JAKARTA - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has firmly demanded that former US President Donald Trump be put on trial for the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, or Iran will take revenge, on the second anniversary of the charismatic general's assassination.
Iran and groups allied with it in Iraq and other countries have held events to honor Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, the overseas force of the elite Revolutionary Guards. He was killed in Iraq in a drone strike on January 3, 2020, ordered by Donald Trump at the time.
"If Trump and (former secretary of state Mike) Pompeo are not tried in a fair trial for the criminal offense of the murder of General Soleimani, we will avenge our martyrs," Raisi said in a speech Monday, citing Reuters January 4.
"The aggressor, killer and main perpetrator, the then President of the United States, must be tried and tried under the law of retaliation, and God's judgment must be made against him," said Raisi.
Under Iranian law, a convicted murderer can be executed unless the victim's family agrees to take "blood money" through reconciliation.
Earlier, Iranian judicial officials had communicated with authorities in nine countries after identifying 127 suspects in the case, including 74 US citizens, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri told state television.
"The former criminal president (Trump) is at the top of the list," he said.
On Sunday, Iran urged the United Nations Security Council in a letter to hold the United States and Israel accountable, which Tehran says were also involved in the killing, Iranian media said.
Days after the assassination, the United States told the United Nations that the killings were in self-defense. US Attorney General William Barr said Trump clearly had the authority to kill Soleimani and the general was a "legitimate military target."
To note, hundreds of supporters of the Iran-backed militia group gathered on Sunday at Baghdad's international airport, to mark the anniversary of Soleimani's death and to shout anti-American slogans.
Two armed drones were shot down on Monday as they approached an Iraqi military base housing US troops near Baghdad's international airport, Iraqi security sources said.
Earlier on Sunday evening, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement seized a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship that it said was involved in "hostile acts", but Saudi Arabia said was carrying hospital equipment.
Separately in Israel on Monday, the Jerusalem Post newspaper said its website had been hacked in what it described as a real threat to the country, with illustrations reminiscent of Soleimani.
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