US military adventurism shows it has not learned lessons of the past: China Daily editorial

Two developments are especially salient after the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by the United States in a drone attack near Baghdad airport on Friday. These are Iran's decision, announced on Sunday, to no longer abide by the restrictions on its nuclear program that it agreed to in 2015, and the call by Iraq's Parliament for the expulsion of all US troops from the country.

Iran said in a statement that its nuclear program "no longer faces any limitation in the operational field" including its capacity for enriching uranium, which was a key part of the terms of the nuclear accord aimed at preventing it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

However, Teheran should not take the blame for trashing the nuclear deal. After all, it is the US that has repeatedly ignored the facts that international inspection proves Iran has always abided by the deal and instead mounted extreme pressure on the Islamic republic since its withdrawal.

It is to be hoped that the US is not trying to force Iran to quit the nuclear deal with the intention of using it as an excuse to target its nuclear facilities.

Iran has shown restraint to the execution of Soleimani so far. It knows its retaliation may well fall into Washington's hands by triggering more hostile actions, especially with the US leader saying he had a list of 52 targets across the Islamic republic, including important cultural sites that would be hit in the event of any retaliation. With that in mind, Teheran holding to its commitment to the nuclear deal would make Washington lose more ground in the stand-off, both morally and legally. The US leader has already been heavily censured for his threat to target cultural sites and warned it would constitute a war crime.

Meanwhile, although the Iraqi Parliament's resolution is nonbinding, it highlights the increasingly strained relations between Washington and Baghdad, and it has ignited more criticism in the US about the continuing US military presence in the Middle East country and its failure to foster a pro-US government in Iraq.

The US should take a step back from the escalating confrontation with Iran and consider the wider ramifications of its actions.

The US president has faced harsh criticism both at home and around the world for authorizing such an impulsive and dangerous act, which has raised concerns about an aberrant commander-in-chief ignoring established protocols and international legal norms to curry favor with his support base ahead of the election.

As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said, the US drone strike violated the basic norms of international relations and the US' abuse of power has aggravated regional tensions and turbulence. He has urged the US to seek solutions via dialogue.

Hopefully, the US administration will heed his advice, as there is no telling what harm it might do if it continues to go rogue.