Trump Talks Sanctions, Attacks on ‘Cultural’ Sites

US President Donald Trump has raised eyebrows with two new threats: economic sanctions on Iraq if that country goes ahead and withdraws the welcome mat for American troops, and attacks on what he called “cultural sites” in Iran if the Islamic Republic attacks the US or US personnel or assets. President Trump’s comments come as tensions spiked over a US drone attack at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday that killed several people. One of them was Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite Quds Force and described as the second-most-powerful person in the Islamic Republic after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehran has threatened revenge, and Iraq, angry that the drone strike took place on its soil, is working on legislation aimed at booting out US forces. The US leader went ahead and repeated his threats to hit Iranian cultural sites despite warnings that this might constitute a war crime. As for punishing Iraq, he tweeted: “We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”