Pompeo says Trump will only hit 'lawful' targets after threat to Iran cultural sites derided as 'war crime'

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Are we really ready for a World War III? Fears are mounting around the world following the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani - but is World War 3 about to happen?

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday insisted the administration would "behave lawfully" after critics accused President Donald Trump of threatening to commit a "war crime" when he warned Iran that he would include cultural sites in the list of targets he would strike if Iran took action against the U.S. after the killing its top general last week.

Trump approved the airstrike that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force, on a road near the Baghdad airport on Thursday. Iran has vowed to retaliate and many fear the response could trigger further military action or war. Trump's tweets promising to "hit them harder than they have ever been hit before" if they retaliate have amplified those concerns.

"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," Trump said in a pair of tweets on Saturday.

"He doesn't know international law. He doesn't recognize U.N. resolutions either. Basically he is a veritable gangster and a gambler," Iranian Maj. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, a senior military adviser to Iran's supreme leader, told CNN.

"Targeting cultural sites is a WAR CRIME," tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

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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. — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 5, 2020

"I’m really sorry that we are living in a world where the president of the biggest so-called superpower still doesn’t know that attacking cultural sites is a war crime,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told reporters in Tehran.

"This is a war crime," tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. "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."

This is a war crime.



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. https://t.co/IjkNO8BD07 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 5, 2020

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Trump was "threatening to commit war crimes on Twitter."

"God help us all!" she tweeted, adding #25thAmendment, which implies the president is unfit to serve.

The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes on Twitter.



God help us all! #25thAmendment https://t.co/nYZSvpo8rG — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 5, 2020

Someone better let the President know he's threatening war crimes.



- 52 sites for purely symbolic reasons would be a war crime.

- Striking cultural sites without military necessity would be a war crime

- Striking in revenge is a war crime

- Targeting civilians is a war crime — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 4, 2020

Certain war crimes under international law—in particular, attacking cultural sites with resulting death—would constitute capital offenses under the criminal code of the United States of America. https://t.co/j8b4QHUhtb — George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 5, 2020

The UN Security Council is on record declaring cultural destruction as a war crime. Our president is threatening the same cultural attacks perpetrated by ISIS against monuments of antiquity. Unthinkable that an American president could do this. https://t.co/x4t0SQHdCq — Richard Stengel (@stengel) January 5, 2020

Iran was home to some of the earliest civilizations in human history, and there are two dozen UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 22 of them cultural ones, within its borders.

The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict makes it a war crime to target cultural sites. The international treaty, created in the aftermath of World War II, says, "Damage to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind."

And, according to the International Red Cross, because such sites are "normally civilian in nature, the general provisions of humanitarian law protecting civilian property apply."

In response to the intentional demolition of several historic monuments and relics by the Islamic State, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution in 2017 condemning the destruction of heritage sites.

Pompeo: Secretary of state blames Iran situation on 'Obama administration’s appeasement'

On Sunday, George Stephanopoulos, the host of ABC News' "This Week," asked Pompeo about Trump's threat.

"As you know, the Geneva Conventions outlaw attacks on cultural objects and places of worship. Our own DOD war manual discusses the protection of cultural property," Stephanopoulos said. "So, why is the president threatening Iran with war crimes?"

"We’ll behave lawfully. We’ll behave inside the system. We always have and we always will, George. You know that," Pompeo replied.

Stephanopoulos asked if that meant Trump was wrong about cultural sites being included in the list of potential targets.

"I’ve seen what we are planning in terms of the target set. I’m sure the Department of Defense is continuing to develop options," Pompeo said. "The American people should know that every target that we strike will be a lawful target, and it will be a target designed with a singular mission, of protecting and defending America."

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Pompeo was trying to deescalate the budding conflict.

"I’m not sure the president by his kind of taunting tweets is necessarily trying to deescalate," he said.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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