The US Defense Secretary has suggested that the US military would not violate the laws of armed conflict by striking Iranian cultural sites, a move threatened by President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump tweeted on Saturday that the United States would target some sites "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture" if Iran attacked American personnel or assets in retaliation for the killing of commander Qasem Soleimani.
Mr Trump's comment has drawn widespread criticism, with the UN’s cultural agency saying that both Iran the US must observe a convention obliging states to preserve cultural sites.
Asked whether he was willing to target cultural sites, Mark 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, Mr Esper said: "That's the laws of armed conflict." He did not elaborate.
UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay highlighted that both Iran and the US had signed a 1972 convention prohibiting states from taking "any deliberate measures which might damage directly or indirectly the cultural and natural heritage" of other states.
At a meeting with the Iranian ambassador to the Paris-based organisation, Ms Azoulay said that both countries had signed a 1954 convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, UNESCO said.
Ms Azoulay "stressed the universality of cultural and natural heritage as vectors of peace and dialogue between peoples, which the international community has a duty to protect and preserve for future generations".
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....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
Following Mr Trump's tweet, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said such a move would be a "war crime".
However Mr Trump showed no sign of backing down from that threat yesterday, saying: "They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we're not allowed to touch their cultural site? It doesn't work that way."
Iran boasts 22 cultural sites on UNESCO's world heritage list.
They include the majestic Meidan Imam square - also known as Naghsh-e Jahan - in the city of Isfahan that was built by shah Abbas I at the start of the 17th century.
The most outstanding site is considered by many to be the ancient Achaemenidian capital of Persepolis in southwest Iran, founded by Darius I in 518 BC, and a major attraction for foreign tourists.
