrary,” and in violation of the UN charter. Last year, Iran called on Interpol to issue “red notices” against US officials, including Trump.

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