China slams Trump threat on Iran cultural sites

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): China’s envoy to Iran has slammed threats by US President Donald Trump to launch attacks on Iran’s cultural sites amid an escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington, saying the Iranian heritage belongs to the entire global community.

“World cultural heritage belongs to all humanity ！,” said Chang Hua in a tweet posted on Sunday which was decorated with pictures of notable historic monuments in Iran.

The tweet came a day after Trump said he would hit 52 Iranian targets, including very important cultural sites, if Iran decides to retaliate an assassination ordered by the US president of a senior Iranian military commander last week.

Trump’s threats on Iranian cultural sites sparked widespread criticism inside the United States and even caused US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to claim on Sunday that the president would not make such a move in case of an escalation with Iran.

However, Trump himself defended the threats when asked about the issue on Sunday and said he had meant them.

This comes as Trump’s administration has endorsed a United Nations Security Council resolution in 2017 which bans any use of military force to target cultural sites. Such actions are also strongly prohibited under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.

The threats came in response to statements by Iran that the country would take a harsh revenge against the United States for the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s elite Quds military force, an incident that took place last week in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Iranian authorities also summoned Swiss ambassador to Tehran on Sunday to relay the country’s note of protest to Washington, which is not directly represented in Iran, over Trump’s threats on Iran’s cultural sites.

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