{"id":59436,"date":"2021-01-08T06:17:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T06:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/08\/iraq-issues-arrest-warrant-for-trump-over-soleimani-killing\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:25:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:25:44","slug":"iraq-issues-arrest-warrant-for-trump-over-soleimani-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/01\/08\/iraq-issues-arrest-warrant-for-trump-over-soleimani-killing\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq issues arrest warrant for Trump over Soleimani killing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BAGHDAD \u2014 An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for outgoing President Donald Trump in connection with the killing of an Iranian general and a powerful Iraqi militia leader last year, Iraq\u2019s judiciary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warrant was issued by a judge in Baghdad\u2019s investigative court tasked with probing the Washington-directed drone strike<\/a> that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the court\u2019s media office said. They were killed outside the capital\u2019s airport last January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Muhandis was the deputy leader of the state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group composed of an array of militias, including Iran-backed groups, formed to fight the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soleimani headed the expeditionary Quds force of Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In this Jan. 17, 2020, file photo, released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, worshippers chant slogans during Friday prayers ceremony, as a banner show Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, left, and Iraqi Shiite senior militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone attack on Jan. 3, and a banner which reads in Persian: “Death To America, “at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The arrest warrant was for a charge of premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty on conviction. It is unlikely to be carried out but is symbolic in the waning days of Trump\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision to issue the warrant \u201cwas made after the judge recorded the statements of the claimants from the family of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,\u201d according to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council. The investigation into the killings is ongoing, the court said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t