TEHRAN – Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the special aide to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament on international affairs, has said the list of individuals involved in the assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander Qassem Soleimani has been updated from 45 to 48.

Iran’s Judiciary has added new names to the list of individuals involved in the January assassination, Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday, according to Tasnim.

He said the Judiciary has stepped up efforts to prosecute the individuals who ordered and perpetrated the criminal act.

Amir-Abdollahian added that six countries have been given warrants from Iran’s Judiciary so far for the arrest of the culprits.

He also said a harsh revenge for the assassination of General Soleimani has been put on the agenda of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Last month, Iran’s Judiciary announced that it has formed a committee to chase and track down those accused of complicity in the assassination.

“With the Judiciary chief’s order, a committee was tasked with gathering evidence, and a judicial board, led by the prosecutor and I, as the deputy prosecutor and investigator in charge of the case, began the investigation and its procedure,” Deputy Prosecutor General Seyyed Ashrafi said at the time.

On January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered drone strikes that martyred General Soleimani, chief of the IRGC Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC attacked Ain al-Assad airbase in western Iraq, where U.S. forces were stationed, as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the U.S. terror attack.

In June, Tehran said 36 individuals were identified in connection with the Soleimani 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,” Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Alqasi-Mehr said.

Alqasi-Mehr named Trump as the key individual at the top of the list, saying his pursuit will continue even after his tenure as U.S. president.

MH/PA