Trump Says He'll Target Iran's Cultural Sites. That's Illegal
The Hague Convention, signed by the U.S., requires "refraining from any act of hostility" against cultural property. The Pentagon educates troops about their obligations to safeguard such sites.
Iran's cultural heritage is suddenly a topic of urgent global interest, after President Trump threatened to strike such sites if the country retaliates for the United States' killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week.
In a series of tweets Saturday evening, Trump wrote that "if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets," the U.S. has targeted 52 Iranian sites â "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."
Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, that targeting Iranian cultural sites
