Jul 9, 2020, 7:30 PM

Representative to UN:

US should be accountable for Gen. Soleimani' assassination

US should be accountable for Gen. Soleimani' assassination

TEHRAN, Jul. 09 (MNA) – Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN office in Geneva said that the United States should be held accountable for the assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani.

Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh, Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN office in Geneva, made the remarks in the 44th regular session of the Human Rights Council.

"The assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani is an illegal act and a great crime that has endangered world peace and security," he said.

"The US action not only is a violation of international law and the UN Charter, but it is also a violation of human rights law," he added, saying, "The UN rapporteur's report on the assassination of the commander of Iran's Quds Force cannot be challenged."

Earlier in this session, UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard called the assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani by US forces a violation of international law.

The United States has failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent attack against its interests to justify the strike on Gen. Soleimani’s convoy as it left Baghdad airport, said Callamard.

The assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani is an immoral and dangerous act, said Baghaei Hamaneh.

He called the operation to assassinate the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force "state terrorism", noting that the United States should be held accountable for its actions.

The US drone strike in Iraq that assassinated Lt. Gen. Soleimani and nine other people represented a violation of international law, said the UN human rights investigator Callamard on Monday.

The attack violated the UN Charter, Callamard wrote in a report calling for accountability for targeted killings by armed drones and for greater regulation of the weapons.

“The world is at a critical time and a possible tipping point when it comes to the use of drones. ... The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent,” Callamard said.

"But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the US was unlawful,” Callamard wrote in the report.

ZZ/IRN83850043

News ID 160750

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