Islam Times - Iran Asks Iraqi Gov’t to Pursue US Assassination of General Soleimani Seriously

Iran Asks Iraqi Gov’t to Pursue US Assassination of General Soleimani Seriously

Islam Times - Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani in a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein underlined the need for Baghdad to increase efforts to follow up legal measures against the US assassination of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani at the international bodies.

“Pursuing the cowardly assassination seriously at the international bodies is the least expected from the Iraqi government,” Shamkhani said in Tehran on Sunday.

He described assassination of General Soleimani and Deputy Commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis as a clear instance of state terrorism, and said the minimum punishment for the culprits behind the major crime is rapid withdrawal from the region, specially from the country in which the crime has been committed.

Elsewhere, Shamkhani referred to the certain Arab states’ attempts to normalize ties with Israel, and said, “This process is a big treason and clear violation of the Palestinian people’s rights and will seriously endanger the existence of the countries which have done the compromise in addition to spreading insecurity and sowing discord among the regional states.”

Hussein, for his part, stressed abundant commonalities and long borders between Iran and Iraq, and said, “(former Iraqi dictator) Saddam Hussein could not separate the two nations by his 8-year war, which is a good reason that no foreign side will be able to leave a negative impact on the good relations between the two countries.”

Lieutenant General Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike on Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on January 3.

The airstrike also martyred al-Muhandis. The two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.

Five Iranian and five Iraqi military men were martyred by the missiles fired by the US drone at Baghdad International Airport.

On January 8, the IRGC Aerospace Force started heavy ballistic missile attacks on US Ein Al-Assad airbase in Southwestern Iraq near the border with Syria and a US operated airbase in Erbil in retaliation for the US assassination of General Soleimani.

Ein Al-Assad is an airbase with a 4km runway at 188m altitude from sea levels, which is the main and the largest US airbase in Iraq. Early reports said the radar systems and missile defense shields in Ein Al-Assad failed to operate and intercept the Iranian missiles. Unofficial reports said the US army's central radar systems at Ein Al-Assad had been jammed by electronic warfare.

The second IRGC reprisal attack targeted a US military base near Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the second leg of "Martyr Soleimani" reprisal operation.

Iraq said the attacks had not taken any toll from its army men stationed at these two bases. The US army had blocked entrance into Ein Al-Assad to everyone, including the Iraqi army.

It was the first direct attack on the US army ever since world war two.

The IRGC officials said none of the missiles had been intercepted.

Meantime, Iran announced in late June that it had issued arrest warrants for 36 officials of the US and other countries who have been involved in the assassination of the martyred General Soleimani.

"36 individuals who have been involved or ordered the assassination of Hajj Qassem, including the political and military officials of the US and other governments, have been identified and arrest warrants have been issued for them by the judiciary officials and red alerts have also been issued for them via the Interpol," Prosecutor-General of Tehran Ali Alqasi Mehr said.

He said that the prosecuted individuals are accused of murder and terrorist action, adding that US President Donald Trump stands at the top of the list and will be prosecuted as soon as he stands down presidency after his term ends.