Aljazeera
By Maziar Motamedi
Jan. 5, 2021
[Second Interpol arrest request for US President Donald Trump comes
two weeks before he has to leave the White House.]
Tehran, Iran – US President Donald Trump has had a “red notice”
request for his arrest issued through Interpol by Iran.
Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced during a
press conference on Tuesday that Iran has requested the international
police organisation to arrest Trump and 47 other American officials
identified as playing a role in the assassination of top general
Qassem Soleimani last year.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is very seriously following up on
pursuing and punishing those who ordered and executed this crime,”
Esmaili told reporters.
Soleimani, Iran’s top general who led the foreign operations arm of
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was assassinated on January 3,
2020, in a US drone strike in Baghdad ordered by Trump.
The assassination was deemed to be against international law by Agnes
Callamard, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions.
It was the second Iranian request for an international arrest warrant
for Trump and dozens of US officials in the Pentagon and US Central
Command, among other organisations.
In June, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr issued an arrest warrant for
Trump and dozens of US officials saying they face “murder and
terrorism charges”.
But France-based Interpol rejected Iran’s request, saying its
constitution forbids it from undertaking “any intervention or
activities of a political, military, religious or racial character”.
Renewed talks of prosecuting Trump and other US officials come as part
of Iranian promises to avenge Soleimani one year after his murder in
an American drone strike in Iraq.
They also come shortly before Trump has to leave office on January 20,
something Iran hopes could boost his chances of facing consequences.
‘Accountable’
In a ceremony in Tehran to mark Soleimani’s assassination anniversary,
judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi said Trump was a main target of
prosecution and should not be immune because of his political status.
“Fortunately, Trump’s presidency has ended. But even if his term
hadn’t ended, it would be unacceptable to say someone shouldn’t be
accountable to law due to his administrative position,” he said.
The spokesman of the powerful constitutional vetting body, the
Guardian Council, also said last week Iran would legally pursue Trump
after he leaves the White House.
Ali Kadkhodaei said Trump’s legal immunity as head of state is
problematic for legally pursuing him, but “some international experts
hold the view that after Trump’s presidency is over this might be
possible”.
Tensions between Iran and the US have been on the rise around the
first anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination.
The US has flown nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the Gulf several
times in the past month and on Monday reversed its decision to get a
Navy aircraft carrier out of the region for what it said was because
of renewed threats by Iranian officials.
Iran, on the other hand, has warned that hawks in the US and Israel
may be trying to start a war in Trump’s remaining days in office.
