FM: US, west create obstacles in way of pursuing Soleimani judiciary procedure
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian while declaring that Iran has taken the required judiciary steps in Martyred Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani's assassination said that unfortunately the US and westerners create obstacles in that procedure, but Iran, too, is not hand-tied.
Speaking on the occasion of the 3rd martyrdom anniversary of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in a TV program, Amirabdollahian said, "Unfortunately both the Americans and some other western countries are creating obstacles in the way of judiciary procedure, but the Islamic Republic of Iran, too, is not hand-tied."
He added that while pursuing the judiciary procedure, in a letter we have made clear that direct responsibility for that terrorist assassination is on the shoulders of the US administration at the time, and we will pursue the natural process of our complaint in that respect.
He said that although the Iraqi officials' full competence and political leaders fine performance of their responsibilities, they were also taking advantage of Commander Soleimani's consultations in government-building in Iraq.
"Some of their officials were saying at that time that they themselves had made all the preparations personally, but yet they thought there was a lost ring, and General Soleimani's presence could fill the gap of that missing ring," he added.
Amirabdollahian said that in some time junctures, and in some countries, it was diplomacy that called on Commander Soleimani, asking him to use his innate talents to resolve the problems.
"We too, in the meetings of the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council sessions over some special issues about the regional developments, established direct contacts with Commander Soleimani, and he was among the rare personalities who came both with deep studies about the issue, and with ideas, and a program, which was very important and evolutionary," he reiterated.
Back to the issue of the judiciary procedure, the Iranian top diplomat said that the Foreign Ministry has appointed one of the ambassadors who are quite competent in both the legal and judiciary, and international regulations, as well as Lawyer Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaie, who was one of Martyr Soleimani's fans, to take part in a committee that is established in the Foreign Ministry under his supervision, despite his other tough responsibilities.
"Parallel with those moves, we have also taken other steps, such as the names of 60 concerned US officials of that time who were involved in that assassination, in the Islamic Republic of Iran's Black List of Terrorists, and in recent Vienna negotiations to terminate the sanctions, too, one of the US demands was eliminating those 60 people from that list," he added.
The foreign minister said that the Americans even told the mediators to tell the Iranian officials that those people all have bodyguards and escorts to ensure their security, and this has a high financial cost, especially in their travels in the US and the world.