Dozens of international law experts in the United States have signed an open letter warning that US attacks on Iran could constitute war crimes. The intervention follows a series of remarks by President Donald Trump, including statements about targeting energy infrastructure.
More than 100 experts in international law, including academics from Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of California, wrote in a letter published on Thursday that the conduct of US forces and statements by senior officials ‘raise serious concerns about violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including potential war crimes’.
The letter also referred to Trump’s mid-March comments on further attacks on Iranian targets, in which he said the US might strike again ‘just for fun’. It further cited remarks by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in early March, who said US forces were not operating under ‘stupid rules of engagement’.
Published on the website of the political magazine Just Security, the letter states that the signatories are ‘gravely concerned about strikes that have hit schools, health facilities and homes’, citing in particular a strike on a school in Iran on the first day of the war.
At the same time, the US military said in March that it was stepping up its investigation into the devastating 28 February attack on a girls’ school in Iran. According to media reports, the inquiry indicated that US forces were likely responsible. The Iranian Red Crescent said that 175 people were killed in the attack.
In a separate address, Trump threatened to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’. ‘We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to take them back to the Stone Age where they belong,’ he said.
He added that if Iran did not accept Washington’s terms, the United States would target key infrastructure. ‘If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard,’ he said.
In a social media post on Thursday, Trump extended the threat to bridges and power facilities. ‘The U.S. military hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants,’ he wrote.
In the same post, he said the Iranian leadership ‘knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!’
(Reuters)