Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted the United States will “behave lawfully” after President Trump threatened to target 52 sites important to “Iranian culture” if the country seeks revenge for America’s killing of a top general.
Joining ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Pompeo was asked whether the president was threatening to commit war crimes as the United Nations’ resolution 2347 “condemns the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage,” including religious sites and artifacts.
“We’ll behave lawfully. We’ll behave inside the system,” the secretary of state said. “We always have, and we always will.”
When pressed further, he added, “I’ve seen what we are planning in terms of the target set … The American people should know that every target that we strike will be a lawful target, and it will be a target designed at the singular mission of protecting and defending America. President Trump has been diligent about that. He doesn’t want war.”
NEW: @GStephanopoulos presses Sec. of State Mike Pompeo on Trump’s tweet warning cultural sites could be targeted if Iran retaliates: “Why is the president threatening Iran with war crimes?”
Pompeo: “We’ll behave lawfully. We’ll behave inside the system.” https://t.co/gJwvmAsvm8 pic.twitter.com/thUzbapH0w
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 5, 2020
Pompeo appeared on several of the Sunday talk shows and was asked about Trump’s Saturday night warning. Joining CNN’s State of the Union, he expressed a similar sentiment to host Jake Tapper.
“The American people should know we will always defend them, and we will do so in a way that is consistent with the international rule of law and the American Constitution,” he said. “We’ve done it before; we will do it again.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on President Trump’s threat on Iranian cultural centers: “We will respond with great force and great vigor if the Iranian leadership makes a bad decision. We hope that they won’t” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/NVJwb9Bt5M
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 5, 2020
On Saturday, Trump threatened to attack 52 Iranian sites to represent the 52 hostages held by Iran between 1979 and 1981 if the country seeks revenge for the killings of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis via U.S. airstrikes in Baghdad.
“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 tweeted.
The president’s message was met with backlash from some who accused him of threatening to commit war crimes by targeting cultural sites.
