Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump and dozens of others it has accused of being behind the U.S. drone strike that eliminated Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3.
The Islamic Republic asked Interpol for help in detaining Trump and 35 others, though the international organization that enables global law-enforcement cooperation later said that it would not honor the request.
U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook called the arrest warrant a “propaganda stunt.”
“Our assessment is that Interpol does not intervene and issue Red Notices that are based on a political nature,” he said at a news conference in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
“This is a political nature. This has nothing to do with national security, international peace or promoting stability. ... It is a propaganda stunt that no-one takes seriously,” said Hook.
Although Trump faces no danger in being apprehended, the Iranian arrest warrant exemplified the tension between Tehran and Washington since the latter withdrew in May 2018 from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Shortly afterwards, the United States reimposed sanctions lifted under it, along with enacting new penalties—financial, military and diplomatic—as part of what the Trump administration has called a “maximum pressure” campaign.
