ANKARA

Malaysia’s prime minister called last week’s killing of senior Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq an “unlawful” and “immoral” act, according to a local news outlet.

“The act [of killing Soleimani] is akin to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, which happened across boundaries,” Malaysia’s the Star online quoted Mahathir Mohamad as saying Tuesday, referring to the October 2018 killing of a Saudi journalist inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul.

“Both are guilty of immoral acts, it is against the law,” he told reporters.

The leader of the southeast Asian nation also stressed that last week’s killing is an “another act where one country decides on its own to kill the leaders of another country."

Warning that the Soleimani killing could escalate terrorist activities in the region, Mahathir said it is time for Muslims to unite.

Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Friday.

His death marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which rose after U.S. President Donald Trump chose in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw Washington from a 2015 nuclear pact world powers struck with Tehran.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who gave Soleimani the country's highest honor last year, vowed "severe retaliation" in response to his killing.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and legal U.S. resident, was murdered after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on a visit to pick up paperwork for his forthcoming marriage