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Top Iran commander Soleimani killed in US strike on Baghdad; Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump
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Iran should speak for themselves.
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Tehran, Iran – An Iranian prosecutor has said a British security firm and an airbase in Germany had a hand in the assassination of Qassem Soleimani almost one year after the top general was assassinated by the United States in Iraq.
The allegations come amid mounting tensions between the two countries, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday accused outgoing US President Donald Trump of aiming to fabricate a “pretext for war”.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr claimed, without providing evidence, that London-based security services company G4S played a role in the killing of Soleimani, who was accompanied by Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and several others.
“Agents of this company handed the information of general Soleimani and his fellow fighters to the terrorists as soon as they entered the airport,” Alqasimehr said in reference to Baghdad International Airport, according to Mizan, the official news website of the judiciary.
Soleimani and his convoy were targeted shortly after leaving the airport by a US drone strike ordered by President Trump.
The British company confirmed it was in charge of “a number of security requirements” outsourced by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority at the time of the assassination, but denied the charges.
“In response to recent, completely unfounded speculation, G4S wishes to make clear that it had absolutely no involvement in the attack on Qassem Soleimani and Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis which took place on 3rd January 2020,” a G4S spokesperson told Al Jazeera in a written statement.
The Tehran prosecutor also said a US airbase in Germany “handled reports on guiding the drone for the assassination and handed flight data of the drones to American forces”.
Iranian authorities had previously said the US had used the Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany in Soleimani’s assassination.
The base serves as headquarters for the US Air Forces in Europe, in addition for NATO Allied Air Command, and has acted as a control centre for the US drone operations in West Asia for the past few years.
Alqasimehr said Iran continues to pursue those who ordered and carried out the strike on Soleimani through legal means, including through Interpol. Perpetrators include 45 American individuals, he said without naming them.
The prosecutor also said Iran has given judicial representation rights to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait to investigate the assassination.
‘Fabricate pretext for war’
Tensions have been steadily on the rise in the Middle East days before the January 3 anniversary of the Iranian commander’s murder.
A series of Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone in an attack targeting the US embassy on December 20 that caused minor damage on the compound.
The Iraqi military said an “outlaw group” was responsible, but the US quickly pointed the finger at Iran, accusing it of escalating tensions.
Trump tweeted a picture of a few rockets, saying they were unexploded Iranian rockets.
Iran denied responsibility, saying the Trump administration is trying to start a war in the weeks before it has to leave office.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Zarif said on Twitter that “intelligence from Iraq indicate plot to fabricate pretext for war”.
“Iran doesn’t seek war but will openly and directly defend its people, security and vital interests,” he tweeted.
A day earlier, the US flew two B-52 strategic bombers over the Gulf for the second time this month in a show of force it said was meant to deter Iran from attacking American or allied targets in the region.
The commander of the Iranian army’s air force, Aziz Nasirzadeh, had on Wednesday warned of a “decisive response” by armed forces if the US pursues “adventurism”.
Moreover, Soleimani’s replacement as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Esmail Ghaani, had a meeting with members of parliament behind closed doors.
Addressing a televised cabinet meeting, President Hassan Rouhani also said, “You severed our general’s hand, we will sever your leg from the region and continue to resist until that day.”
Prosecuting Trump
Iran’s judiciary chief on Wednesday repeated Iran’s stance that as the person who directly ordered the strike on Soleimani, Trump is a main target of prosecution.
“Trump is the first criminal of the case of assassinating martyr Soleimani, who himself confessed to this crime in front of all the world’s people, and therefore cannot be immune from punishment,” Ebrahim Raisi told reporters.
“Fortunately, Trump’s presidency has ended. But even if his term hadn’t ended, it would be unacceptable to say someone shouldn’t be accountable to law due to his administrative position,” he said in reference to legal immunity for sitting presidents.
In a separate news conference on Wednesday, the spokesman of the powerful constitutional vetting body Guardian Council also said Iran would legally pursue Trump after he leaves the White House on January 20.
“Legally pursuing the crime of the US regime, especially Donald Trump, for issuing the order to assassinate martyr general Soleimani in international courts has its special requirements and immunity for heads of state from legal prosecution prevents this,” he said.
