A day after the Popular Mobilization Committee and a number of pro-Iran armed factions organized an event to commemorate the third anniversary of the assassination of the IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, Tehran renewed its calls on the Iraqi government to reveal the “killers”.
Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's top adviser on international affairs, demanded on Wednesday the Iraqi judiciary to prosecute the plotters of Soleimani’s assassination before international institutions.
The Iranian general was killed in a US strike near Baghdad Airport on Jan. 3, 2020.
“The terrorist operation carried out by the United States to assassinate Soleimani, who was invited by the Iraqi government to travel to Iraq, is a flagrant violation of international laws and is considered a public crime according to the Charter of the International Criminal Court, and the perpetrators can be prosecuted in that court,” Velayati said during the first international conference on the assassination of Soleimani, which was held in Tehran.
He added that the assassination “contradicts many international laws and norms, including Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents of 1973.”
In conjunction with Velayati’s call, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid met with the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad, Muhammad Kazem Al-Sadeq, on Thursday.
According to a presidential statement, Al-Sadeq described the relations between his country and Iraq as “historic,” but the meeting did not point to any reference to the killing of Soleimani and whether Baghdad had taken action in this regard.
Tehran did not exert pressure during the tenure of former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, contenting itself at the time with providing evidence of the Americans carrying out the assassination with accusations of a number of undisclosed elements. Based on statements by Iranian officials, Tehran was satisfied with the measures taken by the former Iraqi government.
But the mounting pressure on the current Iraqi government raises questions among political observers, who see that Iran is increasing its demands at a time when the Coordination Framework forces are divided over the relations with Washington.
Iraqi political sources said on Tuesday that the third anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani has sparked sharp divisions between the parties of the Coordination Framework, following reports that the government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani agreed to a US request to prevent a “million-strong memorial march” for Soleimani in the country.
