Despite Trump threats, Pentagon insists will not break law of war

Asked whether he will target cultural sites, Esper told Pentagon reporters: We will follow the laws of armed conflict

WASHINGTON DC: US  Secretary of defense Mark Esper strongly suggested on Monday that the US military would not violate the laws of armed conflict by striking Iranian cultural sites, a move threatened by President Donald Trump.

Asked whether he was willing to target cultural sites, Esper told Pentagon reporters: "We will follow the laws of armed conflict."

Pressed on whether he would then not target such sites, because that would be a war crime, Esper said: "That's the laws of armed conflict."

He did not elaborate. Targeting cultural sites with military action is considered a war crime under international law, including a UN Security Council resolution supported by the Trump administration in 2017 and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.

Pompeo says US will act 'lawfully' after Trump’s ‘war crime’ threat to Iran

The US drone strike on Friday that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani has sharply escalated tensions with Iran, raising fears of all-out conflict.

Washington says it killed Soleimani in self-defence, aiming to disrupt his plans to attack US personnel and interests. Amid Iranian threats of retaliation over Soleimani's killing, Trump tweeted over the weekend that the United States had targeted 52 Iranian sites, some "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture" if Iran struck any American or American assets in retaliation.

....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. The USA wants no more threats!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020

"They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people and we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn't work that way," Trump said on Sunday, speaking to reporters.