TEHRAN -- A judiciary official says the Iranian team of negotiators in the Vienna talks will block attempts by the U.S. and the Western governments to utilize human rights as leverage against Tehran.
Kazem Gharibabadi, the Iranian judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs, criticized the U.S. and Western countries for using human rights as an instrument to achieve their political goals.
“Nevertheless, I must emphasize that the Vienna negotiations would never be affected by other outside factors. In fact, the Iranian delegation will not allow this,” he said.
Gharibabadi touched on Iran’s legal pursuit of the U.S. assassination of top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani, saying Iranian courts are working on two legal and punitive cases in this regard, while judicial authorities in Iraq, where the crime was committed, have also opened separate files.
A joint investigation committee has held two meetings in Baghdad and Tehran, with the third session to be held within the next 45 days in the Iraqi capital, he added.
General Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force, was martyred together with his companions in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. The attack came while General Soleimani was paying an official visit to the Iraqi capital.
The assassination came on the direct order of former U.S. president Donald Trump.