Iran Urges US Accountability over Assassination of Martyr Soleimani
Tehran once again condemned Washington's 2020 assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani as a “cowardly and unlawful act of terrorism” and a blatant violation of international law, calling for full accountability of Washington over the heinous crime.
“On the sixth anniversary of the cowardly assassination by the United States of Major General Qassem Soleimani—a top commander of the Iranian Armed Forces and a central figure in the fight against terrorist organizations, including Daesh (ISIS or ISIL)—I wish to underscore, once again, the legal consequences and the unequivocal responsibility of the United States for committing such a criminal and unlawful act,” Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in a letter addressed to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and members of the UN Security Council on Saturday.
“This deliberate and unlawful targeting of a senior official of a sovereign Member State of the United Nations—who played a pivotal role in the fight against terrorism in the region—constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,” the statement read.
According to Iravani, “This cowardly act of terrorism constituted an arbitrary deprivation of life in blatant violation of international human rights law, including Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the United States is a State party.”
Lieut. Gen. Soleimani, alongside Deputy Head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and other companions, were assassinated in a US drone attack authorized by then-President Donald Trump in Iraq in January 2020.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the US-run Ein Al-Asaad base in Iraq’s Western province of Anbar with a wave of missile attacks in retaliation for the crime. According to the Pentagon, more than 100 American soldiers suffered “traumatic brain injuries”, with Tehran describing the attack as a “first slap".
The statement emphasized that any US claims of self-defense, necessity, or imminence are legally baseless and cannot justify the assassination.
“This war of aggression further confirms a persistent pattern of contempt for international law and demonstrates that the conduct of the United States itself constitutes a real and ongoing threat to regional and international peace and security,” the letter noted.
Iran is pursuing all available legal, political, and judicial measures at national and international levels to hold all perpetrators, organizers, and accomplices of the assassination and subsequent assault accountable, the statement concluded.
