ALWAGHT- Marking the anniversary of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani’s martyrdom, Iran’s UN representative reaffirmed Tehran’s stance that the 2020 US strike in Baghdad was an illegal act of aggression and a grave breach of international law, urging full international accountability.
Saeed Iravani, Iran’s UN envoy, stated in a January 3 letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council president that the assassination of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani during an official visit to Iraq violated the UN Charter, international human rights law, and core principles governing the use of force.
He reaffirmed that the January 3, 2020 US strike at Baghdad International Airport was a premeditated and unlawful act ordered by the US president, constituting an act of aggression and an internationally wrongful act that engages full US responsibility under international law.
The letter argued that the assassination amounted to an arbitrary deprivation of life in breach of the ICCPR and rejected US claims of self-defense as legally unfounded, warning that the killing of a senior official of a sovereign state set a dangerous precedent threatening international peace and security.
Iravani further linked the assassination to what he described as a broader pattern of unlawful US military actions, including alleged attacks in 2025 against Iran, and cautioned that continued international inaction risks undermining the global legal order, while stressing Iran’s pursuit of full international accountability through legal and diplomatic means.
