TEHRAN The United States is opposed to the establishment of a permanent international war crimes tribunal, for the setting up of such a tribunal may culminate in the prosecution of U.S. and Israeli officials.

A congressman and spokesman of the Republican majority faction, Mark Tyson, announced at a press conference at the UN that such a tribunal must never be formed, for it may prosecute the American and Israeli officials.

He showed a letter to the reporters in which former U.S. secretaries of state from both parties had opposed the establishment of such a court. The letter was signed by 9 Republican and 3 Democrat MPs.

They said such a tribunal will be to the detriment of the U.S. officials, military officers and the state.

The permanent crime tribunal is to be set up in The Hague within three years on the style of the Nuremberg Court which was set up to try the Nazis.

The convention for setting up such a tribunal was signed for the first time in Rome 1998. It was signed by 115 countries including the Arab allies of the United States.

So far the parliaments of 23 countries have approved the formation of the court, but it needs at least the approval of 60 parliaments.

The United States opposed the formation of this court from the very beginning and demanded the exemption of its soldiers and officials from the prosecution of this court.

Tyson announced that even if the U.S. soldiers and officials are exempted from prosecution by this tribunal, its formation is illegal.

A bill presented to the Congress on the opposition to the formation of such a tribunal envisages that the approval of this convention by the Parliament of the signatories, except NATO members and U.S. major allies, will amount their depravation from U.S. military aid.