The White House tried to reframe President Trump’s threat to attack cultural sites in Iran by saying his comments were simply posing the question about what would come next if America’s allies sought to distance themselves from the idea.
On Monday, Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway scolded reporters for their treatment of Trump’s words.
“He didn’t say he’s targeting cultural sites,” Conway said of his Saturday night tweet. “He said that he was openly asking the question why in the world they’re allowed to maim people, put out roadside bombs, kill our people, torture our people … he said that they identified 52 sites.”
Tensions have ratcheted up across the Middle East after Trump ordered the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week following the death of American contractor and demonstrations that at one stage threatened to overrun the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Trump used Twitter on Saturday to promise further action if Iran retaliated. “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,” he wrote.
A day later, he warned Iran of “major retaliation.” He said: “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.”
[Opinion: Trump shouldn’t, can’t, and won’t bomb Iranian cultural sites]
However, Trump’s European allies have called for a de-escalation. And on Monday, a Downing Street spokesman pointed to laws protecting cultural sites when asked if Prime Minister Boris Johnson supported Trump’s comments. “There are international conventions in place that prevent the destruction of cultural heritage,” he said during a briefing.
Critics say targeting cultural sites could constitute a war crime.
And UNESCO, the United Nations’s cultural body, also spelled out Trump’s international obligations, pointing out said that the United States had signed two conventions that committed it not to take any deliberate measures that might damage cultural or natural heritage.
Conway said some of the cultural sites might also represent military targets. “Secretary Pompeo said yesterday that we will be within the law, and I think that Iran has many military, strategic military sites that you may cite are also cultural sites,” she said.
She added that the president was confident he could still renegotiate a new nuclear deal with Tehran after Iran announced over the weekend it would retreat further from the 2015 nuclear pact. “He said he’s open,” she said in response to a question about talks. “If Iran wants to start behaving like a normal country … sure, absolutely.”
