Iranian speaker holds Trump legally accountable for killing top commander

People attend a ceremony marking the 3rd anniversary of former Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani's assassination in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 3, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Wencheng)

TEHRAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian parliament speaker said on Monday that former U.S. President Donald Trump and all his "accomplices" must be held legally accountable for the assassination of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.

The "criminal act" of assassinating Soleimani was a "flagrant and absolute instance of state terrorism," Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told the 13th session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly in Türkiye's capital Ankara.

Qalibaf stressed that Soleimani dedicated his entire life to regional and international peace and implemented effective measures in fighting international terrorism.

U.S. President Donald Trump (Front) addresses a news conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

On Jan. 3, 2020, the U.S. military, at the order of Trump, assassinated Soleimani and the deputy commander of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis near Baghdad International Airport.

In an address to a commemoration ceremony on Thursday, Chairman of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zidane said the council had issued an arrest warrant for Trump over the assassination of Soleimani and Muhandis.