Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani said on Sunday that assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by the US army was the biggest strategic mistake of US President Donald Trump which leads to the expulsion of the American forces from Iraq. RNA - “Assassinating generals of Resistance Axis, Marty Haj Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muahdis, was the result of a strategic mistake by Trump and the evil team in the White House. The countdown to the expulsion of America from the region began the early morning of Friday, January 3,” Shamkhani said today, during his meeting with Chief of Iraq's Intelligence Service (IIS) Mustafa al-Kazemi in Baghdad.
Shamkhani, who is Iraq to hold talks with high-ranking officials of the country, went on to say that participation of millions of people in historic rallies against US occupation proved that the Iraqi nation is the flag-bearer of ousting the US from West Asia.
“Political and security developments of Iraq have a grave influence on regional stability and peace,” he said, adding, “The Islamic Republic has always supported the formation of powerful and efficient government according to Iraqi people’s vote and determination.”
For his part, al-Kazemi hailed the key role of Iran in fighting against terrorism and boosting stability in the region. Baghdad appreciates the Islamic Republic’s aids in the anti-terrorism war and welcomes increased cooperation in this field, he highlighted.
Earlier on Sunday, Shamkhani also met and held talks with Iraq's National Security Adviser Falih al-Fayadh and caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.
Shamkhani's trip comes in the wake of the US assassination of the Middle East's most prominent anti-terror commander General Qassemi Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in January.
General Soleimani was in Baghdad at the invitation of the Iraqi government when he was targeted.
The terrorist act led to a crisis in diplomatic relations between the US and Iraq which demanded that the American troops leave the country after the Iraqi parliament voted for their ouster.
The Trump administration has been defiant and instead threatened to seize Iraq's oil money being held in a bank account in New York as compensation for its military presence in the Arab country.
Meanwhile, some individuals in Iraq's intelligence agency have been implicated in the assassination. It is not clear if the issue will feature in the Iranian security official's talks in Baghdad.
Last month, a visiting Iraqi judicial delegation agreed with an offer by Iran on forming a joint committee for inquiry into the case of the US terrorist attack against General Soleimani on January 3.
Senior Iraqi judicial officials met with Deputy Iranian Minister of Justice on Human Rights and International Affairs Mahmoud Abbasi in Tehran.
Abbasi said that Iran has paid heavy human costs for supporting Baghdad government and the Iraqi nation, an example of which was the assassination of General Soleimani, the commander of Quds Force of Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the acting commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).
He said that the assassination of General Soleimani by US drones in Baghdad while the Iranian general was officially visiting Iraq as a sovereign country constitutes an international crime in contravention of the UN Charter guaranteeing sovereignty of states.
Iran and Iraq would take the US terrorist attack against commanders of the two sovereign states to the International Court of Justice, the official said.
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