Iran arrests suspect in attack on statue of slain commander Soleimani
Iran has arrested an alleged “counter-revolutionary agent” on suspicion of carrying out an arson attack on a memorial to a revered general killed in a US drone strike, a judicial official said.
The statue of General Qassem Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, up to his death on January 3, 2020, was torched just hours after it was unveiled in the southwestern town of Shahrekord last week.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“The perpetrator of this shameful act has been arrested,” the judiciary chief of Chahar Mahal-Bakhtiari province, Ahmad-Reza Bahrami, told the judiciary’s Mizan news website late Tuesday.
“The provincial courts will punish the perpetrator of this outrage as quickly as possible in accordance with sharia (Islamic law) and the law.”
The unveiling of the statue in Shahrekord was one of a number of commemorative events held last week to mark the second anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination.
Portraits of the slain general are ubiquitous in Shia Iran, where Soleimani has been lionized by the authorities for his work overseeing Iranian support to Iraq and Syria in their campaigns against extremists of the ISIS terrorist group.
Read more:
Iran sanctions 51 Americans over the 2020 killing of top general Qassem Soleimani
Iran threatens revenge for Soleimani killing if former US President Trump not tried
Biden White House also ‘responsible’ for Qassem Soleimani killing: Iran
-
France says still far from reviving 2015 Iran nuclear deal
“Bits of progress were made at the end of December, but we are still far from concluding this negotiation,” French FM Jean-Yves Le Drian said. Middle East -
Baktash Abtin’s death part of Iran ‘systematic killing’ of jailed dissidents: Inmates
The death of dissident Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin is part of the Iranian regime’s “systematic killing” of imprisoned dissidents, a group ... Middle East -
After Tehran sanctions Americans, US vows to deter and respond to any attack by Iran
The US and its allies will defend itself and its citizens against any attacks carried out by Iran, the White House said on Sunday, a day after Tehran ... Middle East -
Iran judicial workers hold rare protests after promised wage hike refused
Civil servants in one of Iran’s most powerful sectors, the judiciary, held rare demonstrations on Sunday against the government’s refusal to increase ... Middle East