US President Donald Trump warns of 52 targets if Iran retaliates

President Donald Trump speaks during an Evangelicals for Trump Coalition Launch. Photo / AP

President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Saturday, threatening to hit dozens of targets in the Islamic Republic "very fast and very hard" if it retaliates for the targeted killing of the head of Iran's elite Quds Force.

The series of tweets came as the White House sent to Congress a formal notification under the War Powers Act of the drone strike on Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a senior administration official said. US law required notification within 48 hours of the introduction of American forces into an armed conflict or a situation that could lead to war.

Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020

The notification was classified and it was not known if a public version would be released. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the classified document "suggests Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security."

In unusually specific language, Trump tweeted that his administration had already targeted 52 Iranian sites, "some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture." He linked the number of sites to the number of hostages, also 52, held by Iran for nearly 15 months after protesters overran the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Thousands of Iranians lined Baghdad streets Saturday for the funeral procession for Soleimani. The Islamic Republic has vowed revenge for the Trump-ordered airstrike that killed him and several senior Iraqi militants early Friday Baghdad time.

Trump appeared to respond to such threats with tweets justifying Soleimani's killing and matching the bellicose language from Iran.

"Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters," the president tweeted.

....hundreds of Iranian protesters. He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years. Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020

....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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020

"He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years."

People hold signs outside the Texas state capitol in Austin, Texas. Photo / AP

Member of the Iranian Basij paramilitary militia, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guard. Photo / AP

Mourners chant slogans against the US during the funeral of Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias. Photo / AP

Trump also warned: "The USA wants no more threats!"

The notification document sent Saturday to congressional leadership, the House speaker and the Senate president pro tempore was entirely classified, according to a senior Democratic aide and a congressional aide. The aides and the senior administration were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity. In a statement, Pelosi said the "highly unusual" decision to classify the document compounds concerns from Congress.

"This document prompts serious and urgent questions about the timing, manner and justification of the Administration's decision to engage in hostilities against Iran," Pelosi said and reiterated her call for a full briefing for lawmakers.

Pelosi said the Trump administration's "provocative, escalatory and disproportionate military engagement continues to put servicemembers, diplomats and citizens of America and our allies in danger."

She called on the administration "for an immediate, comprehensive briefing of the full Congress on military engagement related to Iran and next steps under consideration."

- AP