Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump; Interpol denies help
The Situation
Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for assistance in detaining US President Donald Trump.
Not just him but also dozens of others, who it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.
Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on Monday that Trump, along with more than 30 others Iran accuses of involvement in the January 3 attack that killed General Qassem Soleimani.
He continued that they should face “murder and terrorism charges”, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
The Pretext
Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump.
Nonetheless, it stressed Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends.
Interpol, based in Lyon, France, said in a statement its constitution forbade it to undertake “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character”.
“Therefore, if or when any such requests were to be sent to the General Secretariat … Interpol would not consider requests of this nature.”
The US’s Iran envoy Brian Hook described the move as a “propaganda stunt”.
“Our assessment is that Interpol does not intervene and issue Red Notices that are based on a political nature.” This was told by Hook at a news conference.
The End
“This is a political nature. This has nothing to do with national security, international peace or promoting stability. It is a propaganda stunt that no-one takes seriously,” he added/
Alqasimehr was also quoted as saying Iran had requested a “red notice” be put out for Trump and the others.
What happens under a red notice is that, local authorities make the arrests on behalf of the country that requested it.
The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects’ travel.
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