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Italian Analyst: Europeans Are Interested in Knowing Facts About Assassination of General Soleimani

SHAFAQNA- Raffaele Mauriello, an Italian Islamic scholar and analyst, emphasized that General Soleimani played an important role in the security of regional countries, saying that the European people are interested in hearing the facts of his assassination through independent media, because Western Media have resorted to lying to justify the incident.
Raffaele Mauriello, the Italian analyst who is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, in an interview with IQNA began his speak by condoling the assassination of General Soleimani to the Iranian people.
“General Soleimani was a very important personality and played a prominent role in the security of the region, especially the destruction of ISIS. Although the United States claims to play a major role in the destruction of ISIS, but everyone knows that General Soleimani has had the most influence,” he said, explaining the impact of this Iranian commander in the Middle East.

Assassination of General Soleimani from a legal perspective

“Assassination of General Soleimani is illegal under international law; because Iran and America are not at war and assassinating a state official is an illegal act. America has publicly claimed responsibility for the assassination of General Soleimani and has admitted to doing this illegal act. I hope Iran and Iraq will sue the case through Hague Tribunal and the UN and follow up on the outcome,” the Italian Islamist emphasized.

“In my opinion Iran is right in this matter, because the US illegally killed an important character who fought for the security of the region even Europe and he was very respectful. Many believe that Trump, like former US presidents, is looking for war; because he is now on the verge of impeachment and in a weak position and the presidential election is ahead this year,” he added. “US presidents usually need war and hostility to be elected in second term. Trump’s specific feature is that he is not a politician and his decisions, especially in the international area, are taken emotionally and without the consultation of experts.”

Europe’s weak response to the assassination of General Soleimani

Mauriello described Europe’s reaction to the assassination of General Soleimani as weak and inappropriate and he said, “Europe’s performance was also weak on the issue of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. And as a European citizen I want Europe to stick to its obligations and defend its interests. Unfortunately, America’s political influence over the European Union is widespread. Although economy of the EU is larger than the US, but it still doesn’t have a geopolitical view of things. In my opinion, in today’s world we need more European role-playing”.

Media coverage of the incident in Europe

About the reaction of European media to the assassination of General Soleimani, the Italian analyst said “News of the incident was widely covered in the European media. These media have been less influenced by American propaganda and have reported the facts fairly well”.
“While Europe strives for peace in the Middle East, but its role-playing is still weak and sometimes lacking in will,” he added.

The US revoke from Iraq is inevitable

On the Iraqi parliament’s decision to revoke US troops, Mauriello said, “This is inevitable, because the US has abused privacy of this country for an illegal act and it has done something illegal under international law. In my view, powers such as China, Russia and the European Union should play a greater role in combating ISIS so that the United States does not have an excuse to be present in the region”.


“In recent days I have had several interviews with Italian media, especially journalists and independent media, about the assassination of General Soleimani. They are curious to know what happened and what is the Iranians’ view of it. European media have propagated against Islamic Republic of Iran for decades. I have always said that there are problems in Iran, but American and Western media propaganda is far from the facts in Iran. In Europe, many people are aware of the world’s issues and are interested in the facts. Western media to justify the assassination of General Soleimani claim falsely that Americans killed a terrorist.” he added.

Italians look at US terrorist act

“The media is trying to cover the news impartially, but sometimes it is not so much impartiality that reality reaches to the people. I’m trying to do that. Of course, some journalists are looking for the truth and they know that the United States has no credibility, especially during the Trump Presidency, and the news that the Americans publish is not fair. They want to know how Iranian society thinks about it? What was the position of General Soleimani in Iran and the region? And who is right in this case?” The Italian professor expressed.
At the end he said “Two very important articles have been published in Italy in recent days. One from the former Italian Minister of Culture, who is the director of Italy’s most important encyclopedia and it has been written that war and killing state officials are not the way to democracy. In another article by Enrico Mentana, one of the most important Italian journalists, the killing of General Soleimani is considered illegal and the author emphasized that we cannot accept this illegally on the pretext that Italy is a NATO member. Assassination of high-ranking official of one country by another, while not at war with each other, is completely illegal”.

This interview is originally published by Iqna Persian [1] and translated by Shafaqna English.