Esper contradicts Trump on targeting Iranian cultural sites: We 'follow the laws of armed conflict'

"We will follow the laws of armed conflict," Esper told CNN Monday.

When pressed if that meant not targeting Iranian cultural sites, Esper replied, "That's the laws of armed conflict."

The comments come one day after Trump reiterated his threat to target Iranian cultural sites in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One.

"They're allowed to kill our people, they're allowed to torture and maim our people, they're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people, and we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn't work that way," Trump said, according to a pool report.

The threats have been met with criticism because it is against international law to target cultural rather than military sites, and the US military's policy has long been to avoid striking areas of cultural importance.

Two senior US officials told CNN Sunday there was widespread opposition within the administration to targeting cultural sites in Iran should the United States launch retaliatory strikes against Tehran.

"Nothing rallies people like the deliberate destruction of beloved cultural sites. Whether ISIS's destruction of religious monuments or the burning of the Leuven Library in WWI, history shows targeting locations giving civilization meaning is not only immoral but self-defeating," one of the officials told CNN.

"The Persian people hold a deeply influential and beautiful history of poetry, logic, art and science. Iran's leaders do not live up to that history. But America would be better served by leaders who embrace Persian culture, not threaten to destroy it," they added.

"Consistent with laws and norms of armed conflict, we would respect Iranian culture," the second senior US official said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, defended Trump on Sunday, arguing on CNN's "State of the Union" that such an action would not violate international law and instead suggested it would be a continuation of the administration's attempt at deterrence and defense.

"If we need to defend American interests, we will do so," he told Tapper.

In a separate interview on Fox News on Sunday, Pompeo claimed Trump never said he would order attacks on cultural sites if they struck Americans or American assets, something Trump did tweet on Saturday.

"As for these critiques, President Trump didn't say he'd go after a cultural site. Read what he said very closely. We've made clear that the cost, if they use proxy-forces in the region, will not just be borne just by those proxies. They'll be borne by Iran and its leadership itself," Pompeo said.