Corbyn described the assassination to Sky News as “a provocative act, which has made the whole world a much more dangerous place.”Speaking to Sky News, Corbyn insisted that whether Soleimani was a terrorist or not was “not the point” and that instead, one should focus on the fact that the assassination was “an illegal act that took place” and “if we want to end illegal acts by anybody, you don’t commit them yourself.”When asked if he agreed with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s stating that Soleimani was a terrorist, Corbyn began to criticize Johnson for making the statement in a cabinet meeting rather than in Parliament. He added that “[Johnson is] the prime minister of this country. He has to be held to account for what his government says and does. He has to be held account for his own actions by coming to our parliament to answer questions.”“All I’m saying is to assassinate an official of a foreign government in a third country, in this case Iraq, is illegal under any law and the US, if it wants the world to stand by international law, must stand by international law itself,” Corbyn told Sky news.While acknowledging that he did not know the precise nature of Soleimani’s visit to Iraq, Corbyn said that “he was in Iraq for reasons of contact, I assume, with Iraqi government.”On Monday Liberal Democrat acting leader MP Ed Davey and the former head of the British Army Lord Dannatt debated the issue on Good Morning Britain.While Dannatt stated that Soleimani was the leader of a terrorist organization, Davey refused to do so.Watch Jeremy Corbyn answer questions about whether Soleimani was a terrorist pic.twitter.com/qNvJcZGxrn
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) January 7, 2020
Jeremy Corbyn refuses to call Qasem Soleimani a terrorist
Corbyn described the assassination to Sky News as “a provocative act, which has made the whole world a much more dangerous place.”
