Iran looks to establish joint court with Iraq for Soleimani case
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran looks to establish a joint court with Iraq for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and has already started working on the matter with Baghdad, head of Iran’s legal follow up committee on the case said on Friday.
“If we can establish an international court between Iraq and Iran, the case can be pursued more quickly in international forums,” Abbas Ali Khodkhodai told Iranian state media. “Fortunately, with the communication between the governments of the two countries. This matter is under action.”
Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in a US airstrike on January 3, 2020, alongside Muhandis, deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The strike was ordered by former US President Donald Trump in response to the constant attacks by IRGC-allied groups on the US embassy in Baghdad and military bases housing coalition and US forces across the country.
Soleimani and Muhandis were controversial figures in Iraq and the wider region. Muhandis was a founder of pro-Iran militia group Kataib Hezbollah accused by the international community of orchestrating the attacks on bases and numerous kidnappings of activists and protesters. Their killing stunned the Iranian establishment and their regional allies but was welcomed by the US allies in the region.
Speaking of Iraq’s cooperation in pursuing the case, Khodkhodai said that “to follow up on this issue, some documents were needed, some of which were in Iraq, and fortunately, these documents have been completed with the cooperation of the Iraqi government.”
Ceremonies have been held in Iran and in Iraq for the past three years to mark the anniversary of the killing of Soleimani and Muhandis.
Hundreds of PMF supporters on Monday commemorated the third anniversary of Soleimani and Muhandis’ assassination near Baghdad airport - the scene of the killing.
Iraqi officials renewed their condemnation of the killing, with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani saying that their blood “must not go in vain.”
Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan said it was the judiciary’s responsibility to hold the perpetrators of the killing accountable, calling on those in charge of investigating the incident to make “an exceptional effort” to reach the evidence revealing the perpetrators.
Iraq’s judiciary issued an arrest warrant for Trump last year for ordering the assassination of Soleimani and Muhandis.
“If we can establish an international court between Iraq and Iran, the case can be pursued more quickly in international forums,” Abbas Ali Khodkhodai told Iranian state media. “Fortunately, with the communication between the governments of the two countries. This matter is under action.”
Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in a US airstrike on January 3, 2020, alongside Muhandis, deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The strike was ordered by former US President Donald Trump in response to the constant attacks by IRGC-allied groups on the US embassy in Baghdad and military bases housing coalition and US forces across the country.
Soleimani and Muhandis were controversial figures in Iraq and the wider region. Muhandis was a founder of pro-Iran militia group Kataib Hezbollah accused by the international community of orchestrating the attacks on bases and numerous kidnappings of activists and protesters. Their killing stunned the Iranian establishment and their regional allies but was welcomed by the US allies in the region.
Speaking of Iraq’s cooperation in pursuing the case, Khodkhodai said that “to follow up on this issue, some documents were needed, some of which were in Iraq, and fortunately, these documents have been completed with the cooperation of the Iraqi government.”
Ceremonies have been held in Iran and in Iraq for the past three years to mark the anniversary of the killing of Soleimani and Muhandis.
Hundreds of PMF supporters on Monday commemorated the third anniversary of Soleimani and Muhandis’ assassination near Baghdad airport - the scene of the killing.
Iraqi officials renewed their condemnation of the killing, with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani saying that their blood “must not go in vain.”
Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan said it was the judiciary’s responsibility to hold the perpetrators of the killing accountable, calling on those in charge of investigating the incident to make “an exceptional effort” to reach the evidence revealing the perpetrators.
Iraq’s judiciary issued an arrest warrant for Trump last year for ordering the assassination of Soleimani and Muhandis.