US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said at a press conference in Saudi Arabia on Monday that Iran’s arrest warrant for President Donald Trump and 35 other people in connection with the killing of prominent military commander Qassem Soleimani was just a “propaganda stunt.”
Iran issued on Monday what it said was an “arrest warrant” against US President Donald Trump and dozens of others believed to have been involved in the drone attack that killed Soleimani in Iraq on January 3.
The Iranian Fars News Agency reported on June 29 that Tehran asked the International Police (Interpol) for assistance in detaining the accused.
Standing next to the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, Hook said: “Our assessment is that Interpol does not interfere by issuing red flyers based on requests of a political nature.”
“This is a matter of political nature, and has nothing to do with national security, world peace or the promotion of stability … It is a propaganda ploy that no one takes seriously,” he added.
Interpol later responded to Tehran, saying it “would not consider requests of this nature.” The organization added in a statement that its guidelines prohibit “any interference or activities of a political nature.”
On January 3, 2020, an American drone strike in Iraq killed Soleimani, the commander of the Qods Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Washington had accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by armed factions allied with Iran on American forces in the region.
Iran, however, deemed the extrajudicial killing an act of “terrorism and murder,” and retaliated by striking a US military base in Iraq. Tensions have since been running high in the region.