But he added that “some international experts hold the view that after Trump’s presidency is over this might be possible”.
In late June, Alqasimehr issued an arrest warrant for Trump and dozens of others on “murder and terrorism charges” but Interpol said its constitution forbade it from undertaking “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character”.
In July, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard said Soleimani’s assassination represented a violation of international law, a statement which the US blasted as “giving a pass to terrorists”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...-firm-us-base-in-germany-in-soleimanis-murder
The allegations come amid mounting tensions between the two countries, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday accused outgoing US President Donald Trump of aiming to fabricate a “pretext for war”.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr claimed, without providing evidence, that London-based security services company G4S played a role in the killing of Soleimani, who was accompanied by Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and several others.
“Agents of this company handed the information of general Soleimani and his fellow fighters to the terrorists as soon as they entered the airport,” Alqasimehr said in reference to Baghdad International Airport, according to Mizan, the official news website of the judiciary.
Soleimani and his convoy were targeted shortly after leaving the airport by a US drone strike ordered by President Trump.
The British company confirmed it was in charge of “a number of security requirements” outsourced by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority at the time of the assassination, but denied the charges.
“In response to recent, completely unfounded speculation, G4S wishes to make clear that it had absolutely no involvement in the attack on Qassem Soleimani and Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis which took place on 3rd January 2020,” a G4S spokesperson told Al Jazeera in a written statement.
The Tehran prosecutor also said a US airbase in Germany “handled reports on guiding the drone for the assassination and handed flight data of the drones to American forces”.
Iranian authorities had previously said the US had used the Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany in Soleimani’s assassination.
The base serves as headquarters for the US Air Forces in Europe, in addition for NATO Allied Air Command, and has acted as a control centre for the US drone operations in West Asia for the past few years.
Alqasimehr said Iran continues to pursue those who ordered and carried out the strike on Soleimani through legal means, including through Interpol. Perpetrators include 45 American individuals, he said without naming them.
The prosecutor also said Iran has given judicial representation rights to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait to investigate the assassination.
‘Fabricate pretext for war’
Tensions have been steadily on the rise in the Middle East days before the January 3 anniversary of the Iranian commander’s murder.
A series of Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone in an attack targeting the US embassy on December 20 that caused minor damage on the compound.
The Iraqi military said an “outlaw group” was responsible, but the US quickly pointed the finger at Iran, accusing it of escalating tensions.
Trump tweeted a picture of a few rockets, saying they were unexploded Iranian rockets.
Iran denied responsibility, saying the Trump administration is trying to start a war in the weeks before it has to leave office.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Zarif said on Twitter that “intelligence from Iraq indicate plot to fabricate pretext for war”.
“Iran doesn’t seek war but will openly and directly defend its people, security and vital interests,” he tweeted.
A day earlier, the US flew two B-52 strategic bombers over the Gulf for the second time this month in a show of force it said was meant to deter Iran from attacking American or allied targets in the region.
The commander of the Iranian army’s air force, Aziz Nasirzadeh, had on Wednesday warned of a “decisive response” by armed forces if the US pursues “adventurism”.
Moreover, Soleimani’s replacement as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Esmail Ghaani, had a meeting with members of parliament behind closed doors.
Addressing a televised cabinet meeting, President Hassan Rouhani also said, “You severed our general’s hand, we will sever your leg from the region and continue to resist until that day.”
Prosecuting Trump
Iran’s judiciary chief on Wednesday repeated Iran’s stance that as the person who directly ordered the strike on Soleimani, Trump is a main target of prosecution.
“Trump is the first criminal of the case of assassinating martyr Soleimani, who himself confessed to this crime in front of all the world’s people, and therefore cannot be immune from punishment,” Ebrahim Raisi told reporters.
“Fortunately, Trump’s presidency has ended. But even if his term hadn’t ended, it would be unacceptable to say someone shouldn’t be accountable to law due to his administrative position,” he said in reference to legal immunity for sitting presidents.
In a separate news conference on Wednesday, the spokesman of the powerful constitutional vetting body Guardian Council also said Iran would legally pursue Trump after he leaves the White House on January 20.
