Esmail Baghaei Hamaneh, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, addressed the 47th session of the Human Rights Council on Thursday, the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was a real defender of human rights as well as an opponent of occupation and Daesh terrorism, was a brutal, arbitrary, unjust and illegal act, which was also an international crime threatening peace and security in the world, IRNA reported.

It is obvious that the crime committed by former US administration and its authorities, who were involved in the assassination, he noted.

The Iranian people remember Martyr Soleimani as a symbolic soldier and the whole nations in the West Asia region owe their freedom from Daesh terrorists to the martyr’s efforts; so, they will not give up demanding the implementation of justice for the perpetrators of this crime, Baghaei Hamaneh added.

Human rights entities and structures are expected to understand the consequences of such a heinous act on the rule of law and human dignity, the envoy argued.

General Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) and al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit (PMU) were targeted near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020. The terrorist act was ordered by US President Donald Trump and carried out in a drone strike.

Last year, Agnes Callamard, former UN rapporteur, depicted the act as arbitrary, contrary to international law and the UN Charter.

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