The International Responsibility of America for the Assassination of Martyr Ghasem Soleimani, and I.R.I Potential Rights for Judicial Prosecution

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD candidate in general international law, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University of North Tehran

2 Corresponding author: assistant professor in international law, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University of North Tehran

3 Assistant professor of International Law, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University of North Tehran

Abstract

Commander Qassem Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike on Baghdad airport on the morning of Friday, January 4, 2010. Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, a commander of the Iraqi al-Hashd al-Sh’abi militia group, was also assassinated in the attack together with 10 others. The US Department of Defense announced that the order for the airstrike was issued by President Donald Trump, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Due to various internal and global consequences of this event, it can be analyzed in terms of international standards. Interviewing prominent professors of Iranian international law, this study aims at finding out whether the United States is internationally responsible according to international responsibilities of states adopted in 2001 by the International Law Commission, or not. Second, the research tries to find out how Iran can validate its right to file a lawsuit? The research hypothesis indicates that America’s offensive action is condemned according to Article 2 of international responsibility laws. Iran can refer to some international and domestic judicial bodies to file a lawsuit. If this does not end in the realization of Iran’s right, Iran can seek out its right by appealing to the self-help doctrine.

Keywords


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