The Iranian government on Monday issued an arrest warrant for United States President Donald Trump, and sought the help of Interpol for detaining Trump and dozens of other officials who it claims were responsible for carrying out a drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad in January, AP reported.
On January 3, an airstrike by the US at Baghdad’s airport killed Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Trump owned up to the assassination, alleging that Soleimani had contributed to “terror plots as far away as New Delhi and London”. He promised “major retaliation” if Iran tries to avenge Soleimani’s killing, and threatened to bomb Iranian cultural sites.
Iran eventually responded by designating all US forces as terrorists, and a ballistic missile strike targeting American forces in Iraq. On June 9, the country announced that it will execute one of its citizens for providing information to the Central Intelligence Agency, that resulted in Soleimani’s killing.
On Monday, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and more than 30 others face “murder and terrorism charges”, Al Jazeera reported quoting Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency. Alqasimehr did not identify the other individuals, but said Iran will continue to pursue Trump’s prosecution even if he loses the presidency in the elections scheduled for November.
The Tehran prosecutor added that Iran had requested Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice – the highest level notice – to be put out for Trump and the other individuals. Under a Red Corner Notice, authorities in the country where the accused are present can make arrests on behalf of the country that requested them.
Interpol has not yet responded to Iran’s request.
On January 21, Iranian lawmaker Ahmad Hamzeh had placed a $3 million (Rs 22.65 crore) bounty on Trump’s head. “On behalf of people of Kerman province, we will pay $3 million award in cash to whoever kills Trump,” Hamzeh had announced. Kerman was the home province of Soleimani.
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