“Legally pursuing the crime of the US regime, especially Donald Trump, for issuing the order to assassinate martyr general Soleimani in international courts has its special requirements and immunity for heads of state from legal prosecution prevents this,” he said.
But he added that “some international experts hold the view that after Trump’s presidency is over this might be possible”.
In late June, Alqasimehr issued an arrest warrant for Trump and dozens of others on “murder and terrorism charges” but Interpol said its constitution forbade it from undertaking “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character”.
In July, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard said Soleimani’s assassination represented a violation of international law, a statement which the US blasted as “giving a pass to terrorists”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...-firm-us-base-in-germany-in-soleimanis-murder
Gabbar Singh
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If anyone in Pakistan wants to write something nice about Soleimani the Iranians are running a competition where “exquisite prizes” will be awarded to the best writers.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/45...n-in-Pakistan-to-hold-programs-on-anniversary
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/45...n-in-Pakistan-to-hold-programs-on-anniversary
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He was talking trash to Pakistan as far as I remember
KingKhanWC
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He sided with the Yanks in the invasion of Afghanistan, going against Pak and the Afghan resistance. However Bush shocked him and the Iranians delivering his axis of evil speech when they were partners at the time. This then led to the invasion of Iraq, when the General concentrated most of his efforts. However did continue to allow Indian/CIA backed terrorists to cross into Pakistan near the Iranian/Afghan border.
Murdering him was an act of International terrorism by the Yanks. Killing him isnt really a good thing for Pak, Iranians might use Pak soil to attack Americans but I think Iran will move away from anti-Pak missions as it's realised Pak will back them in diplomatic terms with any intent of war agaisnt Iran.
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Yup. Pakistan is also distancing more from the Gulf states so ties with Iran will be warmer I think so. And yes I disliked him a lot but killing any general like this is terrorism.
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Iran commander vows 'resistance' a year after Soleimani killing
(Reuters) - The U.S. killing of top general Qassem Soleimani will not deter Iranian resistance, a senior commander said on Friday as tensions mounted in the build-up to the first anniversary of the drone strike.
The United States killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2020. Washington had accused him of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on U.S. forces in the region.
Days after the U.S. drone strike, Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where U.S. forces were stationed, and Iranian forces on high alert mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran.
Esmail Ghaani who succeeded Soleimani as head the elite Quds force, said on Friday Iran was still ready to respond.
“From inside your own house, there may emerge someone who will retaliate for your crime,” he said at a televised event to mark the anniversary at Tehran University.
“American mischief will not deter the Quds force from carrying on its resistance path,” he added.
Two U.S. B-52 bombers flew over the Middle East on Wednesday in what U.S. officials said was a message of deterrence to Iran ahead of the first anniversary.
On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused U.S. President Donald Trump of attempting to fabricate a pretext to attack Iran, and said Tehran would defend itself forcefully.
Representatives of Iran’s regional allies and movements in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Gaza also spoke at Friday’s anniversary event.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-a-year-after-soleimani-killing-idUSKBN29627W
(Reuters) - The U.S. killing of top general Qassem Soleimani will not deter Iranian resistance, a senior commander said on Friday as tensions mounted in the build-up to the first anniversary of the drone strike.
The United States killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2020. Washington had accused him of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on U.S. forces in the region.
Days after the U.S. drone strike, Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where U.S. forces were stationed, and Iranian forces on high alert mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran.
Esmail Ghaani who succeeded Soleimani as head the elite Quds force, said on Friday Iran was still ready to respond.
“From inside your own house, there may emerge someone who will retaliate for your crime,” he said at a televised event to mark the anniversary at Tehran University.
“American mischief will not deter the Quds force from carrying on its resistance path,” he added.
Two U.S. B-52 bombers flew over the Middle East on Wednesday in what U.S. officials said was a message of deterrence to Iran ahead of the first anniversary.
On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused U.S. President Donald Trump of attempting to fabricate a pretext to attack Iran, and said Tehran would defend itself forcefully.
