"They [Lavrov and Pompeo] have discussed the situation related to the assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani by the US military in an airstrike on the Baghdad airport," , the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Friday, according to TASS.
"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."
Lavrov has also called on Washington to abandon unlawful forceful tactics and to resolve issues through negotiations.
"The Russian minister has pointed out that this step by the US 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 United States terrorist forces assassinated General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s pro-government Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) — better known as Hashd al-Sha’abi — in an attack at Baghdad’s international airport early on Friday. The Pentagon said in a statement that US President Donald Trump had ordered the attack.
General Soleimani’s body will be transferred to Iran on Monday to be buried in his hometown, Kerman.
MNA/PR