President Donald Trump has warned that the U.S. would levy harsh sanctions if Iraq expels American troops in retaliation for a U.S. strike in Baghdad that killed a top Iranian official. At the same time, the official replacing Gen. Qassem Soleimani is vowing revenge on the U.S. and Soleimani's daughter sent a stark warning to the families of U.S. service members in the region.
Trump’s comments came amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following last week’s strike on Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds force.
“We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame,” Trump said of possible expulsion from Iraq, according to the Associated Press. “If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq.” He added that he wanted Iraq to pay the U.S. back.
Trump also doubled down on the idea of attacking cultural sites that he introduced a tweet Saturday, claiming that if any Americans or American assets are attacked by Iran, the U.S. has targeted 52 sites to represent the 52 Americans taken hostage by Iran in 1979 and held for 444 days.
“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. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way,” Trump reportedly said as he was flying back to Washington, D.C., from Florida.
Meanwhile, the Iranian general who replaced Soleimani is vowing revenge.
“We promise to continue martyr Soleimani’s path with the same force...and the only compensation for us would be to remove America from the region,” Esmail Ghaani said Monday, according to multiple reports.
Soleimani’s daughter directly threatened an attack on the U.S. military in the Mideast while speaking to hundreds of thousands in Tehran.
“The families of U.S. soldiers in the Middle East will spend their days waiting for death of their children,” Zeinab Soleimani said, according to AP, which was met with cheers from the crowd.
Iran also announced Sunday it was abandoning the remainder of its responsibilities to the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement. Trump announced on May 8, 2018, that the U.S. was leaving the agreement and imposing economic sanctions. As late as March 4, 2019, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was still adhering to that accord. But in recent months, Iran had announced it was starting to take steps away from compliance.
The developments could bring Iran closer to building an atomic bomb, see a proxy or military attack launched by Tehran against America and enable the revival of the Islamic State group.
On Sunday, Trump pushed back against criticism that he had not informed Congress prior to the strike that killed Soleimani, by tweeting an advance notice that the U.S. would respond to any attack by Iran.
"These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!" Trump tweeted.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has a Democratic majority, responded with a Twitter reminder to Trump about war authorization, using similar language to his.
"This Media Post will serve as a reminder that war powers reside in the Congress under the United States Constitution. And that you should read the War Powers Act. And that you’re not a dictator," the committee tweeted.
