Iran looks to establish joint court with Iraq for Soleimani case

07-01-2023
Dilan Sirwan
Dilan Sirwan @DeelanSirwan
A+ A-
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.

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required
 

The Latest

 Ali Larijani, advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. File photo: AP

Tehran open to new nuclear deal but has conditions: Khamenei advisor

A senior Iranian official indicated on Friday that Tehran would be willing to enter into a new nuclear agreement with the incoming administration of United States President-elect Donald Trump, but that it has conditions.