Pentagon rules out strikes on Iran’s cultural sites

Defense Secretary Mark Esper acknowledged on Monday that attacking antiquities in Iran would be a war crime, after President Trump said such places would be legitimate targets if the conflict with Tehran escalated.

Mr. Trump, warning Iran against retaliating for the U.S. strike that killed a top Iranian general, said over the weekend: “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.”

Mr. Trump’s advisers have denied he actually made a threat, even as his comments generated international condemnation (including from one of our art critics).

Background: The U.S. is a signatory to a 1954 international agreement to protect cultural property in armed conflict. Iran is home to 22 sites designated by the United Nations as culturally important, including the ruins of Persepolis, the capital of an ancient empire.