In a letter to Democratic members of the House, Pelosi said
the "provocative and disproportionate" airstrike on Soleimani
"endangered our servicemembers, diplomats and others by risking a serious escalation
of tensions with Iran."
Soleimani's killing has sparked fears of a broader conflict
in the Middle East as tensions between the United States and Iran have
escalated.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Parliament voted to expel American
soldiers from the country, drawing the threat of sanctions from
Trump. Trump also reiterated his threat to target Iranian cultural sites
if Iran takes military action against U.S. forces.
Targeting cultural sites is a war crime under the 1954 Hague
Convention. The United Nations Security Council also unanimously passed a
resolution in 2017 condemning the destruction of heritage sites, such
as that carried out by the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and
Syria. At the time, the UN reiterated that actions targeting cultural
locations constitute a war crime. US experts have also stressed the illegal
nature of the action threatened by the US president.
One former US official expressed skepticism that military planners would agree to target cultural sites. "For what it's worth, I find it hard to believe the Pentagon would provide Trump targeting options that include Iranian cultural sites," Colin Kahl tweeted. "Trump may not care about the laws of war, but DoD [Department of Defense] planners and lawyers do [...] and targeting cultural sites is war crime," Kahl added.
The Trump administration has yet to offer any
evidence backing its claim that last week’s killing of a senior Iranian
official was legal under international law. Now the US president
has also threatened to target Iran’s cultural sites – an action
experts say would amount to committing a war crime.
President Donald Trump insisted Sunday that Iranian cultural
sites were fair game for the US military, dismissing concerns that targeting
the country’s heritage would constitute a war crime under
international law.
One former US official expressed skepticism that military planners would agree to target cultural sites. "For what it's worth, I find it hard to believe the Pentagon would provide Trump targeting options that include Iranian cultural sites," Colin Kahl tweeted. "Trump may not care about the laws of war, but DoD [Department of Defense] planners and lawyers do [...] and targeting cultural sites is war crime," Kahl added.
