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US President Donald Trump threatens Iraq and Iran
Irfan Ali
06 January, 2020 11:17
US President Donald Trump threatens Iraq and Iran after Iraqi Parliament demand US troops to leave.
According to Washington Post, In a speech Sunday, President Trump said there would be serious repercussions if Iraq expelled U.S. armed forces following the killing of the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.
US President Donald Trump threatens
He said the United States would demand that Iraq repay money spent on a major air base.
Furthermore, he threatened that Washington would “charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before, ever. He said that it would make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi called the attack that killed Soleimani “a massive breach of sovereignty” and a “clear breach of the terms of the American forces’ presence.”
On Sunday, the Iraqi parliament voted 170 to 0 (with nearly 150 Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers abstaining) to expel the approximately 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Although this was a nonbinding resolution, it further politicized the U.S. show of violence. It likely portends the end of the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
We are set for a heated debate between Iraq and the United States over the U.S. military presence and whether it ought to continue.
According to USA Today, President Donald Trump on Sunday repeated a threat to target Iranian cultural sites.
However, critics say it could amount to a war crime, if Tehran retaliates for a U.S. drone strike that killed its top military general.
“They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people.
They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington, D.C, from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. “And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural site? It doesn’t work that way.”
Trump’s comments appeared to contradict Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who earlier on Sunday vowed the administration would “behave lawfully” in regards to a list of targets the U.S. would strike if Iran launched a retaliatory attack for the death of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force.
Iran has repeatedly vowed to retaliate for the attack, sparking fears it could trigger further military action or launch a war.
On Saturday in a pair of tweets, the president warned the U.S. has identified 52 Iranian targets, including some cultural sites, that “WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD” if Iran were to take action.
Critics — including top Iranian officials — were quick to point out the threat amounted to a war crime.
President Trump has threatened severe sanctions against Iraq after its parliament called on US troops to leave the country.
Talking to reporters, he said Iraq would have also to pay Washington for the cost of an expensive air base there.
Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman said in Washington has urged Iraqi leaders to reconsider the importance of the two nations’ ongoing economic and security relationship.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, most in an advisory role.
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