Donald Trump's threat for the destruction of Iranian cultural sites

Last updated
Donald Trump delivering remarks on the assassination of Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020 President Trump Delivers Remarks (49328109428).jpg
Donald Trump delivering remarks on the assassination of Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020

On January 4, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump made several tweets stating that if Iran retaliated against the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, "the United States will hit 52 Iranian sites, some at a very high level and important to Iran and the Iranian culture, very fast and very hard." The threat was widely described as a "pretty clear promise of a war crime" and was condemned by the international community as well as other American politicians. However, on January 5, Trump renewed the threat, and said "They're allowed to kill our people... and we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn't work that way." [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

In response, Iranian officials compared Trump to the Islamic State, Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan. [8] [9] Targeting cultural sites is a war crime under the 1954 Hague Convention. [10] On January 6, Defense Secretary Mark Esper distanced The Pentagon from Trump's threats, and confirmed that the U.S. will follow the laws of armed conflict, which prohibit targeting cultural sites. By January 7, Trump backed away from his threats. [11]

According to commander in chief of IRGC AF what Trump actually meant was Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was also shot down 4 days later in Tehran. [12]

Threats

The tweets in which the threat was made 52 cultural sites thread.png
The tweets in which the threat was made

First threat

In a series of tweets, Trump wrote that "if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets," the U.S. has targeted 52 Iranian sites, "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." [7]

Second threat

A day after the first threat, Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, defended his threat and said: "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 site? It doesn't work that way." [3]

Reactions

United States

The Pentagon distanced itself from Trump's tweets about targeting cultural sites. Defense Secretary Mark Esper was asked if the US would target cultural sites, and he said that the US will "follow the laws of armed conflict." [3] When asked if that meant "no, because targeting a cultural site is a war crime?", Esper said "That's the laws of armed conflict." However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended Trump's tweets. [2]

US senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy labeled the tweets as "threatening to commit war crimes." [6] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that "Threatening to target and kill innocent families, women and children - which is what you're doing by targeting cultural sites - does not make you a "tough guy." It does not make you "strategic." It makes you a monster." [13]

Joe Biden also warned against "Trump's irrational behavior." [13] "The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes on Twitter. God help us all!", said Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. [10]

Iran

Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Trump violated international law in "Friday's cowardly assassinations" and "threatens to commit again new breaches of JUS COGENS. Targeting cultural sites is a WAR CRIME." [10]

In another tweet, Zarif wrote: "A reminder to those hallucinating about emulating ISIS war crimes by targeting our cultural heritage: Through MILLENNIA of history, barbarians have come and ravaged our cities, razed our monuments and burnt our libraries. Where are they now? We're still here, & standing tall." [10]

"Like ISIS, like Hitler, Like Genghis! They all hate cultures. Trump is a 'terrorist in a suit.' He will learn history very soon that NOBODY can defeat 'the Great Iranian Nation & Culture", wrote Azari Jahromi, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, on Twitter. [10]

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani responded to Trump's warning: "Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290", referring to the 1988 shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 by a U.S. warship in which 290 were killed. [14]

Using the hashtag #IranianCulturalSites, Iranian people responded to the Trump's tweets by sharing photos of their favorite Iranian cultural sites. [15] The BBC reported that Trump's tweets made Iranians, who were divided as soon as the news of the killing of Qasem Soleimani broke, united against the United States. [16]

United Kingdom

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said cultural sites were protected by international law. He also said that Britain expected that to be respected. [6] The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson warned the US that "attacking Iranian cultural sites could constitute a war crime under international law." [17]

UNESCO

Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), pointed out that both Iran and the United States were signatories to the 1972 convention to protect the world's natural and cultural heritage. [6] Francesco Bandarin, a former senior official at UNESCO, wrote "if the US destroys Iranian cultural sites, President Trump will be criminally liable by international law." [18] U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, without mentioning Trump by name, released a statement stressing that international cooperation must continue to preserve humanity's treasures. [11]

