WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran Saturday that America has targeted 52 Iranian sites and Iran will be hit "very fast and very hard" if it attacks any American or U.S. assets.
"We have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level and important to Iran and the Iranian culture," Trump tweeted on Saturday evening.
- - - -
MOSCOW -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, voiced concerns on Saturday over the killing of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike.
During a phone conversation, Lavrov and Cavusoglu expressed deep concern about the possible serious consequences of the U.S. action for peace and stability in the Middle East region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Sergei Lavrov emphasized that U.S. actions are a gross violation of fundamental norms of international law and do not contribute to the achievement of the goals of the fight against terrorism declared by Washington," the statement said.
- - - -
TEHRAN -- Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that the United States will pay a heavy price for assassination of Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), official IRNA news agency reported.
"Americans have taken a new approach that could put the region in a very dangerous situation," Rouhani said in a meeting with the visiting Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking tensions and insecurity," Rouhani said, adding that "What has brought tension and unrest to the region recently is the U.S. unwise acts." Enditem
