Demands death penalty

Ayatollah: Arrest warrant against Netanyahu not enough

Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei(Bild: AFP)

The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war has been greeted with approval by arch-enemy Iran. But that is far from enough for the country's spiritual leader.

"They have issued an arrest warrant against him, that is not enough. A death sentence should be imposed on these criminal leaders," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told members of the paramilitary Basij militia on Monday. "What the Zionist regime has done in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, but a war crime," Khamenei continued. Shortly afterwards, he wrote several posts on the short message platform about the war in Gaza and Lebanon and the resistance of the Palestinians, which could not be broken.

G7 states and Austria want to implement arrest warrant
The arrest warrants had caused an international stir the previous week. In principle, each of the 124 states that recognize the ICC would now be obliged to arrest the Israeli head of government as soon as he enters the respective country. At their summit in Italy, the G7 states declared: "We reaffirm our commitment to international humanitarian law and will fulfill our respective obligations."

Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei(Bild: AFP)

The G7 is an association of seven leading industrialized nations, including the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Japan and Italy. The USA is the only G7 country that is not a member of the ICC and therefore does not have to implement the arrest warrant.

There is no consensus within the EU. Hungary has already declared its intention to ignore the arrest warrant, while Austria would implement it. The Foreign Ministry said a few days ago that it was obliged to do so under international law.