Iran determined to take legal action against U.S. for top commander's assassination: official

TEHRAN, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran is determined to pursue legal action against the U.S. in international courts for its "great crime" of assassinating top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, Iran's Vice President for Legal Affairs Mohammad Dehqan said on Wednesday.

He made the remarks during a meeting with a number of Iraqi academics and legal experts in the Iranian capital Tehran, according to Iran's official news agency IRNA.

Dehqan said Iran maintains that any court refraining from condemning the U.S. assassination of Soleimani "will lose its moral and professional competencies."

On Jan. 3, 2020, the U.S. military assassinated Soleimani and the deputy commander of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. The assassination was condemned by Iran as an act of "state terrorism."

In early January, Iran's Deputy Judiciary Chief Kazem Gharibabadi said the country charged 94 U.S. nationals with being involved in Soleimani's assassination.