Sunday, January 05, 2020

Iran Summons German Envoy Over 'Unrealistic, Harmful' Claims Against Gen. Soleimani
Sunday, 05 January 2020 7:08 PM
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The file photo shows Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, who was assassinated in a US operation on January 3, 2020.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says it has summoned Germany’s charge d’affaires to Tehran to strongly protest "unrealistically unwise and harmful" remarks in support of Washington's terrorist move to assassinate Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

An Iranian Foreign Ministry official on Sunday told the German envoy, in the absence of the ambassador, that the assassinated general had played a determining role in promoting stability and security in West Asia.

He added that Soleimani is respected not only in Iran but in the entire region and across the world as a "hero of the fight against terrorism and Daesh" terrorist group.

The Iranian official warned that such "one-sided and unacceptable" stance contradicts traditional cooperation between the two countries and the principle of boosting stability and security in the region.

The German charge d’affaires said he would immediately convey Iran’s protest to Berlin.

General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were assassinated outside the Baghdad International Airport in an inhumane operation by the US military upon an order from US President Donald Trump.

In all, 10 people, five Iraqis and five Iranians, were assassinated. Soleimani's flight had arrived from Syria, which led to speculations that Israeli intelligence had a hand in the assassination.

The Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Saturday quoted German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s would-be successor, as saying that the United States had acted alone in the assassination of the late Iranian commander, but claimed that Gen. Soleimani was responsible "for exporting terror and violence, resulting in many deaths."

On Friday evening, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi denounced remarks by Ulrike Demmer, a German government spokeswoman, regarding Soleimani's assassination.

Mousavi said such comments reveal Berlin's “distance from the realities of the region, and place it -- willingly or unwillingly -- on the path of the US state terrorism.”

Demmer said at a news conference in Berlin that the US “action was a reaction to a series of military provocations for which Iran is responsible.”

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