Exactly three years ago the same day, the United States carried out an attack against Iranian General Commander Qassim Soleimani, killing him and his companions in Iraq, a move that is now confirmed to be a drastic violation of international law.
In the morning of January 3, 2020, the American RQ9 drone attacked two moving vehicles carrying Lieutenant General Qassim Soleimani and his companion and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy of Hashd al-Shaabi of Iraq, in an area near Baghdad Airport and fired three anti-tank laser missiles at the cars. Both men, along with eight of their companions were immediately killed and the United States officially took responsibility for the deadly attack the day after.
The fact that a high-ranking senior military official of the Iranian government goes to another country on an official international mission at the official invitation of a friendly government and is directly attacked and killed on the territory of a third country by the order of the President of the United States is a unique situation in terms of international law.
How the attack was a breach of international law?
First, this US action in Iraq was without the permission of the UN Security Council and the Iraqi government, and it lacked any legal basis. It indeed violated the United Nations Charter, the memorandum of understanding between the two governments of Iraq and the United States, as well as other valid international documents that have become customary today regarding the prohibition of assassinating officials of other countries in a third country.
To read between the lines, the US attack was an encroachment on the territorial sovereignty and political independence of the Iraqi government, and the Iraqi government can refer to Article 51 of the Charter of Nations to hold Washington responsible for the attack.
What exactly does the UN Charter say?
According to Article 1 of the United Nations Charter, one of the main goals of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security. In line with the implementation of this obligation, countries are obliged to take effective collective measures to prevent and eliminate threats to peace and to stop any act of aggression or other things that violate peace. Also, based on the principle of prohibiting the use of force against territorial integrity or political independence and sovereignty, countries have pledged to avoid the use of force and interference in each other’s internal affairs.
It is therefore clear that on January 3, 2020, the US violated the sovereignty of Iraq and above that, breached the basic principle of the prohibiting of the taking a life without reason. The move was also a disregard to the sovereignty of Iran because high-ranking military commanders in any third country are considered a symbol of the sovereignty of the sending country and should be protected from any aggression.
Accordingly, it goes without saying that what the US did three years ago on the same day, is a clear example of state terrorism because it was clearly in conflict with the two principles of the UN Charter, i.e. the prohibition of resorting to force and the principle of respect for the sovereignty of other governments.
