SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
President Donald Trump speaks during a 'Evangelicals for Trump' campaign event on January 03, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Openly Threatening a War Crime, Trump Says US Prepared to Strike '52 Iranian Sites'
"Not only does Congress need to halt this march to war and atrocity, they need to get him out of office."
Jan 03, 2020
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Just 24 hours after claiming he isn't seeking war with Iran, President Donald Trump Saturday night threatened that the U.S. is prepared to strike "52 Iranian sites" if Tehran retaliates for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani.
"Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge," Trump wrote in a series of tweets. "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 and important to Iran and the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"
Observers were quick to point out that the deliberate destruction of cultural sites is a war crime under international law.
\u201cWhat does he mean by sites important to "Iranian culture"? \n\nPurposefully destroying cultural sites is considered a war crime as per UN resolution 2347.\u201d— Nilo Tabrizy (@Nilo Tabrizy) 1578179635
"The U.S. has waged a campaign of terror against Iraq and Iran for more than six decades. Coups, invasions, bombings, sanctions, support for despots and death squads," wroteThe Intercept's Jeremy Scahill in response to the president's tirade. "Trump is now broadcasting his intent to commit more war crimes. None of this is happening in a history-free vacuum."
"It is a horrid stain on the U.S. that it has never once held any president responsible for the vast economic and war crimes they have committed," Scahill added.
Trump's latest threats came after hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran Friday to condemn the drone strike that killed Soleimani and half a dozen others in Baghdad. Iranian leaders immediately condemned the assassination as an act of terrorism and vowed to respond.
"Without doubt, the people of Iran will take revenge for this horrific criminal act," tweeted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
In a speech Friday following Soleimani's assassination, Trump proclaimed that the U.S. is "a peace-loving nation" and said his "administration remains firmly committed to establishing peace and harmony among the nations in the world."
Anti-war commentators said Trump's tweets Saturday night once again put the lie to the notion that the president is working to avoid war with Iran.
"Trump was never fit to be president--amid a crisis of his own creation he is openly threatening war crimes against the Iranian people," tweeted Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council. "Not only does Congress need to halt this march to war and atrocity, they need to get him out of office."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Just 24 hours after claiming he isn't seeking war with Iran, President Donald Trump Saturday night threatened that the U.S. is prepared to strike "52 Iranian sites" if Tehran retaliates for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani.
"Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge," Trump wrote in a series of tweets. "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 and important to Iran and the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"
Observers were quick to point out that the deliberate destruction of cultural sites is a war crime under international law.
\u201cWhat does he mean by sites important to "Iranian culture"? \n\nPurposefully destroying cultural sites is considered a war crime as per UN resolution 2347.\u201d— Nilo Tabrizy (@Nilo Tabrizy) 1578179635
"The U.S. has waged a campaign of terror against Iraq and Iran for more than six decades. Coups, invasions, bombings, sanctions, support for despots and death squads," wroteThe Intercept's Jeremy Scahill in response to the president's tirade. "Trump is now broadcasting his intent to commit more war crimes. None of this is happening in a history-free vacuum."
"It is a horrid stain on the U.S. that it has never once held any president responsible for the vast economic and war crimes they have committed," Scahill added.
Trump's latest threats came after hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran Friday to condemn the drone strike that killed Soleimani and half a dozen others in Baghdad. Iranian leaders immediately condemned the assassination as an act of terrorism and vowed to respond.
"Without doubt, the people of Iran will take revenge for this horrific criminal act," tweeted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
In a speech Friday following Soleimani's assassination, Trump proclaimed that the U.S. is "a peace-loving nation" and said his "administration remains firmly committed to establishing peace and harmony among the nations in the world."
Anti-war commentators said Trump's tweets Saturday night once again put the lie to the notion that the president is working to avoid war with Iran.
"Trump was never fit to be president--amid a crisis of his own creation he is openly threatening war crimes against the Iranian people," tweeted Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council. "Not only does Congress need to halt this march to war and atrocity, they need to get him out of office."
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Just 24 hours after claiming he isn't seeking war with Iran, President Donald Trump Saturday night threatened that the U.S. is prepared to strike "52 Iranian sites" if Tehran retaliates for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani.
"Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge," Trump wrote in a series of tweets. "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 and important to Iran and the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"
Observers were quick to point out that the deliberate destruction of cultural sites is a war crime under international law.
\u201cWhat does he mean by sites important to "Iranian culture"? \n\nPurposefully destroying cultural sites is considered a war crime as per UN resolution 2347.\u201d— Nilo Tabrizy (@Nilo Tabrizy) 1578179635
"The U.S. has waged a campaign of terror against Iraq and Iran for more than six decades. Coups, invasions, bombings, sanctions, support for despots and death squads," wroteThe Intercept's Jeremy Scahill in response to the president's tirade. "Trump is now broadcasting his intent to commit more war crimes. None of this is happening in a history-free vacuum."
"It is a horrid stain on the U.S. that it has never once held any president responsible for the vast economic and war crimes they have committed," Scahill added.
Trump's latest threats came after hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran Friday to condemn the drone strike that killed Soleimani and half a dozen others in Baghdad. Iranian leaders immediately condemned the assassination as an act of terrorism and vowed to respond.
"Without doubt, the people of Iran will take revenge for this horrific criminal act," tweeted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
In a speech Friday following Soleimani's assassination, Trump proclaimed that the U.S. is "a peace-loving nation" and said his "administration remains firmly committed to establishing peace and harmony among the nations in the world."
Anti-war commentators said Trump's tweets Saturday night once again put the lie to the notion that the president is working to avoid war with Iran.
"Trump was never fit to be president--amid a crisis of his own creation he is openly threatening war crimes against the Iranian people," tweeted Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council. "Not only does Congress need to halt this march to war and atrocity, they need to get him out of office."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.