ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A top Iranian military commander described the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “the political death” of Israel.
The ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu "means the end and political death of the Zionist regime, a regime that today lives in absolute political isolation in the world and its officials can no longer travel to other countries,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief General Hossein Salami said in the speech aired on state TV.
Salami’s comments marked the first official reaction by Iran since the ICC’s Thursday arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Salami went on to say that the arrest warrants were a "great victory for the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements.”
The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif for “crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
The ruling against Deif was issued for his involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack, while the decisions against Netanyahu and Gallant were issued for the Israeli government’s actions from at least October 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024.
The court said it found reasonable grounds that Netanyahu and Gallant each bear “criminal responsibility” for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” as co-perpetrators.
“The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population,” the statement added.
Iraq was one of the first regional countries to welcome the ICC’s arrest warrants, calling the decision “courageous” and “historic”.
Netanyahu and Gallant should "receive their punishment for the flagrant violations against humanity they have committed,” the Iraqi government’s spokesperson Basem al-Awadi said.
Netanyahu, now wanted by the court, slammed the ruling as “antisemitic”.
"The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech late Thursday.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan called on the body's 124 national members to act on the warrants, and for non-members to work together in "upholding international law”.
According to law, the ICC's warrant should limit the movement of Netanyahu, as the national members would be obliged to arrest him on their territory.
Soon after the warrants were issued by the Hague-based court, the Dutch government said they would act on the warrants, pledging to arrest the wanted men if they set foot on their territory.
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