The government of Iran filed a “Red Notice” with Interpol in which it requests the arrest of US President Donald Trump along with 47 other officials for the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qassem Soleimani.
As reported by international news agency, Iranian judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is very seriously pursuing and punishing those who ordered and carried out this crime.”
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Interpol did not approve Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr’s previous extradition request when he released an international warrant in June for the arrest of Mr. Trump and other Pentagon and U.S. Central Command officials on “murder and terrorism charges.”
Interpol refused the June request and claimed that its own constitution prevents it from conducting any “intervention or activity of a political, military, religious or racial nature.”
On January 20, as Mr. Trump leaves office, Iran expecting that it will become easier to compel him to face the repercussions of Mr. Soleimani’s murder.
Donald Trump’s term ends on January 20
Ali Kadkhodaei, a Guardian Council spokesman who vets laws and oversees elections in Iran, said that while it is impossible to take legal proceedings against Donald Trump while he is head of state, “some international experts believe that this could be possible after Trump’s presidency.”
Tensions between Iran and the US have been growing since the first anniversary of Mr Soleimani’s death.
Over the past month, the US has flown B-52 bombers over the Gulf on many occasions and made the decision on Monday to keep a navy aircraft carrier in the region because of what it said was Iran’s growing threat.
The Independent previously reported that Iran has begun to enrich 20% purity of uranium, its most significant violation to date of the 2015 agreement which imposed limits on its nuclear technology program.
On Monday, Iran’s hardline Revolutionary Guard also seized control of a South Korean oil tanker in the Persian Gulf that it said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, had repeatedly violated “environmental protocols.”
