Iran issues arrest warrant for Donald Trump

30 June 2020
Tehran holds the US president responsible for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani

Iran has issued arrest warrants for Donald Trump and 35 other officials who it says were involved in the assassination of Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) elite Quds Force.

Tehran’s prosecutor-general Ali Alqasi Mehr said that Donald Trump “stands at the top of the list”, according to a report by Fars News, the semi-official news agency of the government of Iran.

Alqasi Mehr said: “Thirty-six individuals who have been involved or ordered the assassination of Hajj Qasem, including the political and military officials of the US and other governments, have been identified and arrest warrants have been issued for them by the judiciary officials and red alerts have also been issued for them via the Interpol.”

Interpol has said it will not comply with the Iranian request.

Qasem Soleimani was killed by a US drone in Iraq on 3 January shortly after landing at Baghdad airport.

The Iraqi military commander and deputy chief of the Popular Mobilisation Committee Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack.

A statement from the Pentagon said the strike was ordered by US President Donald Trump.

It described the strike as “decisive defensive action” taken to prevent attacks against US personnel and interests in the region.

The Pentagon said that Soleimani "was actively developing plans to attack US diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region".

The drone strike that killed Soleimani and Al-Muhandis escalated tensions in the region, with Iran carrying out a ballistic missile attacks on air bases housing US forces in Iraq.

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