TEHRAN Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi said here on Sunday that formation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to deal with crimes against humanity and genocide is inevitable. Ayatollah Yazdi told the seminar on 'International Criminal Court and the Islamic Republic of Iran' that formation of the ICC does not negate governments' sovereignty right. Criticizing certain governments for violating the most basic rights of women and some others for launching offensives on other countries, Ayatollah Yazdi called for dealing with those law breakers.

He also called on the ICC to try the countries, which use the internationally banned weapons of mass destruction. He added that formation of the ICC does not mean intervention in other countries' judicial and internal affairs, rather it is meant to investigate crimes being committed against humanity. Meanwhile, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Mohammad-Javad Zarif in his address to the one-day seminar said that the ICC should be considered from international point of view and with an eye to world order.

Zarif said it is necessary to know to what extent the said court serves world order and to what extent it is affected by or affects world order. He said that formation of a court trying and punishing criminals is a positive and desirable act but it should be looked upon within the framework of current realities. Also speaking to the seminar was deputy foreign minister for educational affairs Sadeq Kharrazi, who said that as the main victim of international terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran has paid dearly, both spiritually and financially, for preservation of independence and freedom and is for punishment of all criminals at international level.

Legal experts both from Iran and other countries have gathered here to decide whether to join or not to join the ICC and its possible consequences. ICC's article of association had earlier been ratified by the U.N. members in Rome, Italy, in July. (IRNA)