WASHINGTON ¨C U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday the United States wants to de-escalate tensions with Iran, but the country is ready to finish any war that could be started.
¡°We are not looking to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one,¡± he said. ¡°What we¡¯d like to see is the situation de-escalated.¡±
The U.S. drone strike on Friday that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani has sharply escalated tensions with Iran, raising fears of all-out conflict. Washington says it killed Soleimani in self-defense, aiming to disrupt his plans to attack U.S. personnel and interests.
Esper defended the intelligence signaling an ¡°imminent threat¡± from Soleimani that he and other senior U.S. officials have cited to justify the strike, saying it was persuasive.
¡°The threat was being orchestrated by Soleimani,¡± Esper said. ¡°I think it was only a matter of days, certainly no more than weeks¡± before an attack.
Esper suggested on Monday that the U.S. military would not violate the laws of armed conflict by striking Iranian cultural sites, a move threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Asked about the issue again on Tuesday, Esper said he was confident that Trump ¡°will only give us legal orders.¡±
¡°We do not violate the laws of armed conflict,¡± Esper said.
Targeting cultural sites with military action is considered a war crime under international law, including a U.N. Security Council resolution supported by the Trump administration in 2017 and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.
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