Iran has issued an arrest warrant for Donald Trump and 35 others over the killing of top general Qassem Suleimani and has asked Interpol for help, a Tehran prosecutor, Ali Alqasimehr, has said.

The move caused unease in Europe but the US claims that Suleimani’s death has weakened Iran’s grip on Iraq.

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The US special envoy on Iran, Brian Hook, dismissed the warrant as a propaganda stunt that “nobody takes seriously”.

Interpol said it would not comply with the Iranian request, which was likely to be seen in the context of the growing tensions between Tehran and Washington over the future of the UN embargo on conventional arms sales to Iran.

A US draft resolution retaining the arms embargo is due to be debated at the UN security council on Tuesday, and the US is trying to put pressure on the EU not to allow the embargo to lapse.