Trump Threatens Attacks on 52 Sites in Iran

President Trump warned Iran that if they retaliate, they will face U.S. attacks on 52 targets. He chose that number of targets because they matched the number of hostages held by Iran in 1979. The hostages that they held were 52 American diplomats and citizens, they were held for 444 days. President Trump said, “Let this serve as a warning if Iran strikes and Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites, some at a very high level and important to Iran and the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, will be hit very fast and very hard.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded accusing Trump of threatening a war crime.

Donald Trump said, “They attacked us and we hit back. If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before.” He also said, “They’re allowed to torture and maim our people.They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we aren’t allowed to touch their cultural sites. It doesn’t work that way.” Trump said that the attack was undertaken to prevent war and further bloodshed for Americans who had been targeted by Soleimani.

President Trump insisted that he was personally tracking General Soleimani for around 18 months. He said that Soleimani was leading his country down a bad and dangerous path. When the news of the killing of Soleimani came out, some people were very mad, while others celebrated his death. But when Trump threatened to attack some of Iran’s cultural sites, they all came together and were against him. Some of the sites are religious, and some of them aren’t, but they are proud of their heritage so the threat really got them mad.