Aftermath

On Tuesday, Donald Trump backed away from his threats to target Iranian cultural sites. "I like to obey the law." he said during an Oval Office appearance. He also added: "Think of it. They kill our people. They blow up our people. And then we have to be very gentle with their cultural institutions? But I'm OK with it. It's OK with me." [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Iran and the United States have had no formal diplomatic relations since 7 April 1980. Instead, Pakistan serves as Iran's protecting power in the United States, while Switzerland serves as the United States' protecting power in Iran. Contacts are carried out through the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the US Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. In August 2018, Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei banned direct talks with the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bolton</span> American lawyer and diplomat (born 1948)

John Robert Bolton is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Cheney</span> American lawyer and politician (born 1966)

Elizabeth Lynne Cheney is an American attorney and politician. She represented Wyoming's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference—the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership—from 2019 to 2021. Cheney is known for her vocal opposition to former president Donald Trump. As of March 2023, she is a professor of practice at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qasem Soleimani</span> Iranian military officer (1957–2020)

Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination by the United States in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds Force, an IRGC division primarily responsible for extraterritorial and clandestine military operations, and played a key role in the Syrian Civil War through securing Russian intervention. He was described as "the single most powerful operative in the Middle East" and a "genius of asymmetric warfare." Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen said Soleimani's strategies had "personally tightened a noose around Israel's neck."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Cotton</span> American politician (born 1977)

Thomas Bryant Cotton is an American politician, attorney, and former Army officer serving as the junior United States senator from Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015.

Donald Trump, the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and current president-elect of the United States, has a history of speech and actions that have been viewed by scholars and the public as racist or sympathetic to White supremacy. Journalists, friends, family, and former employees have accused him of fueling racism in the United States. Trump has repeatedly denied accusations of racism. Conservative commentators point to the time he stated "whether you are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots" as an example of him not being a racist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilhan Omar</span> American politician (born 1982)

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, representing part of Minneapolis. Her congressional district includes all of Minneapolis and some of its first-ring suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizzagate conspiracy theory</span> Debunked conspiracy theory about alleged child-sex ring

"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, falsely claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner's emails. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police.

Many organizations reacted to the enactment of Executive Order 13769, titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States," which was an executive order issued by United States President Donald Trump. Domestically, the order was criticized by Democratic and Republican members of Congress, universities, business leaders, major corporations, Catholic bishops, and Jewish organizations. Some 1,000 U.S. diplomats signed a dissent cable opposing the order, setting a record. Public opinion was divided, with initial national polls yielding inconsistent results. Protests against the order erupted in airports and cities.

U.S. foreign policy during the presidency of Donald Trump (2017–2021) was noted for its unpredictability and reneging on prior international commitments, upending diplomatic conventions, embracing political and economic brinkmanship with most adversaries, and stronger relations with traditional allies. Trump's "America First" policy pursued nationalist foreign policy objectives and prioritized bilateral relations over multinational agreements. As president, Trump described himself as a nationalist while espousing views that have been characterized as isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist, although the "isolationist" label has been disputed, including by Trump himself, and periods of his political career have been described by the alternative term "semi-isolationist." He personally praised some populist, neo-nationalist, illiberal, and authoritarian governments, while antagonizing others, even as administration diplomats nominally continued to pursue pro-democracy ideals abroad.

Donald Trump's use of social media attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in May 2009. Over nearly twelve years, Trump tweeted around 57,000 times, including about 8,000 times during the 2016 election campaign and over 25,000 times during his presidency. The White House said the tweets should be considered official statements. When Twitter banned Trump from the platform in January 2021 during the final days of his term, his handle @realDonaldTrump had over 88.9 million followers. On November 19, 2022, Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, reinstated his account, although Trump had stated he would not use it in favor of his own social media platform, Truth Social. The first tweet since 2021 was made in August 2023 about his mugshot from Fulton County Jail, but the account remained inactive until he tweeted again in August 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candace Owens</span> American conservative political commentator (born 1989)

Candace Amber Owens Farmer is an American political commentator and pundit. She is mostly described as conservative or far-right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">February 2019 Warsaw Conference</span>

