Trump doubles down on US threats to attack Iran

Iran has vowed to take revenge for the U.S. assassination of IRGC Commander Qassem Soleimani.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

U.S. President Donald Trump has doubled down on the prospect of targeting Iranian cultural sites if Iran retaliates against the U.S. for killing IRGC Commander Qassem Soleimani.

“They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.

He also warned Iraq that he would levy punishing sanctions if it followed up on Sunday’s parliamentary nonbinding resolution calling for the expulsion of the nearly 5,000 American forces from the country.

Trump first raised the prospect that Iranian cultural sites were fair game for the U.S. military on Saturday via Twitter.

“Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!” Trump wrote.

Trump’s reference to targeting sites “important to Iran & the Iranian culture” could raise questions about whether striking such targets would violate international agreements. The American Red Cross notes on its website that the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols, ratified by scores of nations in recent years, states that “cultural objects and places of worship” may not be attacked and outlaws “indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations.”

On Friday, a U.S. airstrike killed Soleimani and others as they traveled from Baghdad’s international airport. Following the assassination, Iran vowed to take revenge for the U.S. attack and abandon all elements of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Thousands of Iranians attended the funeral procession for Soleimani on Monday, during which Soleimani’s daughter said the U.S. and Israel can expect a “dark day” following her father’s death.