Iraq, Iran Form Committee to Prosecute US Officials Over Soleimani Killing

Iraq and Iran have decided to form a committee for the purpose of prosecuting the US officials who were involved in the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander, a report said on Monday.

According to IRNA, the decision was made on Sunday during a meeting between Mahmoud Abbasi, the Iranian deputy justice minister for human rights and international affairs, with the Iraqi deputy prosecutor, Dhari Jaber Farhood, and director of human rights and international cooperation of Iraq's Ministry of Justice, Kamel Amin Hashim.

Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian top military commander was killed in a US drone airstrike in Baghdad last month.

Abbasi, during the meeting, described the killing of Soleimani as a "crime" and noted that he was on a trip to Iraq as an "official guest” in a sovereign country, as Washington has accused the Iranian commander of plotting against the US interests in Iraq, the report added.

According to Abbasi, both Baghdad and Tehran would follow up with the killing of Soleimani in international arenas.

The Iraqi deputy prosecutor, in return, pointed out that his country's judicial authorities had pursued the investigation into the incident.