Representatives of Iran’s regional allies and movements in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Gaza also spoke at Friday’s anniversary event.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-a-year-after-soleimani-killing-idUSKBN29627W
Gabbar Singh
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Iraq issues arrest warrant for Trump in Soleimani killing <a href="https://t.co/iVi5Wf8jen">https://t.co/iVi5Wf8jen</a> <a href="https://t.co/FTY3d71KTy">pic.twitter.com/FTY3d71KTy</a></p>— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/WashTimes/status/1347401195103641603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gabbar Singh
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Iran's Khamenei warns 'revenge is inevitable' in threat to Trump<a href="https://t.co/V77DtJJqR0">https://t.co/V77DtJJqR0</a></p>— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) <a href="https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1352553133940027393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Iranian foreign minister apologises for leaked comments about General Soleimani
Iran’s foreign minister apologised on Sunday for recorded comments that were leaked to the public last week, creating a firestorm in Iran less than two months before presidential elections.
The recordings of Mohammad Javad Zarif included frank comments on powerful late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020. The attack at the time brought the US and Iran to the brink of war. Soleimani’s funeral processions in Iran drew millions of people to the streets.
In the recordings, Zarif criticises Soleimani’s separate relations with Russia and for refusing to stop using the national carrier Iran Air for Syrian operations despite Zarif’s objections. Iran Air has been sanctioned by the US.
Zarif said in an Instagram post on Sunday that he hoped Soleimani’s family would forgive him. “I hope that the great people of Iran and all the lovers of general (Soleimani) and especially the great family of Soleimani, will forgive me,” he said.
Zarif’s leaked comments were highly controversial in Iran, where officials mind their words amid a cut-throat political environment that includes the powerful Revolutionary Guard, ultimately overseen by the country’s supreme leader.
Besides the criticism of Soleimani, a top commander in the Guard, Zarif’s leaked remarks included cutting references to the limits of his power in the theocracy.
Zarif can be heard saying at various points in the seven-hour tape that it was not meant for release.
“If I had known that a sentence of it would be made public, I certainly would not have mentioned it as before,” he said in his Instagram post.
Zarif has said he will not run for president in the upcoming election. Some had suggested him as a potential candidate to challenge hard-liners in the vote.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1621606/i...s-for-leaked-comments-about-general-soleimani
Iran’s foreign minister apologised on Sunday for recorded comments that were leaked to the public last week, creating a firestorm in Iran less than two months before presidential elections.
The recordings of Mohammad Javad Zarif included frank comments on powerful late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020. The attack at the time brought the US and Iran to the brink of war. Soleimani’s funeral processions in Iran drew millions of people to the streets.
In the recordings, Zarif criticises Soleimani’s separate relations with Russia and for refusing to stop using the national carrier Iran Air for Syrian operations despite Zarif’s objections. Iran Air has been sanctioned by the US.
Zarif said in an Instagram post on Sunday that he hoped Soleimani’s family would forgive him. “I hope that the great people of Iran and all the lovers of general (Soleimani) and especially the great family of Soleimani, will forgive me,” he said.
Zarif’s leaked comments were highly controversial in Iran, where officials mind their words amid a cut-throat political environment that includes the powerful Revolutionary Guard, ultimately overseen by the country’s supreme leader.
Besides the criticism of Soleimani, a top commander in the Guard, Zarif’s leaked remarks included cutting references to the limits of his power in the theocracy.
Zarif can be heard saying at various points in the seven-hour tape that it was not meant for release.
“If I had known that a sentence of it would be made public, I certainly would not have mentioned it as before,” he said in his Instagram post.
Zarif has said he will not run for president in the upcoming election. Some had suggested him as a potential candidate to challenge hard-liners in the vote.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1621606/i...s-for-leaked-comments-about-general-soleimani
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Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge against Donald Trump if the former US president is not tried over the killing of Qasem Soleimani, as Tehran marked two years since the commander's death.
“The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the United States, must face justice and retribution,” Raisi said.
“It would be ok if the trial of Trump, (former secretary of State Mike) Pompeo and other criminals was held in a fair court where their horrible crimes were addressed and they faced justice for their actions,” he added.
