TEHRAN- Tehran plans to submit a petition with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the U.S. assassination of Iran’s the anti-terror hero, General Qassem Soleimani as part of legal and judicial measures to bring to justice the culprits of the 2020 drone attack.

Speaking at a meeting in Tehran on Saturday, Tavakkol Habibzadeh, the head of the Presidential Office’s center for legal and international affairs said that the petition is currently being prepared and will be submitted to the ICJ as the only qualified body to deal with the case. 

The meeting took place on the anniversary of the assassination that took place on January 3, 2020 near Iraq’s capital Baghdad.  

According to Habibzadeh, Iran is investigating General Soleimani’s assassination in accordance with the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons. 

He said both the United States and Iran are party to the convention.

The official clarified that Iran is pursuing the case on the basis of that convention since it has already been established that General Soleimani’s assassination was a terrorist act, and because Washington’s argument that it carried out the drone strike as a lawful form of defense was denied.   

Habibzadeh was alluding to a report that UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions Agnès Callamard gave to the Human Rights Council in August 2020, which focused on the use of armed drones for targeted assassinations.

In that report, Ms. Callamard concluded that the targeting of General Soleimani constituted an arbitrary killing for which the U.S. stands responsible.

The Iranian official also stated that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has invited the United States to discussions through two different notes, the first of which was delivered in mid-September 2023, in accordance with a procedure outlined in the 1973 convention.

Additionally, he said that based on the international law, the U.S. has six months to react to the notes and if Washington does not answer in that time, Iran will file a case with the ICJ. 

“Trump, Pompeo, Mackenzie main suspects in assassinating Gen. Soleimani”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Commander of the U.S. Central Command Kenneth F. McKenzie, according to Secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi, are the main suspects in the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.

According to Gharibabadi, the primary charges made against the defendants in General Soleimani’s assassination case include willful killing and funding terrorism.

Because he had a proper analysis and comprehension of regional trends in the political, military, strategic, and social domains, General Soleimani was a brilliant military strategist in the region and his methods were always effective in battling terrorists and takfiri groups, he noted.

General Soleimani’s notable features, according to Gharibabadi, were protecting and supporting the Axis of Resistance.

He also repeated that the Americans established and funded Daesh in order to use its savagery to defame Islam and Muslims.

The official added that the criminal case against those suspected of assassinating General Soleimani has 96 American defendants, of which 26 have their legal proceedings suspended while 73 others have received indictment.

Declaring it on Monday, Habibzadeh also said that the second notice was written and sent after the United States failed to respond to the first one on holding negotiations.

He stated that the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued the second notification to the U.S. to request arbitration between Tehran and Washington approximately a month and a half ago, adding that the U.S. administration has until the end of April to react.