TEHRAN- Iraq is liable for prosecuting those responsible for the assassination of famed anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights has said.

Additionally, Kazem Gharibabadi emphasized that the United States is the main supporter of terrorism worldwide.

The Iranian official was discussing the instrumentalization and politicization of human rights by the West while in a discussion with a group of university presidents and professors from Iraqi institutions on Sunday in Tehran.

Iran and Iraq were both referred to by Gharibabadi as victims of terrorism and sanctions. “Iran and Iraq are victims of sanctions and terror. In Iraq, 500,000 innocent children lost their lives as a result of U.S. and Western sanctions; there was even an embargo placed on students’ blackboard chalks.” 

“Thousands of people fell victim to terrorism in Iran and Iraq; many people were plagued by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Iraq. Who created the group? The very same countries claiming advocacy of human rights,” Gharibabadi remarked. 

The top human rights official lauded the efforts and sacrifices made in the war against terrorism by General Soleimani and his Iraqi comrade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, saying, “The distinguished heroes of the fight against terror did a grand service.”

Gharibabadi stated that the two commanders supported the people of Iraq and Syria in their efforts to crush Daesh and other terrorist groups, despite the fact that those groups received Western assistance.

He noted that the assassination of the two commanders constituted a “crime against humanity,” for which the U.S. government must be held legally liable.

According to Iran’s top human rights official, Soleimani “was the official guest of the Iraqi government and the crime was committed on Iraqi soil.”

“The responsibility of pursuing the case rests with the Iraqi government to prosecute the perpetrators,” he underlined. 

Gharibabadi continued by saying, “Three and a half years have passed since the assassination and we expect that Iraq arrange the trial as soon as possible.”

On January 3, 2020, a U.S. drone strike claimed the lives of General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran, and Muhandis, his Iraqi trenchmate and the second-in-command of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

Former U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the strike near Baghdad International Airport.

The two prominent anti-terror leaders were widely revered throughout the region for their pivotal role in combating and decimating Daesh, notably in Iraq and Syria.