Iran Asks Interpol for Help in Arresting Donald Trump

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump, and the country is asking [...]

By Stephen Andrew

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump, and the country is asking Interpol for help. According to CNBC, Iran wants to have Trump arrested for the killing of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani. In January, 62-year-old Soleimani was killed in a drone strike directed by Trump.

The news outlet reports that Tehran has asked Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, to help arrest Trump. Tehran attorney general Ali Alghasi-Mehr accused Trump — along with 35 others — of being involved and states that they face "murder and terrorism" charges. Alghasi-Mehr reportedly asked Interpol to issue "red notices for those accused. A "red notice is the highest level notice that Interpol can issue on an individual, in order to pursue an arrest. CNBC notes, however, that Interpol will likely not get involved, as the organization has a policy of not "undertaking any intervention or activities of a political" nature.

Soleimani led Iran's Quds Force, which is the foreign operations wing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite paramilitary group. He was deemed a terrorist by the Trump administration and was alleged to be responsible for the death of hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq. After the Trump administration carried out the drone attack that killed Soleimani, Iran retaliated by attacking Iraqi bases that were housing U.S. troops. There were no deaths.

One defense analyst explained Soleimani's role and importance to Iran by referring to the strike as being "the equivalent of Iran killing the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and then taking credit for it." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, heralded the retaliation attack as a "slap in the face" to the United States but said that it was "not enough," implying that the leaders of the country intended to take further action.

The Revolutionary Guards vowed that the U.S. would face "severe revenge" on the United States, and experts warned about the possibility of Iran leading attacks on American military bases, as well as attacks via Iran's numerous proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and beyond. At this time, the Trump Administration has not responded to the arrest warrant.

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