Gen. Soleimani assassination to the front: Iran urges trial expedition
A senior Iranian delegation lands in Baghdad to pursue Iraq's legal process of trying the individuals responsible for the assassination.
A senior Iranian judiciary delegation landed in Iraq on Monday on an official mission to follow up on the assassination case of Iran's top commander Martyr General Qassem Soleimani.
The senior officials intend to press Baghdad to try the perpetrators of the murder.
The delegation is headed by Kazem Gharibabadi who is the secretary of the High Council for Human Rights in Iran and deputy head of the Iranian judiciary.
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Gharibabadi told Al-Alam broadcasting network that the main focus of the visit will be to expedite the legal action against the criminals involved in the assassination, as well as counter-terror operations.
“We hope that an indictment will be presented to the court in Iraq as soon as possible so that the perpetrators are brought to justice,” he told the news outlet in an interview.
On January 3 of 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.
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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.
“Both Iran and Iraq have suffered a lot because of the actions of the terrorist groups,” said the senior official with regard to the efforts to battle terrorism in the neighboring countries.
“It is necessary to maintain close cooperation, at the level of national courts as well as international and human rights forums, in order to confront terrorists and terrorist groups,” he added, noting that the delegation will also be discussing with Iraqi officials the presence of “some fugitives in certain areas in Iraq.”
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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.
“In the criminal aspect, the indictment related to this case is nearing its final stages and we hope that it will reach good result,” said the head of the special committee in charge of the case then.
"This is an unforgivable crime and the American officials who committed this crime and accepted responsibility for it must be tried and punished for their action," he stressed.