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Iran issues arrest warrant for President Donald Trump over drone strike that killed general

Posted at 9:28 AM, Jun 29, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-29 11:33:30-04

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump and 35 other people in connection with a U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian military commander earlier this year.

CNN and NBC both confirmed the reporting of Fars, an Iranian news outlet.

Both CNN and NBC say Iran asked Interpol for help in apprehending Trump. In a statement issued to CNN, Interpol said it "would not consider requests of this nature" and said it was against the organization's constitution to "undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character."

Iran says it wants to press charges against Trump after he ordered the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in January. Soleimani's death sparked massive protests against American imperialism in Iran and heightened tensions in the region.

The Pentagon claims that the unit directed by Soleimani is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans.

Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Soleimani after days of riotsat the American Embassy in Iraq. The U.S. claims the riots were backed by the Iranian government.

Following Soleimani's death, Iran fired rockets near an Iraqi military base where U.S. troops were housed. Though Trump reported at the time that no American troops were hurt, it's since been revealed that dozens of U.S. soldiers were treated for brain injuries.

The same day of the rocket attack at the Iranian base, an airliner was shot down near Tehran, killing 176 people. Iran later took responsibility for the plane crash but said the incident was "unintentional."