President Donald Trump said he was ready to make strikes on 52 locations in Iran, including Iranian cultural sites and sites he deemed important to the country, if Tehran continued to threaten the United States. Trump tweeted the threat on Saturday night after Iran’s leadership vowed to take revenge for the U.S.’s assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force and one of the most powerful military figures in the Middle East. “Let this serve as a WARNING,” the president added, “that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, 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 & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!”On Nov. 4, 1979, armed Iranian students aligned with Iran’s government took 52 Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The U.S. diplomats spent 444 days in captivity until they were released on Jan. 29, 1981.

Source: Huffington Post January 05, 2020 01:07 UTC