Iran has called the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a former defense minister as the “last and political death” of Israel.
General Hossein Salami, head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards IRGC, made this comment in a speech on Friday.
In a speech broadcast on state television, the head of the Revolutionary Guards said, 'The ICC warrant means the end of the Zionist state and political death. Israel is a state that is in total political isolation in the world today and its officials can no longer travel to any other country.'
Salami called the issuance of the ICC warrant a “welcome step” and “a great victory for the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements,” in Iran's first official response.
Israel and its allies have criticized the ICC's decision to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant on Thursday. On the same day, the court in The Hague issued a warrant against the head of the military wing of Hamas, the ruling group in the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Deif.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galante on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. On October 7 last year, Israel started the war in Gaza on the same day that members of the Palestinian independence group Hamas entered Israel and attacked.
Netanyahu criticized the International Court of Justice for issuing an arrest warrant for war crimes. Even the United States, one of Israel's closest allies, condemned the ICC's move. However, some international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have welcomed the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant.
Such action by the ICC would effectively limit the movement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Because any of the 124 member states of this international court will be obliged to arrest Netanyahu from their territory.
