Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday told Sky News that Qasem Soleimani’s assassination by the United States was “illegal under any law.”
In a speech at the House of Commons, Corbyn said the US must not violate laws if it wants other countries to stand by international law. He demanded answers from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace about the escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States.
Corbyn said the assassination was an “extremely dangerous and aggressive act,” which he warned could bring yet another war to the Middle East.
Corbyn called on Parliament to prevent Britain from aiding the United States in the next military conflict. “Many of us opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the failed invasion of Afghanistan and I opposed the bombing of Libya in 2011,” he said and asked, “Have we learnt nothing from those events?”
Corbyn was critical of the fact that the call for calm that was issued by the UK following the assassination of Soleimani was directed at Iran, which he called the injured party.
“I wonder if Iran had assassinated an American general whether the British government would be telling Washington that the onus was entirely on the US to de-escalate”, Corbyn told parliament.
And he did it with a straight face.
