Iran Not to Let West Use Human Rights as Leverage in Vienna Talks: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Judiciary official said the Iranian team of negotiators in the Vienna talks on the revival of the JCPOA will block attempts by the US and the Western governments to utilize human rights as a leverage against Tehran in the course of negotiations.
In an interview with Tasnim, Kazem Gharibabadi, the Iranian Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs, criticized the US and Western countries for using the issue of human rights as an instrument to achieve their political purposes.
“Nevertheless, I must emphasize that the Vienna negotiations would never be affected by other outside factors. In fact, the Iranian delegation will not allow this,” he said.
On the plans to pursue legal and international actions in the case of the American assassination of top Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, Gharibabadi said Iranian courts are working on two legal and punitive cases in this regard, while the Judiciary of Iraq, as the country wherein the crime has been committed, has set up cases.
He also noted that a joint investigation committee has held two meetings in Baghdad and Tehran, saying its third session will be held within the next 45 days in Baghdad.
Lt. General Soleimani, the former commander the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force, was martyred together with his companions in a US drone strike that targeted Baghdad in January 2020. The attack came while General Soleimani was paying an official visit to the Iraqi capital.
The strike had been directly ordered by former US president Donald Trump.
Among the other martyrs was senior Iraqi counterterrorism commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.