Donald Trump has defended his threat to target Iranian cultural sites.
US President Donald Trump has defended his threat to target Iranian cultural sites if the country were to retaliate for the killing of commander Qassem Soleimani.
In a tweet on the weekend, Trump said that if Iran strikes any Americans or American assets, the US has targeted 52 Iranian sites “some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture.”
Many experts and world leaders have reminded Trump that attacking culture sites is prohibited by international conventions signed in Geneva and at the Hague.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that any attempt to target Iranian cultural sites would be a breach of international law.
In 2017, in response to ISIS’ destruction of historic and cultural sites in Syria and Iraq, the UN stated that targeting cultural locations constituted a war crime.
However, Trump reiterated his threat in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One.
“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,” he said.
European leaders have distanced themselves from Trump’s actions, voicing concern that the killing of Soleimani could trigger further violence.
“There is now an urgent need for de-escalation,” Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement on Sunday evening.
The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said that conflict with Iran “is in none of our interests.”
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