“It is against international law,” ex-minister blasts Trump over threats to assassinate Iran’s leader
A former Nigerian Foreign Minister Professor Bolaji Akinyemi has faulted President Donald Trump’s recent threat against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a violation of international law.
President Donald Trump had earlier stated that the United States knows where Ayatollah is hiding and they could take him out.
Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, while reacting to Trump’s statement in an Arise TV interview, argued that such threats violate both international and American laws.
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“It is against international law to threaten to assassinate a head of state. It is also against American law,” Akinyemi stated. He referenced historical US legislation that prohibits such actions by American officials.
The professor cited the Churchill Committee investigations that led to restrictions on assassination threats. “You remember the Senator Churchill committee that was put on when it became evident that the CIA had been busy assassinating people all over the world.
Senator Churchill was asked to set up a committee, and arising out of that committee, it was decided that it was against American law to assassinate or threaten to assassinate a head of state,” he explained.
Prof. Akinyemi claimed that Trump’s threatening language toward the Iranian leader is demeaning. “And here is an American president saying to the Ayatollah, who is the head of state of Iran, ‘We know where you are, and our patience is running out.’ What does that mean – that you’re going to go out and assassinate him?” the former minister asked.
The professor accused the United States of escalating rather than mediating the Israel-Iran conflict. “I think that the United States, rather than being an agent of peace and reconciliation, in fact, is the one that has been giving Israel the nod to go ahead and do what it has to do with Iran,” Akinyemi argued.
The former foreign minister also questioned US opposition to Iran’s nuclear programme, arguing that nuclear non-proliferation treaties unfairly benefit powerful nations. He pointed to other countries with nuclear capabilities to challenge American consistency.
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According to him, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty serves to “weaken other countries and give powerful countries the monopoly to have nuclear weapons.”
He noted that “India has nuclear weapons and Pakistan has nuclear weapons” while questioning why the United States opposes Iran developing similar capabilities.
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