Iran says US assassination of Gen. Soleimani was a cowardly act of terrorism

Iran has condemned the United States’ 2020 assassination of Lieutenant General Soleimani as a “cowardly act of terrorism” and a blatant violation of international law, calling for full accountability for this unlawful act.

“On the sixth anniversary of the cowardly assassination by the United States of Major General Qassem Soleimani—a top commander of the Iranian Armed Forces and a central figure in the fight against terrorist organizations, including Da’esh (ISIS)—I wish to underscore, once again, the legal consequences and the unequivocal responsibility of the United States for committing such a criminal and unlawful act,” Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent ambassador to the world body wrote in a letter addressed to the UN secretary-general and members of the Security Council on Saturday.

Martyr Soleimani – also known as ‘Haj Qassem’ – commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was assassinated alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and other companions in a US drone strike authorized by President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.

“This deliberate and unlawful targeting of a senior official of a sovereign Member State of the United Nations—who played a pivotal role in the fight against terrorism in the region—constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,” the statement said.

According to Iravani, “this cowardly act of terrorism constituted an arbitrary deprivation of life in blatant violation of international human rights law, including Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the United States is a State party.”

The statement emphasized that any US claims of self-defense, necessity, or imminence are legally baseless and cannot justify the assassination.

Iran warned that the killing of a high-ranking official of a sovereign state set a dangerous precedent, undermining the prohibition on the use of force and posing a serious threat to international peace and security.

Iranians mark Gen. Soleimani martyrdom anniv. in Tehran

Iranians from all walks of life gathered in Tehran

Tehran also condemned the international community’s inaction, saying it had emboldened the United States.

Iran highlighted US involvement in the Israeli regime’s June 2025 war against Iran, which included attacks on civilians, civilian infrastructure, and nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, resulting in the deaths of over 1,100 people.

“This war of aggression further confirms a persistent pattern of contempt for international law and demonstrates that the conduct of the United States itself constitutes a real and ongoing threat to regional and international peace and security,” the letter noted.

The statement concluded that Iran is pursuing all available legal, political, and judicial measures at national and international levels to hold all perpetrators, organizers, and accomplices of the assassination and subsequent aggression accountable.

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