TEHRAN - The secretary of the Iranian Judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights has said an investigation committee set up jointly by Iran and Iraq will follow up the case of the U.S. assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.

Ali Baqeri Kani said that Tehran public prosecutor’s office for international offences, which is in charge of the case, is currently finalizing the indictment.

“We have started another procedure in cooperation with the Iraqis. They have the authority to pursue this crime because it took place in their country and their citizens were targeted and martyred," Baqeri Kani said on Thursday, according to Press TV.

General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were martyred along with their bodyguards in a U.S. drone strike authorized by former president Donald Trump near Baghdad’s international airport on January 3, 2020.

Both commanders were highly popular because of their key role in dealing a severe blow to the Daesh terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Baqeri Kani referred to the February 8-11 visit by Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi to Iraq.

Among the issues raised during the trip was Iran-Iraq cooperation regarding the assassination case, he said.

"In this regard, a joint committee has been formed. On behalf of Iraq, the deputy attorney general and on behalf of Iran, the deputy Tehran prosecutor are represented in this committee," the official noted.

“The process of investigating the assassination of Martyr Soleimani is supposed to be followed as seriously and swiftly as possible within the framework of the joint committee between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq.”

On the first anniversary of the cowardly assassination operation, a Baghdad court issued an arrest warrant for Trump as part of its investigation into the targeted killings. 

Iran also issued a warrant for the arrest of Trump and asked Interpol to relay it as a “red notice” to other police forces around the world. 

The assassination of General Soleimani was an open violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.

Only ISIS celebrated the assassination of the legendary commander.

On the first anniversary of the general’s martyrdom, Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the U.S. and ISIS as “brothers in arms.”

Nader Entessar, a professor emeritus of political science from the University of South Alabama, has praised General Soleimani’s shrewdness in devising asymmetrical “warfare strategies” against terrorists, calling his abilities “unmatched”.

“His military acumen, ability to devise asymmetrical anti-terrorism warfare strategies, and bringing together unruly groups to work together were unmatched,” Entessar told the Tehran Times as Iran marked the first anniversary of his martyrdom.

PA/PA