Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a speech Tuesday with legal officials from several Islamic countries said there should be an international Islamic court using Sharia law to prosecute war criminals and violators of humanitarian rights. Ahmadinejad failed to elaborate on the logistics of the court, but said the proposed body would serve as an alternative to the United Nations and the two international courts, which Ahmadinejad sees as a tool of the West.
“Today it is necessary to create an international Islamic court for pursuing and following international criminals, those who violates the rights of nations, war criminals and governments.” Ahmadinejad said. “In this council, some members with special rights are the complainant, the prosecutor and the judge all at the same time … They enjoy complete immunity,” the Iranian president said.
Ahmadinejad's proposal comes on the heels of a new National Intelligence Estimate conclusion that Iran halted research on nuclear weapons in 2003, a conclusion in stark opposition to the rhetoric of President Bush. Washington has long expressed hawkish rhetoric in support of an aggressive foreign policy against the Iranian regime to thwart what it sees as a potential World War III among nuclear nations. But the White House used the findings as a symbol of an effective U.S. policy toward the Iranian regime.
“On balance, the estimate is good news,” the national security advisor Stephen Hadley said. “On one hand, it confirms that we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons. On the other hand, it tells us that we have made some progress in trying to ensure that that does not happen. But it also tells us that the risk of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon remains a very serious problem.”
