THE assassination of General Soleimani is precisely the kind of event which should be brought before the United Nations.

When this organisation was conceived and established in New York the United States enjoyed wide respect, even among less democratic regimes. Alas, that reputation is long gone and the threat of trade sanctions and military action have replaced international diplomacy and respect for the independence of other nations.

The purpose of the UN was to provide a forum to resolve differences between nations before they escalated into irrational warfare. Perhaps the time has come to relocate its headquarters to a more neutral territory such as Sweden or Switzerland where the 193 ambassadors might feel less inhibited about raising such matters and arriving at an acceptable resolution.

RF Morrison, Helensburgh.

THE supporters of the Iranian regime have been shouting "Marg bar Amrika" – death to America – for 40 years. Similar slogans are directed at Britain and especially at Israel and the Jews.

As commander for the last 21 years of the Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, General Qasem Soleimani was the man tasked with turning all the hate speech into external action. The only surprise in his assassination was that it wasn’t carried out a long time ago.

Few people realise that the late Ayatollah Khomeini designed the Islamic Republic of Iran to be a totalitarian state, which functions in a similar way to the Third Reich or the Soviet Union. The Pasdaran or Revolutionary Guards Corps is its equivalent of the SS, and answers directly to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei, completely bypassing his subordinate, the elected president.

General Soleimani’s successor, General Esmail Ghaani, has stated that the purpose of the Revolutionary Guards is to bring about the worldwide victory of the Hidden Imam. In simple terms, the Iranian regime is engaged in a holy war against most of humanity including the Sunni majority of Muslims.

Otto Inglis, Edinburgh EH4.

QASEM Soleimani was an international terrorist, murderer and sadist who contrary to the populist media was loathed by nine out of 10 Iranians. He was a major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard who promoted Shiite and Iranian influence throughout the Middle East and also provided military assistance to Hezbollah and bolstered Assad’s regime in Syria.

He was also involved in sanctioning the murder of his own people who dared to rise up against the regime’s internal policies, even supporting the withdrawal from hospital of wounded protestors to complete their executions and to hide dead bodies so that the headcount would be less obvious to the outside world. He was also responsible for many thousands of murders throughout the Middle East including countless Americans, both military personnel and civilians.

In order to halt this man in his tracks the Americans quite justifiably retaliated with his summary execution. Whilst he was relatively unknown in the West, his death must be classed in the same category as that of Osama Bin Laden. So for Ruth Marr (Letters, January 7) to refer to General Soleimani as a “dangerous” man is an understatement of the highest order and to class Donald Trump, for all his faults, in the same category as Gen Soleimani in my opinion shows breathtaking ignorance. Likewise for her to suggest that Boris Johnson might on some level join America in another war in the Middle East is misjudging the man. He is no Tony Blair and for all his faults deserves more credit than afforded him by Ms Marr.

Christopher H Jones, Giffnock.

ANDY Maciver ("How can politicians restore trust? Act like normal people", The Herald, January 6) asked how we can restore trust in our MPs. We have many MPs whose motives and whose dedication to constituents is above reproach. We must never let the "they're all the same" brigade away with undermining trust in all MPs. However, one would hope to see a greater measure of idealism among young MPs. Alas, not always.

I have been corresponding with my Tory MP – a fresh faced youth – about the UK's arming of the Saudis to support their war in Yemen. This is a war in which Saudi bombing has targeted civilians, with children paying a particularly heavy price. When I did eventually get to meet the MP after a series of unanswered emails his view was that "if we didn't do it somebody else would" and that we gained useful intelligence from the Saudis. I put it to him that these were wholly immoral arguments and that one would expect better of a young MP. He replied that morality can't have a place in international affairs and passed this attitude off as "real politik".

If this is the thinking that underpins Tory policy we are right to have no trust in Tory MPs.

David Currie, Tarland.