US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran will not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Taking to Twitter, President Trump tweeted, “IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”.
IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2020
The tweet came a day after Tehran announced it was further winding down observance of parts of an international deal struck to ensure that the country does not secretly develop a nuclear weapon under cover of its civilian nuclear industry.
Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama.
Earlier on Monday, Trump asserted that he would bomb Iranian cultural sites despite international prohibitions on such attacks.
Further on that, Mark Esper, Defence Secretary strongly suggested that the US military would not violate the laws of armed conflict by striking Iranian cultural sites.
On Saturday, Trump took to Twitter and said, “We have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD”.
Earlier on Friday, Trump had ordered the death of Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps considered a hero in the country, in order to “stop a war,” not start one.
Pentagon officials confirmed that at the direction of the US President, the military had taken the decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani.
General Qasem Soleimani was among the eight people killed in a rocket attack by the US on Baghdad international airport.
Iran had termed the US action of “international terrorism” as “extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation”.