Foreign Ministry: Assassination of Gen. Soleimani by US, 'glaring example of organized terrorist act’

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the assassination of the country’s top anti-terror commander Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani by the United States is a “glaring example of organized terrorist act.”

The ministry made the remark in a Monday statement, issued to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of Gen. Soleimani and his companions on the direct order of then US President Donald Trump.

“Indubitable as it is, the criminal act of assassinating General Soleimani, designed and executed by the United States, constitutes yet another glaring example of an ‘organized terrorist act’,” the statement said.

It added that based on legal and international regulations, “the American regime bears ‘definite international responsibility’ for this crime, noting that all the agents, instigators, perpetrators, aiders and abettors of this terrorist crime bear responsibility.

“In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in conjunction with the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran and other agencies, has adopted, from the very outset, a number of measures premised upon the legal principle of ‘combating impunity of crimes’ in order to hold the above-mentioned to account and bring them to justice," it added.

The ministry noted that the Joint Judicial Committee between Iran and Iraq also continues its work to follow up on the US act of terrorism.

Elsewhere in the statement, the ministry said that in cooperation with other relevant institutions, it has "set up the Special Committee on Legal and International Follow-up of the Assassination Case of General Soleimani and His Companions."

"Ever since its establishment, the Committee has been investigating and pursuing the legal aspects of the case and has thus far taken several measures to press the issue at all domestic, bilateral, regional and international levels. The Committee is determined to proceed in all seriousness until its objectives are fully met and the international responsibility of the American government is invoked," it noted.

“In line with its principled policies to counter terrorism and extremism, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to work towards the establishment of peace and stability at the regional and international levels. And although the martyrdom of General Qassem Soleimani is too great a loss for Iran and Iranians, it will by no means prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from pursuing its lofty goals," the statement said.

General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were martyred along with their companions in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020.

The two anti-terror commanders were tremendously respected and admired across the region for their instrumental role in fighting and decimating the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.

Gen. Soleimani's assassination case in 'final stages' of indictment: Official

An Iranian legal official says the indictment related to the case of assassination of Iran

Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, who heads a special committee formed to follow up on General Soleimani’s murder case from legal and international aspects, on Saturday said Tehran is seriously pursuing a judicial process to serve justice in the case of Soleimani's assassination, stressing that the indictment in the case is nearing its final stages.

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