"A reminder to those hallucinating about emulating ISIS war crimes by targeting our cultural heritage: Through MILLENNIA of history, barbarians have come and ravaged our cities, razed our monuments and burnt our libraries. Where are they now? We’re still here, & standing tall," Zarif said in a tweet on Sunday.
It came after Trump warned Iran that a strike on "any Americans" or "American assets" in retaliation for the assassination of the IRGC Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani, would result in the US targeting 52 sites — including "Iranian culture" sites.
But deliberately targeting cultural sites or cultural heritage sites could amount to a war crime under international law.
General Soleimani, the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha'abi, and a number of their entourage were killed in a strike by American drones near Baghdad International Airport in the early hours of Friday.
The White House and the Pentagon confirmed the assassination of General Soleimani in Iraq, saying the attack was carried out at the direction of Trump.
In a message on Friday morning, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei warned that harsh revenge awaits the criminals behind the martyrdom of General Soleimani.