Iran issues Interpol red notice for Trump’s arrest

US President Donald Trump has had a "red notice" request for his arrest issued through Interpol by Iran. 

Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced during a press conference on Tuesday that Iran has requested the international police organisation to arrest Trump and 47 other American officials identified as playing a role in the assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani last year.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is very seriously following up on pursuing and punishing those who ordered and executed this crime," Esmaili told reporters.

Soleimani, Iran's top general who led the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was assassinated on January 3, 2020, in a US drone strike in Baghdad ordered by Trump. The assassination was deemed to be against international law by Agnes Callamard, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

It was the second Iranian request for an international arrest warrant for Trump and dozens of US officials in the Pentagon and US Central Command, among other organisations.

In June, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr issued an arrest warrant for Trump and dozens of US officials saying they face "murder and terrorism charges". But France-based Interpol rejected Iran's request, saying its constitution forbids it from undertaking "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character".