Third Anniversary of Assassination of Gen. Soleimani

Marking Martyrdom: Iran Renews Pledge of Revenge

Date: 03 January 2023 - 21:41

News ID: ۱۱۰۹۱۹

TEHRAN -- Iranians across the country paid homage Tuesday to their hero General Qassem Soleimani, a world-renown anti-terror commander who was assassinated by the U.S. in 2020.

People gathered in the southeastern city of Kerman, General Soleimani’s hometown, to pay tribute to the iconic commander.

Similar ceremonies were also held in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and other cities, including Isfahan, Yazd, Birjand, Rasht, Shahr Kord and Arak.

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 U.S. drone strike on January 3, 2020.

The strike near Baghdad airport was authorized by then-U.S. president Donald Trump. Days after his martyrdom, the anti-terror icon’s body was transferred to Iran and was laid to rest in his hometown of Kerman.

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

In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry said the assassination of the country’s top anti-terror commander is a “glaring example of an organized terrorist act.”

Earlier in the week, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei lauded Gen. Soleimani’s sacrifices, saying the anti-terror icon empowered, equipped and revived the resistance front against the occupying regime of Israel and the U.S.

Judiciary: 94 Americans Wanted

Iran’s top human rights official said 94 Americans are accused in the case of the terrorist act.

Kazem Gharibabadi, head of Iran’s Human Rights Headquarters and deputy chief of the judiciary, made the remarks while elaborating on the latest results of an investigation into the assassination.

“Currently, the indictment focuses on the American defendants. This case now has 94 criminals from America. All the necessary documents have been collected by the judicial authorities and at least three complete volumes about these 94 defendants are prepared,” Gharibabadi said.

He said Trump, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, and former commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) General Kenneth F. McKenzie are the main culprits in the case.

“We have also sent letters rogatory to seven other countries, as not all of the accused are Americans, and they (Americans) had accomplices from other countries, for example from some regional countries and two European countries, Germany and the UK,” the Iranian official said.

He noted that those countries have so far refrained from responding to the judicial requests that Iran had sent to them through diplomatic channels.

Gharibabadi hailed the “very good” cooperation of Iraq’s judiciary with Iran and called for accelerating the investigation process.

He said Iran has also provided Iraq’s judicial system with evidence regarding the role of 17 Iraqi people in the case.

Iran and Iraq have set up a joint judicial committee last year to probe into the case, which has held three sessions in Tehran and Baghdad and the fourth round is also to be held next week, he said.

Gharibabadi added that the two countries’ judiciaries have exchanged very

good information and documents within the framework of the joint committee which helped the Iranian judicial official to complete their investigations.

The top Iranian official said that based on the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, Iran has sent an official letter through diplomatic channels to the U.S. government, calling on the American officials to “extradite the defendants to Iran or bring charges against them” in the U.S.

“The deadline that we have set in this diplomatic note has also expired and it means that Iran can take the next steps based on the 1973 Convention,” Gharibabadi said, adding that American authorities are “avoiding the implementation of justice.”

He emphasized that no individual will be immune from judicial proceedings, adding that there is no obstacle in the way of Iran’s judicial system in pursuing the assassination case.

Iraqi Groups: Trump Will Pay a Heavy Price

The leader of Iraq’s Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq resistance group said Trump will pay dearly for the assassination.

Qais al-Khazali made the remarks at a ceremony in commemoration of the two revered commanders and their companions in the capital Baghdad.

“We declare our full allegiance that we will definitely take revenge for the blood of our fallen commanders and martyrs. We will not shy away from telling and exposing the truth,” Khazali said.

“It is high time we knew perfectly well about circumstances surrounding the assassination,” the senior Iraqi politician pointed out.

The chairman of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) also said the enemies made grave miscalculations as to General Soleimani’s assassination, and the huge funeral processions held for the commander clearly showed his immense popularity.

“The participation of millions of people in General Soleimani’s funeral revealed that he holds a high status in people’s hearts. Although Donald Trump has orchestrated the crime of his targeted killing, it would not take long for the former US president to be thrown into the dustbin of history,” Falih al-Fayyadh said.

Iraq’s anti-terror Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba movement also said the group will continue to retaliate over the assassination, irrespective of U.S. occupation forces’ futile attempts to conceal their losses in the aftermath of the targeted killings.

“We will never stop short of avenging the assassination of Gen. Soleimani and Muhandis. American occupiers and their mercenaries have been trying to cover up the extent of their losses through various means of deception in order to maintain their status,” the movement said in a statement.

“The world public opinion has, however, been informed of the enemy’s defeats as truth will out. We will never rest idle and will brandish the flag of revenge until all U.S. military forces are withdrawn from the West Asia region,” it added.

Meanwhile, Kata’ib Hezbollah movement said all culprits behind the assassination will sooner or later have to pay a price for their horrendous criminal act.

“Friends and foes should know that the cost of assassinating the anti-terror commanders and their comrades would be very high. Enemies will sooner or later have to bear the brunt, and the least cost for them would be to pack up and completely pull out of West Asia,” Abu Hussain al-Hamidawi, the secretary general of the group which is part of the PMU, said.