IRAN ISSUES ARREST WARRANT AGAINST US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
On January 3, 2020, Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s historic national figure and the most powerful military commander was killed by US air strike in Iraq. He was assassinated by a United States drone, firing a missile directly on his vehicle as it left the Baghbad airport. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that “severe revenge awaits the criminals” behind the attack. Further announcing three days of national mourning, Soleimani’s killing marked a major escalation in tensions and long brewing animosities between Washington and Tehran.
Who was Qassem Soleimani?
Born in 1957, Gen Qassem Soleimani spent his adulthood in the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC). He rose to prominence in 1998 during the Iran-Iraq War and was made the commander of Iran’s elite quad force. By 2013 Soleimani was considered the most revered leader in the Islamic Republic. Under his leadership, Iran had bolstered Hezbollah in Lebanon and other pro-Iranian militant groups, expanded its military presence in Iraq and Syria and orchestrated Syria’s offensive against rebel groups in the country’s long civil war. He was awarded the Order of Zulfaqar, the highest military honor in Iran.
On the same day, US President Donald Trump, tweeted “Qassem Soleimani had killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans and was plotting to kill many more”, “should have been taken out many years ago.” He even added that “While Iran will never be able to properly admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within the country.” US Department of Defense, Pentagon released a statement stating that Soleimani had been “developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”.
The air strike came days after Iranian protestors attacked the US embassy in Baghdad. United States has designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, marking the first time that the US has labelled an entity of another government as a terrorist organization.
On 29th June 2020, Iran issued an arrest warrant for US president Donald Trump and 36 others. As reported by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Tehrani prosecutor, Ali Alqasimehr accused Donald Trump and others of involvement in the airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad face “murder and terrorism charges.” Iran requested The International Criminal Police Organisation, commonly known as Interpol to issue a Red Notice, seeking help to detain the President and other accused.
What is a Red Notice?
A Red Notice is a request to the law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. They are published by the Interpol, at the request of a member country, and must comply with the Constitution and Rules. It is the highest-level arrest request issued by Interpol. A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant but an international wanted persons notice local authorities generally make the arrests on behalf of the country that requests it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects’ travel.
A Tactic to Divert Attention?
On June 30, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo was to address the UN Security Council calling for an arms embargo on Iran to be extended. However, Iran stole the morning’s headlines by issuing an arrest warrant for Donald Trump just the day before. The timing of the arrest warrant caused some to believe that it was just a tactic by Iran to divert attention from the announcement by US for the extension of the arms embargo. Brian Hook, US Special Representative for Iran, dismissed Iran’s threats to retaliate as “mafia tactics” and called the incident “a propaganda stunt” and one which makes “Iranians look foolish.” He had previously stated that lifting the arms embargo on Iran would turn Tehran “into the arms dealer of choice for rogue regimes and terrorist organisations.”
Under the terms of Iran nuclear deal or JCPOA, an arms embargo and international travel ban was imposed on prominent members of IRGC were due to expire in October. Although US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in May 2018, saying it failed to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its role in regional wars; yet, it hasn’t stopped pressurizing other members of the JCPOA to extend the embargo and has re-imposed sanctions and moved to wipe out Iran’s oil exports.
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
In July 2015, six major powers joined hands with Iran to form a historic nuclear deal. The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the US, France, the UK, China, and Russia along with Germany, popularly known as P5+1, involved themselves in an agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As part of the deal, Iran agreed to reduce its enrichment of uranium by two-thirds to and also agreed to reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium by 98% and limit uranium enrichment to 3.67%. The deal was made with an aim to restrict Iran and its ability to develop disastrous nuclear weapons by the use of plutonium, a by–product of enriched uranium that could have been reprocessed into weapons-grade material. . In exchange, the economic sanctions imposed on Tehran were to be lifted. The deal led to Iran having enough enriched uranium to maintain its energy requirements but not enough to build a nuclear bomb.
A Symbolic Move?
Interpol denied Iran’s request but it is highly unlikely that Iran expected Interpol to extradite the US President to Iran. The warrant was a political rather than a military manoeuvre which can be considered as a part of a larger strategy of Iran to expose US and its injustice to the international community. This move was believed to be an attempt to shine a spotlight on the arbitrary way the US abuses the international law for its own benefit. Pentagon at first justified Soleimani’s assassination as a deterrence against future Iranian attacks on Americans but later added that it was done in self-defence against the “imminent” threat from Iran without providing any corroborating documentation to the international community. The warrant also draws attention to the arbitrary, and illegal travel restrictions the US has imposed on several Iranian officials like the Foreign Minister of Iran, Javad Zarif.
Whatever Iran’s objective behind this act may be, Trumps’s action has certainly put the US in a precarious position, potentially leading into a nuclear war in the future.
Written by Mani Gupta