IRNA: "Iran making preparations for trial of Israeli leaders for war crimes"

Iran grants itself international jurisdiction. (It's catching up with Belgium):

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Iran's judiciary system is now providing a bill in conformity with international law to bring to justice the Israeli leaders for crimes against humanity in Gaza.

President Ahmadinejad made the remarks in a press conference with domestic and foreign reporters in Tehran on Thursday.

The bill which is to be handed over to Majlis will authorize the Iranian criminal court to bring to justice the Zionist officials for their war crimes, he said.

He also advised the other countries to follow suit.

"Lawyers around the world have been assigned to formulate setup of the criminal court."

He said that the world is now on the verge of U-turn and nations will gain power and it is beyond the expectations of those seeking to impose their views on others.

The United Nations General Assembly requested an advisory opinion from the Hague-based International Court of Justice on intervention of the international courts amid growing calls that Israeli actions in Gaza are violation of the Geneva Conventions and the international criminal law.

"There is a well-grounded view that both the initial attacks on Gaza and the tactics being used by Israel are serious violations of the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, international law and international humanitarian law," said Richard Falk, the UN's special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories and professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University.

"There is consensus among independent legal experts that Israel is an occupying power and is therefore bound by the duties set out in the Fourth Geneva Convention," Falk said.

Falk said: "The arguments that Israel's blockade is a form of prohibited collective punishment and it is in breach of its duty to ensure the population has sufficient food and healthcare as the occupying power, are very strong."

"If there were political will there could be an ad-hoc tribunal established to hear allegations of war crimes," Falk said.

"This could be done by the UN General Assembly acting under Article 22 of the UN Charter which gives them the authority to establish subsidiary bodies."