TEHRAN – Iraq has announced that Baghdad and Tehran will sue the United States for assassinating top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and deputy head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

In a statement on Monday, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said the country regards the U.S. assassination of General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on its soil as a criminal act, Press TV reported.

The council said it has coordinated its legal procedure with the Iranian Judiciary and the two countries will file a joint lawsuit against the U.S.

“The investigation into the airport incident began from the first moment and the Iraqi judiciary dealt with that incident as a criminal act that took place on Iraqi land where some of the victims are Iraqis,” the council said in a statement.

According to the statement, the investigation took place according to the Iraqi Code of Criminal Procedure starting with inspecting the scene and meeting with some of the plaintiffs, including the legal representative of the Iranian embassy.

“The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers had been informed of other details regarding the accident, and that the investigation procedures since the time of the accident continue in accordance with the Iraqi law,” the statement added.

On January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes that killed General Soleimani and al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), in Baghdad’s international airport.

In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC fired dozens of ballistic missiles at a military airbase hosting U.S. forces in Iraq as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the U.S. terrorist attack.

Last month, Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Alqasi-Mehr said 36 individuals had been identified in connection with the assassination.

“36 individuals who cooperated, collaborated, and participated in the assassination of Hajj Qassem, including political and military authorities of the U.S. and other countries, have been identified,” Alqasi-Mehr said.

Their arrest warrant has been issued and announced to Interpol, he added.

The prosecutor general explained that U.S. President Donald Trump is at the top of the list, and he’ll be facing prosecution even after his term as president.

MH/PA