US assassination of Soleimani should be focus of global attention: Iran rights official

Iran’s top human rights official says the US assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in 2020 should become the focus of attention as the international community probes decades-long terrorist crimes by the United States across the world.

Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, made the remarks at a meeting held on Tuesday to review US human rights violations and crimes against the world countries.

“We must identify, highlight and expose US crimes against humanity against the Iranian nation and other nations in different periods of time. These crimes should be exposed at the domestic and international levels,” Gharibabadi said.

Pointing to terrorism and the importance of dealing with the issue, the official said, “The US criminal operation to martyr Soleimani should be the focus of attention. The first court session on that issue will be held on June 19, and the accusations of 70 American defendants on complicity in the martyrdom of General Soleimani will be investigated.”

Lieutenant General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and their companions were assassinated in a US drone strike authorized by then-president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

Both commanders were highly revered across West Asia because of their key role in fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.

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US partner in Israeli war on Gaza

Elsewhere in his remarks, Gharibabadi touched on Israel’s months-long brutalities in the besieged Gaza Strip, saying the Israeli crimes are committed with the full support of the United States and Washington is complicit in all kinds of crimes by the Zionist regime in the territory.

“The United States has always prevented the investigation of these crimes in various international organizations and mechanisms,” he said.

“The so-called rights advocacy regime of America has supported the Zionist regime politically, militarily, logistically and financially in the Gaza war; therefore, the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza and the direct US role in it should be highlighted.”

Israel launched brutalities in Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Israel has killed more than 35,170 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since that October day.

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US 'not a promoter of peace'

Gharibabadi also pointed to the US military presence and its occupation bases in dozens of countries across the globe, underlining that Washington can never claim to be promoting peace and security in the world.

“The reason for this presence in 80 countries with 750 bases is America's militaristic attitude. Beyond that, the deployment of American nuclear weapons in European bases shows this country is not after peace and security at all.” he said.

“How can this country claim to be trying to establish peace and security? The countries where the US nuclear weapons are installed are basically not facing any threat and have not had any security problems in recent decades.”

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