“Otherwise, I will tell all US leaders that without a doubt the hand of revenge will emerge from the sleeve of the Muslim nation.”
Raisi was addressing thousands at Tehran's biggest prayer hall, at Iran's main event to mark Soleimani's death anniversary during a week of commemorations.
Participants held national flags and portraits of the slain commander, state TV showed.
Raisi called Soleimani a symbol of the Iranian revolution and of “bravery and rationality”.
Read: Qasem Soleimani — the general who became an Iran icon by targeting US
Soleimani, former commander of the Quds' force, the foreign operations' arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed along with his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a US drone strike near Bagdad's airport on January 3, 2020.
Five days later, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at a US airbase in Ain Al Assad housing American troops in Iraq, and another near Arbil in the north.
No US troops were killed in those strikes but Washington said dozens suffered traumatic brain injuries from the blasts.
Trump said at the time he had ordered the drone strike in response to a number of attacks on US interests in Iraq, and with more expected.
Iran's foreign ministry said in a Twitter post on Friday that “the current US government bears definitive international responsibility for this crime”.
DAWN
“The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the United States, must face justice and retribution,” Raisi said.
“It would be ok if the trial of Trump, (former secretary of State Mike) Pompeo and other criminals was held in a fair court where their horrible crimes were addressed and they faced justice for their actions,” he added.
“Otherwise, I will tell all US leaders that without a doubt the hand of revenge will emerge from the sleeve of the Muslim nation.”
Raisi was addressing thousands at Tehran's biggest prayer hall, at Iran's main event to mark Soleimani's death anniversary during a week of commemorations.
Participants held national flags and portraits of the slain commander, state TV showed.
Raisi called Soleimani a symbol of the Iranian revolution and of “bravery and rationality”.
Read: Qasem Soleimani — the general who became an Iran icon by targeting US
Soleimani, former commander of the Quds' force, the foreign operations' arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed along with his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a US drone strike near Bagdad's airport on January 3, 2020.
Five days later, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at a US airbase in Ain Al Assad housing American troops in Iraq, and another near Arbil in the north.
No US troops were killed in those strikes but Washington said dozens suffered traumatic brain injuries from the blasts.
Trump said at the time he had ordered the drone strike in response to a number of attacks on US interests in Iraq, and with more expected.
Iran's foreign ministry said in a Twitter post on Friday that “the current US government bears definitive international responsibility for this crime”.
DAWN
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Iran issues indictment against US officials in Gen. Soleimani assassination case
Iran has issued an indictment against the US government and military officials in the case of the 2020 assassination of top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the judiciary chief for Tehran province says.
Ali Alghasi-Mehr announced the news on Sunday, adding that a public trial of the defendants will be held within the next month.
“After collecting more than 12,000 pages of documents, the 164-page indictment was issued against 73 American officials regarding the martyrdom of Hajj Qassem Soleimani and his companions and was referred to Tehran Criminal Court number 1,” he said.
“All the defendants, who are US statesmen and military officials, have been officially notified of the case and required to introduce their lawyers.”
Alghasi-Mehr also noted that the case is one of those that are being pursued against the US government and its allies over their crimes against the Iranian nation.
On January 3, 2020, General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was assassinated along with his companions in a US drone strike authorized by then-US President Donald Trump in Iraq.
He was highly revered because of his key role in fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
Also in his remarks, Tehran’s judiciary chief said that the US had been convicted in a case brought by patients with the rare disease of epidermolysis bullosa (EB) or butterfly patients.
The US government has to pay a total of $1,475 billion in material damages to EB patients ($5 million to each claimant) and $5,310 billion as compensation for moral damage caused by Washington’s illegal sanctions against Iran, he added.
Alghasi-Mehr further referred to the case of the 2018 deadly attack in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz that was conducted by a US-backed terrorist group.
He said a court had ordered the US government to pay a total of $960 million to the families of the martyrs, as well as $64 million in material and moral damages, and $1,280 billion in punitive damages to the claimants.
Iran issues indictment against US officials in Gen. Soleimani assassination case
Iran issues an indictment against US officials in the case of the 2020 assassination of top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.
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