Tehran, Iran – An Iranian prosecutor has stated a British safety agency and an airbase in Germany had a hand within the assassination of Qassem Soleimani nearly one 12 months after the highest basic was assassinated by america in Iraq.
The allegations come amid mounting tensions between the 2 international locations, as Iran’s Overseas Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday accused outgoing US President Donald Trump of aiming to manufacture a “pretext for battle”.
In a information convention on Wednesday, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr claimed, with out offering proof, that London-based safety companies firm G4S performed a task within the killing of Soleimani, who was accompanied by Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and a number of other others.
“Brokers of this firm handed the knowledge of basic Soleimani and his fellow fighters to the terrorists as quickly as they entered the airport,” Alqasimehr stated in reference to Baghdad Worldwide Airport, in keeping with Mizan, the official information web site of the judiciary.
Soleimani and his convoy had been focused shortly after leaving the airport by a US drone strike ordered by President Trump.
The British firm confirmed it was in command of “a lot of safety necessities” outsourced by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority on the time of the assassination, however denied the costs.
“In response to latest, fully unfounded hypothesis, G4S needs to clarify that it had completely no involvement within the assault on Qassem Soleimani and Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis which befell on third January 2020,” a G4S spokesperson instructed Al Jazeera in a written assertion.
The Tehran prosecutor additionally stated a US airbase in Germany “dealt with studies on guiding the drone for the assassination and handed flight information of the drones to American forces”.
Iranian authorities had beforehand stated the US had used the Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany in Soleimani’s assassination.
The bottom serves as headquarters for the US Air Forces in Europe, as well as for NATO Allied Air Command, and has acted as a management centre for the US drone operations in West Asia for the previous few years.
Alqasimehr stated Iran continues to pursue those that ordered and carried out the strike on Soleimani by means of authorized means, together with by means of Interpol. Perpetrators embrace 45 American people, he stated with out naming them.
The prosecutor additionally stated Iran has given judicial illustration rights to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait to research the assassination.
‘Fabricate pretext for battle’
Tensions have been steadily on the rise within the Center East days earlier than the January 3 anniversary of the Iranian commander’s homicide.
A collection of Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s closely fortified Inexperienced Zone in an assault focusing on the US embassy on December 20 that brought about minor harm on the compound.
The Iraqi navy stated an “outlaw group” was accountable, however the US shortly pointed the finger at Iran, accusing it of escalating tensions.
Trump tweeted an image of some rockets, saying they had been unexploded Iranian rockets.
Iran denied accountability, saying the Trump administration is attempting to start out a battle within the weeks earlier than it has to go away workplace.
On Thursday, Overseas Minister Zarif stated on Twitter that “intelligence from Iraq point out plot to manufacture pretext for battle”.
“Iran doesn’t search battle however will brazenly and immediately defend its folks, safety and important pursuits,” he tweeted.
A day earlier, the US flew two B-52 strategic bombers over the Gulf for the second time this month in a present of drive it stated was meant to discourage Iran from attacking American or allied targets within the area.
The commander of the Iranian military’s air drive, Aziz Nasirzadeh, had on Wednesday warned of a “decisive response” by armed forces if the US pursues “adventurism”.
Furthermore, Soleimani’s alternative as the pinnacle of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Pressure, Esmail Ghaani, had a gathering with members of parliament behind closed doorways.
Addressing a televised cupboard assembly, President Hassan Rouhani additionally stated, “You severed our basic’s hand, we are going to sever your leg from the area and proceed to withstand till that day.”
Prosecuting Trump
Iran’s judiciary chief on Wednesday repeated Iran’s stance that as the one who immediately ordered the strike on Soleimani, Trump is a foremost goal of prosecution.
“Trump is the primary legal of the case of assassinating martyr Soleimani, who himself confessed to this crime in entrance of all of the world’s folks, and subsequently can’t be immune from punishment,” Ebrahim Raisi instructed reporters.
“Thankfully, Trump’s presidency has ended. However even when his time period hadn’t ended, it might be unacceptable to say somebody shouldn’t be accountable to regulation as a consequence of his administrative place,” he stated in reference to authorized immunity for sitting presidents.
In a separate information convention on Wednesday, the spokesman of the highly effective constitutional vetting physique Guardian Council additionally stated Iran would legally pursue Trump after he leaves the White Home on January 20.
“Legally pursuing the crime of the US regime, particularly Donald Trump, for issuing the order to assassinate martyr basic Soleimani in worldwide courts has its particular necessities and immunity for heads of state from authorized prosecution prevents this,” he stated.
However he added that “some worldwide specialists maintain the view that after Trump’s presidency is over this could be potential”.
In late June, Alqasimehr issued an arrest warrant for Trump and dozens of others on “homicide and terrorism expenses” however Interpol stated its structure forbade it from enterprise “any intervention or actions of a political, navy, non secular or racial character”.
In July, the United Nations particular rapporteur on extrajudicial, abstract or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard stated Soleimani’s assassination represented a violation of worldwide regulation, an announcement which the US blasted as “giving a move to terrorists”.