Embassy Statement on the 4th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Major General Qassem Soleimani On this day four years ago – January 3, 2020 – Major Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a national hero in Iran, was unlawfully and extrajudicially assassinated on the orders of the sitting US president. The drone attack near the Baghdad International Airport, that killed Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces of Iraq, along with 8 companions, was an extreme violation of Iraqi sovereignty, international law and human rights. The UN, in July 2020, concluded in a report that Soleimani’s assassination was unlawful and arbitrary and violated the UN charter. The targeting of the Iranian commander, on an official mission to the capital of a neighbouring state, was interpreted by many as a sign of displeasure by the US Administration about the role Soleimani played in disrupting and neutralizing hegemonic agenda of the US for the region. Martyr Qassem Soleimani was the hero and driving force behind the fight and eventual defeat of ISIS in Iraq. This has been confirmed by Iraqi officials who have said time and again that General Soleimani, at the invitation of the Iraqi government, had provided counselling to the formation of the Iraqi resistance forces against ISIS.  For months ISIS fighters drove unchecked in convoys through large swathes of western Iraq in full view of all, including the so-called coalition against terror, committing crimes against the inhabitants of the region, including the Yazidi and Christian minorities. While the Iraqi army was struggling to check the advance of the ISIS thugs, the Iraqi resistance forces, led by Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi colleagues, took on this criminal gang, pushing it back and preventing the take-over of the country by the evil force that was a menacing threat to peace and security in the region. The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Copenhagen, while commemorating the 4th anniversary of this act of terror and gross violation of international law by the United States, calls on the international community to prioritize upholding international law by facilitating and backing measures to hold accountable those responsible for this heinous crime.  Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran – Copenhagen, 3 January 2024