Warren: ‘It would be a war crime’ for Trump to strike Iranian cultural sites

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) said President Trump would be committing a war crime if he decided to bomb Iranian cultural sites.

“We have a president of the United States who is tweeting threats of war crimes,” Warren told the hosts of the television show “The View” Tuesday. 

“He is threatening to bomb cultural institutions,” she added. “It’s a violation of international law and it would be a war crime.”

In a series of tweets over the weekend, Trump threatened to attack important cultural sites in Iran if the country retaliated against American assets in the region.

“Iran has been nothing but problems for many years,” Trump tweeted. “Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites… 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!” he said. 

Last week, the U.S. authorized an airstrike that lead to the death of military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport. Following the strike, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised a proportional retaliatory strike.

In addition, The New York Times reported that thousands of pro-Iranian fighters marched through Iraq’s capital to protest the death of the general, shouting, “Revenge is coming.” 

In an interview with CNN Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif called Trump “lawless,” saying that the president “has no respect for international law.” Zarif also reiterated that Iran would respond “proportionally” and “lawfully.”