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Iran Calls on Iraq to Form a Judicial Case on Soleimani’s Assassination

Qassem Soleimani’s children arrive at their father’s fourth-anniversary ceremony in Tehran (Tasnim)
Qassem Soleimani’s children arrive at their father’s fourth-anniversary ceremony in Tehran (Tasnim)
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Iran Calls on Iraq to Form a Judicial Case on Soleimani’s Assassination

Qassem Soleimani’s children arrive at their father’s fourth-anniversary ceremony in Tehran (Tasnim)
Qassem Soleimani’s children arrive at their father’s fourth-anniversary ceremony in Tehran (Tasnim)

Iran is in contact with Iraq to form legal proceedings to prosecute those accused in the killing of al-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike in Baghdad four years ago.

The head of the Human Rights Committee of the Iranian judiciary, Kazem Gharibabadi, revealed that the Soleimani case has already been pursued in local courts and is trying to be brought to the international level.

The Tasnim Agency, affiliated with the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), quoted Gharibabadi as saying that Iran informed US defendants of their right to appear in court, defend themselves, or designate a lawyer to represent them. The court would appoint one if the suspects did not choose a lawyer.

According to the Iranian official, Tehran is communicating with the Iraqi authorities regarding the Soleimani case. They have urged their counterparts in Baghdad to conclude their investigations swiftly and submit the indictment to the court.

Recently, an Iraqi delegation visited Tehran and assured that their investigations would conclude soon. They indicated their intention to submit a list of indictments to the court, marking the beginning of a judicial process in the two countries.

Over the past two years, Iranian authorities pressured Baghdad to secure recognition of Soleimani’s entry into Iraq on a diplomatic mission before the US drone targeted him.

Last month, the Iranian judiciary demanded the US administration pay compensation of about $50 billion for assassinating the top military officer.

In 2020, Soleimani was assassinated during a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, ordered by former US President Donald Trump.

At the time, Trump confirmed that the US succeeded in eliminating a top Iranian commander who was plotting “imminent” attacks against US diplomats and military personnel.

Soleimani, who passed away at 62, had a long career within the ranks of the Revolutionary Guard.

Ultimately, he rose to lead the al-Quds Force in the late nineties.

He is credited with a significant role in the expansion of Iranian intelligence and military operations in the Middle East and contributed to building armed groups that fight by proxy, which concerned the US and its allies.

Months before his killing, Soleimani had announced an “asymmetric” war against US forces and their interests in the region.

He said that he would fight that war without direct interference from the Iranian armed forces, referring to armed groups loyal to Iran

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Arab World

Deadly Israeli Strike on Journalists in Lebanon Prompts Global Condemnation

A destroyed journalists car is seen at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP)
A destroyed journalists car is seen at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP)
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Deadly Israeli Strike on Journalists in Lebanon Prompts Global Condemnation

A destroyed journalists car is seen at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP)
A destroyed journalists car is seen at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP)

Three journalists were killed in Lebanon by an Israeli strike on Friday morning, drawing condemnation from rights advocates about the number of reporters who have lost their lives in the region over the past year.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it "strongly condemned" the attack, urging the international community to "stop Israel's long-standing pattern of impunity in journalist killings".

The strike around 3 am local time hit a collection of guesthouses housing only reporters in the southern Lebanese town of Hasbaya, killing two journalists from the Al-Mayadeen television network and one journalist from Al-Manar.

Muhammad Farhat, a reporter with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed, was one of at least 18 journalists staying at the guesthouses in Hasbaya.

There was no evacuation order by Israel's military. Farhat told Reuters he had been woken up by the sound of Israeli jets flying low overhead and heard two missiles strike nearby guesthouses before the roof of his guesthouse collapsed on him.

"The scenes were terrifying. We saw our colleagues and friends cut up, their limbs strewn all over, others were screaming and begging us to pull them out," Farhat said later on Al-Jadeed, tears in his eyes.

The Israeli military said it had received reports that journalists had been hit several hours after its forces had attacked what it described as a Hezbollah military structure in Hasbaya, adding that the incident was under review.

The last year has been the deadliest period for journalists in more than 30 years, CPJ has said, with at least 126 reporters and media workers among nearly 45,000 people killed in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

Two Israeli journalists were killed in the Oct. 7 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Friday was the deadliest day for journalists in Lebanon over the last year. At least five other reporters have been killed in Israeli strikes while on assignment in Lebanon, including Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah.

Sharing a post about Friday's strike on X, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan wrote: "Deliberate killing of a journalist is a war crime."

Israel denies deliberately targeting journalists.

Mazen Shaqoura, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Middle East, told Al-Jadeed the strike represented "a targeting of what we hear and what we see."