Donald Trump has said that civilians in Iran welcome US strikes on infrastructure. Donald Trump says they are willing to face hardship for freedom. Trump said the Iranian people had asked America to “keep bombing.”
At a White House briefing, Trump dismissed concerns that attacks on power grids and essential services would harm ordinary people. According to him, many Iranians are asking the US to continue the attacks despite the risks.
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In response to a question from ABC News, Trump claimed that people living in the affected areas urged the US to “keep bombing”. According to him, these civilians believe that such actions could help them achieve liberation from the Islamic Republic.
“These are the people who live where the bombs are going off. When we leave and we don’t intervene in these areas, they say, ‘Please come back, come back, come back,'” Trump said.
“All I can tell you is that they want freedom. They lived in a world you don’t know anything about. It’s a violent, horrible world where if you protest you will be shot,” he added.
Trump also described life in Iran as harsh and violent. “They live in hell,” he said.
The US president said that people in Iran were severely punished for the protests. He argued that the desire for freedom outweighed the suffering caused by damaged infrastructure.
President Trump’s comments came after he earlier warned Iran of major military action if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In a phone interview, Trump said the US could “blow up the whole country” and target Iran’s power plants and bridges if a deal was not reached.
ABC News’ Mary Bruce asked, “Why would they want you to blow up their infrastructure?”
“They would be willing to suffer that to have freedom,” Trump replied.
Violation of international law?
Another reporter pointed out that under the Geneva Conventions, deliberate strikes on civilian infrastructure would be a violation.
“I hope I don’t have to do that,” Trump replied.
Read also | Trump on why it “will not be a war crime” to strike Iran’s bridges and power plants
Donald Trump has set a deadline of Tuesday, April 7. But he also changed timelines earlier.
Trump also gave mixed signals. He sometimes said that the US could act alone. Then another time he asked other countries to lead.
According to him, Iranian civilians support such attacks because they want freedom. But experts have warned that targeting civilian infrastructure such as electricity and water systems is likely to be considered a war crime under international law.
“If it’s civilian infrastructure, which of course could affect things like water treatment plants, hospitals, then many would argue that’s not a valid military target and against international law. It could turn the people we’ve been trying to support against us,” Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, told the ABC.
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Reaction on social networks
Meanwhile, social media reacted strongly to Donald Trump’s “please keep bombing” comment.
“That’s diabolical,” came the sharp comment.
“He also says tariffs make Americans rich and diet coke is healthy. The man hears what he wants,” wrote another user.
One user wrote: “We have a POTUS who is now deranged. Are people in Israel begging Iran to bomb them? He bombed a school after 170 little girls begged him to bomb them?”
“Maybe one day in the future a country will do this to America and its leader will justify it in the same words,” came from another user.
Another user commented: “That’s enough, I can’t laugh anymore. It’s not even funny now.”
“Voices in his head told him to,” another user wrote.
