During his election campaign, US President Donald Trump repeatedly accused his predecessor’s administration – in particular, Democratic Party rival and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton – of creating ISIL.
“Hillary Clinton created ISIS with Obama,” Trump told his supporters in January 2016. In a CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired July 17, 2016, he reiterated, “Hillary Clinton invented ISIL with her stupid policies.”
Now Tehran is turning Trump’s remarks into a case against the US, blaming Washington for its role in orchestrating terrorist attacks against the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini’s shrine in Tehran in June 2017, for which IS claimed responsibility.
“During the presidential campaign, Trump clearly spoke about the performance of his rival, Mrs. Clinton, saying that the US has created the ISIL,” Abolfazl Aboutorabi, a member of parliament’s judicial commission, said on Tuesday, RT reported.
Noting that a state leader’s word must be reliable enough to serve as proof in court, Aboutorabi announced that parliament has decided to initiate a lawsuit against Washington in the “international” court. “The public prosecutor has also filed a lawsuit in this regard,” Aboutorabi added.
At least 17 people died and dozens were injured in gun and bomb attacks at the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini’s shrine in Tehran on June 7, 2017. According to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, the five attackers who were neutralized by security forces were Iranian citizens who joined ISIL before returning to Iran in summer 2016.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) accused Saudi Arabia of masterminding the attacks, saying that the assaults “happened only a week after the meeting between the US president [Donald Trump] and the [Saudi] backward leaders who support terrorists.” While Washington sent condolences over the tragedy, Tehran rejected those “claims of friendship.”
MAH/PR