February 2019 Warsaw Conference, commonly known as the US-led Middle East conference in Warsaw, took place on 13 and 14 February 2019 in Warsaw, capital of Poland. The conference was hosted by Poland and the United States. According to the joint official announcement of the meeting, the issues of the event were: “terrorism and extremism, missile development and proliferation, maritime trade and security, and threats posed by proxy groups across the region”. In early February, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said that the purpose of the conference is to focus on "Iran’s influence and terrorism in the region". However, after the European objections to the purpose, the United States was forced to backtrack on planning to build a global coalition against Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morgan Ortagus</span> Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State

Morgan Deann Ortagus is an American television commentator, financial analyst, and political advisor who served as spokesperson for the United States Department of State from 2019 to 2021 during the Trump administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Iranian shoot-down of American drone</span> Military action in the Strait of Hormuz

On June 20, 2019, Iran's integrated system of Air Defense Forces shot down a United States RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone with a surface-to-air missile over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and the U.S. differ on where the incident actually occurred. Iranian officials said that the drone violated their airspace, while U.S. officials responded that the drone was in international airspace.

During the Yemeni civil war, Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition of nine nations from the Middle East and parts of Africa in response to calls from the internationally recognized pro-Saudi president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after he was ousted by the Houthi movement due to economic and political grievances, and fled to Saudi Arabia.

The following is a timeline of the presidency of Donald Trump during the first quarter of 2020, from January 1 to March 31, 2020. To navigate quarters, see timeline of the Donald Trump presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Qasem Soleimani</span> 2020 U.S. drone strike killing of an Iranian major general

On 3 January 2020, Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was killed by an American drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, while travelling to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

The killing of Iranian Major General and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq by the United States brought strong reactions from around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Martyr Soleimani</span> 2020 Iranian missile strike on U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq

On 8 January 2020, in a military operation code named Operation Martyr Soleimani, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched over 12 ballistic missiles at the al-Asad Airbase in Al Anbar Governorate, western Iraq, as well as another airbase in Erbil, in response to the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani by a United States drone strike.

References

  1. ↑ "Trump defends 'war crime' threat to target cultural sites in Iran". The Guardian . January 7, 2020. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Trump's threatened attack on Iranian cultural sites could be a war crime if carried out". 5 January 2020. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Trump defends 'war crime' threat to target cultural sites in Iran". TheGuardian.com . 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Trump's threat to destroy Iranian heritage would be a war crime". TheGuardian.com . 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "The disturbing history behind Trump's threat to target Iranian cultural sites". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Trump under fire for threat to Iranian cultural sites". BBC News. 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Trump Says He'll Target Iran's Cultural Sites. That's Illegal". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  8. ↑ "Trump's threats draw Iran's cultural sites into tensions". Associated Press . 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "Iranian official labels Trump a 'terrorist in a suit'". 5 January 2020. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Iranian Minister Calls Donald Trump A 'Terrorist In A Suit'". Newsweek . 5 January 2020. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 "Trump retreats from threat to attack Iranian cultural sites". Associated Press . 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  12. ↑ "ادعای فرمانده نیروی هوافضای سپاه: آمریکا می‌خواست «بیت رهبری» را بزند". Archived from the original on 2023-10-28. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  13. 1 2 "AOC calls Trump 'a monster' over threat to Iran; Omar, other Democrats warn of potential 'war crimes'". Fox News . 5 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  14. ↑ "Rouhani points to US downing of Iranian airliner in response to Trump threat". The Hill . 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  15. ↑ "Iranians Flood Twitter With Photos of Favorite Cultural Sites as Trump Threatens Them With Destruction | Common Dreams". www.commondreams.org. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  16. ↑ "Trump under fire for threat to Iranian cultural sites". BBC News. 2020-01-06. Archived from the original on 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  17. ↑ "Iran crisis: Boris Johnson warns Trump not to break international law by bombing cultural sites". Independent.co.uk . 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "If the US destroys Iranian cultural sites, President Trump will be criminally liable by international law". 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.