TEHRAN — The head of the Iranian Judiciary's High Council for Human Rights has asked Germany to cooperate with Iran regarding the perpetrators and accomplices in the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. military earlier this year.

Ali Bagheri-Kani made the remarks during a meeting with German Ambassador to Tehran Hans-Udo Muzel, IRNA reported on Sunday.

Pointing to reports that a U.S. base in Germany was part of the operation that led to Soleimani’s assassination, Ali Bagheri-Kani urged Berlin to cooperate with Iran’s Judiciary in order to help clear up the ambiguities around the case.

On January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered drone strikes that martyred General Soleimani, chief of the IRGC Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC attacked Ain al-Assad airbase in western Iraq, where U.S. forces were stationed, as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the U.S. terror attack.

Iran has also vowed to spare no efforts in bringing the assassins of General Soleimani, especially Trump, to justice.

“Iran, while fully adhering to the applicable provisions of international law, will spare no legal and legitimate effort in order to bring the perpetrators and accomplices of Martyr General Soleimani to justice, so that they suffer legal punishment for their action,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said last month.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Bagheri-Kani strongly condemned the West’s double standards on human rights, saying this issue is used by the West as a political tool.

Unlike what Western media often portray, the Islamic Republic is committed to its obligations regarding the promotion of human rights in compliance with its constitution and religious values, he said, Tasnim reported.

Iran’s policies are based on the basic principles of human rights, the human rights chief said, adding that this is while Western policies are mainly politically motivated.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s stance with respect to its peaceful nuclear activities and missile power is also based on human rights principles and standards since the Iranian nation has the right to apply its scientific, technological and industrial power in order to defend its territorial integrity and safeguard its national welfare,” Bagheri-Kani added.  

He further condemned “distorted” reports by certain media outlets regarding the detention of dual citizens in Iran, saying being a dual citizen in Iran does not mean that the citizen will be deprived of his or her rights.  

“The requirement for making progress in human rights interaction and understanding for Western countries is not to look at the human rights issue with political glasses,” he stressed.

MH/PA