Letter.

Letter Published in The National UAE on 9Jan 20 Iraqis will be the first to pay for escalating US-Iran tensionsI write to you in reference to Joyce Karam and Jack Dutton’s article Donald Trump reverses on targeting Iran’s ‘cultural sites’ (January 8).I do not think that it is a good idea for Mr Trump to threaten bombing Iranian cultural sites if the regime retaliates to Qassem Suleimani’s killing in a US airstrike.The targeting of cultural heritage sites is considered to be a war crime by the Geneva convention and it is in no way an effective means of persuading Iran to de-escalate.Whether Mr Trump will bomb Iran or not, the regime has already retaliated by attacking an Iraqi base where US forces are stationed, killing Iraqi people.I fear ordinary Arabs will be the first to suffer from escalating tensions, not Americans or Iranians.K Ragavan, Bengaluru