Iran has issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump for his involvement in a drone strike that killed a key Iranian general.
The Iranian prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr called on Trump and 30 others for his involvement in the 3 January attack in Baghdad, saying they face “murder and terrorism charges” according to the ISNA news agency.
Prosecutor Alqasimehr, who asked Interpol to help with detaining the US president, said they will continue to follow up on the prosecution, even after the end of his presidential term.
In a statement, Interpol said it would not carry out “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character,” adding “Interpol would not consider requests of this nature.”
US Iranian representative, Brian Hook, said claimed this as a “propaganda stunt that no-one takes seriously.”
“This is a political nature. This has nothing to do with national security, international peace or promoting stability.”
The US drone strike which killed General Soleimani occurred after rising tensions and incidents between the two countries, which saw Iran firing a missile strike targetted at American troops in Iraq.
After the attack on 3 January, Trump said he would not hesitate to escalate hostilities with Iran.
“These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner,” he wrote on Twitter.
In another tweet, the US President warned he would authorise attacks on Iranian cultural sites should Iran retaliate to the assassination.
“Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have … targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD,” he wrote.
