Iran’s envoy to the United Nations called on the UN Security Council to live up to its Charter-based responsibilities and hold the US and the Israeli regime to account for planning, supporting and committing the assassination of top Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani.
In a letter to President of the UN Security Council Mona Juul on the second anniversary of martyrdom of General Soleimani, Majid Takht Ravanchi highlighted the dire implications of the assassination of the popular commander on international peace and security.
What follows is the full text of the Iranian ambassador’s letter:
“Excellency,
Concurrent with the second anniversary of the horrific assassination of Martyr Major General Qassem Soleimani, the Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – an official branch of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran – and his companions, on 3 January 2020 at Baghdad International Airport, at the direct order of the then President of the United States, I would like to bring to your attention the recent information concerning the involvement of the Israeli regime in this heinous terrorist act.
In a recent interview, the former military intelligence chief of the Israeli regime admitted the involvement of the Israeli regime in the premeditated assassination of Martyr Soleimani, stating that the “Israeli intelligence played a part” in that assassination, and described it as “an achievement” and one of the two significant and important assassinations during his term.
As I have on numerous occasions underlined, including in my letters dated 3 January 2020 (S/2020/13), 7 January 2020 (S/2020/16) and 29 January 2020 (S/2020/81) addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council, this internationally wrongful criminal act was a grave breach of the obligations of the United States under international law, thus entails its international responsibility.
This criminal act also entails the criminal responsibility of all those who had aided, abetted or otherwise assisted and supported, by any means, directly or indirectly, the planning or perpetration of this terrorist act, the clear example of which is the supportive role and the involvement of the Israeli regime in it.
Martyr Soleimani played a significant role in combatting international terrorism and accordingly was rightfully given the title of the Hero of the Fight against Terrorism and the General of Peace, and therefore his cowardly assassination was a big gift and service to Daesh and other Security Council designated terrorist groups in the region who welcomed his assassination, calling it “an act of divine intervention that benefitted” them.
Given the dire implications of this terrorist act on international peace and security, the Security Council must live up to its Charter-based responsibilities and hold the United States and the Israeli regime to account for planning, supporting and committing that terrorist act.
In line with our rights and obligations under international law, the Iranian armed forces are determined to vigorously continue Martyr Soleimani’s path in actively assisting regional nations and governments, upon their requests, to combat foreign-backed terrorist groups in the region until they are uprooted completely.”
General Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) were targeted along with their companions on January 3, 2020, in a terrorist drone strike authorized by Trump near Baghdad International Airport.
Five days later, in a military operation codenamed Operation Martyr Soleimani, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched a volley of ballistic missiles at the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s western province of Anbar and at another airbase in Erbil in the Kurdistan Region. Over 100 American troops were later diagnosed with “traumatic brain injuries” in Ain al-Asad.
Iran has called Soleimani’s assassination state terrorism and vowed to put an end to the US military’s presence in the region as its ultimate revenge, while urging neighboring Iraq to expel US forces from the Arab country’s soil. The Islamic Republic has also pledged to bring all the perpetrators, first and foremost Trump, to justice.
In recent days, millions of people in Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere have been attending events marking the second anniversary of the two commanders’ martyrdom, Press TV reported.