Raisi urges Iraq to expedite case on Soleimani, Muhandis assassination
The Iranian President says Iraq's resolve to bring the perpetrators to justice is clear to Tehran.
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Iran's President Ebrahim Raisis (before being elected) and martyred Iranian commander of Al-Quds Force of the IRGC General Qassem Soleimani (Iranian media)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called on Iraq to expedite efforts to prosecute the perpetrators responsible for the assassination of Iran's top commander martyr General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi leader martyr Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.
Raisi made his request during a meeting with the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq on Tuesday. The Iraqi top legal delegation, headed by Judge Faiq Zidan, met with Iran's president in Tehran.
"The resolve of the Iraqi government and judicial system in pursuing the case of the vicious crime committed by the Americans in the assassination case of martyrs Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and bringing to justice the perpetrators behind the crime is clear to us," Raisi said.
Read more: 'Israel', US wanted Soleimani influence out of Palestine: Resistance
"Pursuing the case until the final results are reached will show that the two countries have no leniency in administering justice against those who don't adhere to any agreement."
On his part, Zidan called for developing judicial relations with Iran.
"One of the most important examples of judicial cooperation between the two neighboring and brotherly countries is the trial of all those who participated in the terrorist crime of martyring the commanders of fighting against terrorism," he said.
Read more: Iraqi President: Soleimani participated in saving our country from ISIS
In another context, Raisi also highlighted the expanded energy cooperation between Iran and Iraq, stressing the need for Baghdad to fulfill its commitments to Tehran on gas and electricity payments.
The supreme council judge presented a report on his country's progress to pay for energy imports from its neighboring nations.
A continued effort
A senior Iranian judiciary delegation visited Baghdad in January on an official mission to follow up on the assassination case of Iran's top commander Martyr General Qassem Soleimani.
The senior officials pressed Baghdad to try the perpetrators of the murder.
The head of the delegation, Kazem Gharibabadi, said then that the main focus of the visit is to push for faster legal action against the criminals involved in the assassination, as well as counter-terror operations.
Read more: General Soleimani, the revolutionary, the martyr, the legend
On January 3, 2020, the US carried out a drone strike authorized by former US President Donald Trump targeting a car carrying the commander of Al-Quds Force of the IRGC General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trench-mate and the second-in-command of Iraqi PMU (Popular Mobilization Units), Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.
Martyr Soleimani was on an official visit to Iraq and was being transported in a car with Martyr Al-Muhandis from Baghdad's International Airport upon his arrival, before being assassinated by the US.
On December 31, Iran announced that it is in the final stages of releasing an official indictment on the case of the murder of IRGC's Quds Force Commander by the United States back in 2020.
