Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by the United States was a flagrant violation of international law.

“If we are talking about the latest swirl of U.S.-Iranian escalation with which the current year started, then our position is known. We condemn any actions that contradict the principles of the UN Charter and lead to increased tensions in the region. The Pentagon attack on the airport in Baghdad organized on January 3, which killed the commander of the special forces of [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] IRGC of Iran [Qassem] Soleimani, became a flagrant violation of international law,” UrduPoint quoted him as saying on Monday in an interview with the Italian La Stampa daily.

The Russian foreign minister pointed out that it was a civilian airport, emphasizing that “these actions on the part of Americans are beyond the limits.”

“Russia advocates overcoming the existing differences solely through dialogue, at the negotiating table. This is what the Russian concept of collective security in the Persian Gulf region, presented last summer, is aiming for. So, in contrast to the confrontational schemes promoted by a number of states, we are offering the region a constructive, unifying agenda, and are calling for the formation of mechanisms for joint responses to challenges and threats,” he said.

In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January, Lavrov called on Washington to abandon “unlawful tactics”.

“They [Lavrov and Pompeo] have discussed the situation related to the murder of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. military in an airstrike on the Baghdad airport,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated. 

“Lavrov stressed that the purposeful actions of a UN member state on eliminating officials of another UN member state, especially on the territory of a third sovereign state without giving it prior notice, blatantly violate the principles of international law and should be condemned.”

“The Russian minister has pointed out that this step by the U.S. is fraught with serious consequences for peace and security in the region and that it does not aid the efforts on finding solutions to difficult issues accumulated in the Middle East. On the contrary, it leads to a new wave of escalation. Moscow urges Washington to abandon unlawful forceful tactics of achieving its goals on the international arena and to resolve any issues at the negotiating table,” the ministry added.

The U.S. assassinated Soleimani, Iran’s top anti-terror commander, in an airstrike in Baghdad on January 3. Iran retaliated to the attack on January 8 by firing dozens of ballistic missiles at a major U.S. air base in western Iraq, dealing a great blow to the U.S. that it is invincible.

NA/PA