Soleimani killing: Iran stresses taking legal action against US

In this file photo taken on Jan 3, 2023, mourners attend a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of Qassem Soleimani (shown in the posters), who was killed in Iraq in a US drone attack in 2020, at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran. (PHOTO / AP)

TEHRAN – Iran is determined to pursue legal action against the US in international courts for its "great crime" of assassinating top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, Iran's Vice-President for Legal Affairs Mohammad Dehqan said on Wednesday.

Dehqan said Iran maintains that any court refraining from condemning the US assassination of Soleimani "will lose its moral and professional competencies"

He made the remarks during a meeting with a number of Iraqi academics and legal experts in the Iranian capital Tehran, according to Iran's official news agency IRNA.

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Dehqan said Iran maintains that any court refraining from condemning the US assassination of Soleimani "will lose its moral and professional competencies."

On Jan 3, 2020, the US military assassinated Soleimani and the deputy commander of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. The assassination was condemned by Iran as an act of "state terrorism."

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In early January, Iran's Deputy Judiciary Chief Kazem Gharibabadi said the country charged 94 US nationals with being involved in Soleimani's assassination.