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U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he’s “not at all” concerned about committing possible war crimes as he again threatened to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants if Tehran does not meet his Tuesday 8 p.m. ET deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off-limits.
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Trump says it would take four hours to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants
The president described the consequences that Iran would face if it didn’t reach a deal with the U.S. by the deadline.
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” Trump said during the news conference.
Power plants in Iran, he continued, would be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the U.S. that attacking civilian infrastructure is banned under international law, his spokesman said Monday.
“Even if specific civilian infrastructure were to qualify as a military objective,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, an attack would still be prohibited if it risks “excessive incidental civilian harm.”
A court would need to decide whether such attacks were war crimes, he said.
Trump dismisses that his threatened attacks on Iran’s infrastructure would be war crimes
“I hope I don’t have to do it,” Trump added.
Ceasefire rejected by Iran
Iran on Monday rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the conflict.
“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press.
Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks on Iran on Monday, killing more than 25 people. Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours.
The U.S. and Egypt are pushing Israel not to strike the main Lebanon-Syria border crossing, official says
That’s according to Lebanon’s General Security chief, Hassan Choucair, who said those “ongoing contacts” by Washington and Cairo aim to protect and reopen the Masnaa border crossing.
It’s been closed since Saturday after Israel warned it could be targeted over alleged weapons smuggling by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Officials in Lebanon and Syria deny that claim, saying vehicles are thoroughly inspected.
The crossing’s closure has forced travellers to take a longer northern route. More than 200,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria since the war escalated five weeks ago, many of them fleeing the conflict.
Trump lashes out at Pacific allies
The president continued to grumble about NATO allies’ refusal to get involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and their hesitance to assist U.S. offensive operations against Iran.
But as he wrapped up his lengthy news conference Monday, he also fumed about the lack of support from Pacific allies.
“You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us,” Trump said. “You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan. We’ve got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea. We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well.”
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