US legal experts say strikes on Iran may amount to war crimes

Washington: More than 100 international law experts in the United States have issued an open letter saying American strikes on Iran may amount to war crimes, after President Donald Trump renewed threats this week to target the country’s power and desalination facilities.

The letter, released on Thursday on the website of the Just Security policy journal, stated that the conduct of US forces and remarks by senior American officials have raised concerns under international law. The signatories included experts affiliated with institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of California.

raise serious concerns about violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including potential war crimes

The experts said they were particularly troubled by comments Trump made in mid-March, when he said the United States might carry out strikes on Iran ‘just for fun’. The letter also referred to remarks by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth from early March, in which he said the US does not fight with ‘stupid rules of engagement’.

Trump, who has previously given changing timelines and objectives for the war, said in a televised speech on Wednesday that the conflict could widen if Iran did not accept Washington’s terms. He also said strikes on Iran’s energy and oil infrastructure were possible.

In the same speech, Trump threatened further military action against Iran.

We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the Stone Age, where they belong

The open letter said the experts were ‘seriously concerned’ about attacks that had struck schools, health facilities and homes. It specifically pointed to a strike on a school in Iran on the first day of the war.

The US military said in March that it had elevated its investigation into a February 28 strike on an Iranian girls’ school after media reports showed the probe had found US forces were likely responsible. The Iranian Red Crescent has said 175 people were killed in that strike.

A leading US Muslim advocacy group had warned that Trump’s rhetoric during the war, including his threat to strike Iran ‘back to the Stone Ages,’ had been ‘dehumanizing’.

The letter adds to growing scrutiny in the United States over both the conduct of the war and the language used by senior officials as Washington signals the possibility of further escalation.