Iran tells UN it reserves right to self-defense over Qaseem Soleimani killing

WASHINGTON: Iran told the United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday that it reserves its right to self-defense under international law after the United States killed Qassem Soleimani, the top commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Iranian UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi wrote in a letter that the killing of Soleimani “by any measure, is an obvious example of State terrorism and, as a criminal act, constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law, including, in particular, those stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations.”

Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, was killed early on Friday in a US air strike on his convoy at Baghdad airport, the Pentagon said.

Read more: US to send more troops to Mideast as Iran vows to avenge general’s killing

“This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” the Pentagon had said in a statement.

Strikes had been carried out against two targets linked to Iran in Baghdad on Thursday, US officials earlier told Reuters.

Soleimani, who has led the foreign arm of the Revolutionary Guards and has had a key role in fighting in Syria and Iraq, acquired celebrity status at home and abroad.

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