‘There are international conventions’: British PM Johnson warns US against bombing Iranian cultural sites

6 Jan, 2020 13:31

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump © AFP / Pool / Erin Schaff 

Boris Johnson has issued a veiled warning to Donald Trump after the US president threatened to destroy 52 Iranian cultural heritage sites, insisting that “there are international conventions in place” that forbid such actions.

In the aftermath of the assassination of Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone airstrike near Baghdad International Airport on Thursday night, Trump announced a number of threats against the Iranians via social media.

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In one such threat, the US president talked about “targeting” Iranian sites, the number of which represents the “52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago.” 

However, on Monday, Johnson’s official spokesman insisted that “there are international conventions in place that prevent the destruction of cultural heritage.” He stopped short of saying the killing of Soleimani was a ‘war crime’, claiming instead “states have a right to take actions such as this in self-defense.”

The US administration justified the action against the man widely regarded as the second most powerful figure in Iran – after the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – by claiming Soleimani was plotting imminent attacks against American diplomats and military personnel.

In response to the killing, the UK ordered its navy vessels to provide “protection” to all British-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf near Iran.

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