Trump: US will strike 52 Iranian sites 'very fast and very hard' if Tehran moves to avenge general's death - UPDATE: Zarif responds

RT
Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:05 UTC

US President Donald Trump has said the US military have identified 52 sites important to Iran and its culture which it's ready to rain hellfire upon if Tehran targets US citizens or assets to avenge the killing of its top general.

In unleashing yet another dire warning to Iran, Trump appeared to refer to a recent statement by a senior commander within the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who said earlier on Saturday that Iran had identified about 35 vital US and Israeli targets in the region "a long time ago."

"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," Trump said as he launched into a fresh anti-Iran diatribe on Twitter.

Trump did not specify which sites the Pentagon had placed on its hit list, saying only that some of the targets are "at a very high level."

The threat comes as tensions between Washington and Tehran are at the boiling point after a US drone strike near Baghdad on Thursday killed the leader of the IRGC's Quds Force - a special unit tasked with operations abroad. Major General Qasem Soleimani, whom Trump dubbed Iran's "terrorist leader," was instrumental in the defeat of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Syria and Iraq.

The Trump administration's move to assassinate Soleimani has drawn mixed reaction in the US. Democratic lawmakers, as well as their Republican colleagues, were unaware of the operation. But while the GOP has largely rejoiced at the move, the Democrats have been crying foul over the decision, accusing Trump of single-handedly steering the US into a potentially all-out war with Iran.

The White House formally notified the Congress about the strike late on Saturday. The notice, however, did nothing to placate the Democrats, as it apparently shed little light on the circumstances behind the Soleimani's takedown.

In a statement on Saturday, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi slammed the strike as "provocative, escalatory and disproportionate military engagement", noting that the War Act Powers notice given to the lawmakers "prompts serious and urgent questions about the timing, manner and justification" of the attack.

She also criticized what she called a "highly unusual" decision to classify the document "in its entirety," pointing out that "the Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security."

She went on to urge Trump to provide "an immediate, comprehensive briefing of the full Congress on military engagement related to Iran and next steps under consideration."

Comment: And right there Trump becomes no better than ISIS, threatening to destroy Iranian cultural sites. There is a special place in hell for those who destroy history.

UPDATE

Pompeo responded with a little gaslighting: "President Trump didn't say he'd go after a cultural site - read what he said," Pompeo said on Fox News. What planet is this idiot living on? In what world is a site "important to Iranian culture" not a cultural site?

It's all bluff and bluster, anyway, but still. The Iranians aren't shaking in their boots, that's for sure:

Iran's army chief, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, rebuffed the warning, however, saying it is "unlikely that the US would have what it takes to carry out its threat."

Meanwhile, Tehran summoned the Swiss envoy to the Islamic Republic to protest Trump's hostile remarks. Such aggressive language is "completely unacceptable and violates international law," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. Swiss diplomats act as intermediaries between Tehran and Washington, because the countries cut formal ties in 1980.