Iran, Iraq Share Documents on Probe Into US Assassination of Top Commanders
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Judiciary Chief’s Deputy for International Affairs and secretary of the country’s High Council for Human Rights, said that Iran and Iraq shared a 300-page documents on probe into the “criminal and terrorist” assassination of top anti-terror commanders of the two countries.
Kazem Gharibabadi who is also the secretary of the country’s High Council for Human Rights said on Thursday that the two neighboring countries have issued a joint statement on the matter during the second session of a joint Iran-Iraq committee investigating the murder of Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Mahdi al-Muhandis, the top anti-terror commanders of the two countries by the United States in Baghdad on January 3, 2020.
"Today, part of the documents and information exchange took place between the judiciaries and this exchange will continue; In this regard, we presented more than 300 pages of our documents to the Iraqi delegation,” Gharibabadi said.
General Soleimani, the then commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were assassinated along with their companions in a US drone strike authorized by then-US President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
Both commanders were admired by Muslim nations for eliminating the US-sponsored Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
In the statement, Gharibabadi said, Iran and Iraq stressed that the assassinations were a “violation of the rules of international law, including relevant international conventions on the fight against terrorism.”
“In addition, the two countries reaffirmed their serious and firm determination to identify, prosecute and punish all those involved in deciding, planning and implementing this criminal act,” he emphasized.
“Documents and information related to the role and interference of the American defendants were presented by the Iranian delegation to the Iraqi side, and it was decided that complementary investigations would be carried out by the judiciaries of the two countries in this regard,” the senior Iranian human rights official noted, adding that the two countries have exchanged documents and reports about the case.
He added that Iran and Iraq also agreed to continue the exchange of documents and information in the investigation process.
“In the joint statement, the two sides also emphasized that they would use legal and judicial capacities at national and international levels to deliver justice and prevent the occurrence of such criminal acts,” Gharibabadi pointed out.
They also agreed to continue bilateral cooperation to gather information about all defendants and ways to hold them accountable.
The third round of the joint committee will be held in Baghdad within the next 45 days.
“Judicial representation has been issues for more than 120 individuals, regarding the case; In addition, Iran provided Iraq with documents and information about 69 individuals and legal entities,” he noted.
"An Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council issued a comprehensive report on this terrorist crime, calling it a violation of international law, and there is an international document in this regard," Iran’s High Council for Human Rights concluded.
In an interview with the Malam magazine, published by the Israeli Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center, former head of the Israeli military intelligence Major General Tamir Hayman has said the Tel Aviv regime was involved in the assassination of General Soleimani.