under International humanitarian law, Civilian sites cannot be made “objects of attack or reprisal”. The only exception is if they are used for military purposes, but the attacks must still comply with the principles of international law.
In his threat, Trump said such attacks on civilian infrastructure would be carried out as “retaliation” for the deaths of US military members, adding that at least 13 service members have been killed in the war, while two others have died of non-combat causes.
More than 3,000 people have been killed across the region in the war, with at least 1,900 killed in Iran and more than 1,300 in Lebanon under Israeli and US strikes, while 19 have been killed in Israel.
Human rights groups have said that in addition to the US, Israel and Iran have committed possible war crimes during the month-long conflict.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the criticism of Trump’s threats to target civilian infrastructure in Iran.
During a news conference Tuesday, Gen. Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to try to play down Trump’s threats.
Praising the US military as “the most professional force in the world”, Kane said it has “a number of processes and systems in place to carefully consider all kinds of considerations, from civilian risk to legal considerations.”
Separately on Monday, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said the U.S. military would always operate within “the bounds of the law.”
David J. Schaeffer, who served as the first U.S. ambassador to war crimes issues and led the U.S. delegation to United Nations negotiations to establish the International Criminal Court, He said he would not necessarily call the US a “rogue state”.
However, “the entire international community” will keep an eye on U.S. military conduct in the Iran war — “and come to conclusions that can easily identify the United States as a nation that is not abiding by international law,” he said.
The US, Israel and Iran are not signatories to the International Criminal Court, which investigates and prosecutes genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Threats as war crimes
International law experts also said that under international law, threatening to commit a war crime could be considered a war crime in itself, although threats alone were unlikely to be prosecuted.
According to Roth, “Even if the threat is not considered a war crime in itself, if an attack is carried out, it would be evidence of criminal intent, as opposed to an erroneous misfire.”
While Rapp said Trump’s comments could be called “fraud”, he felt the president was “destroying” Washington’s historic role in efforts to prosecute war crimes on the world stage, including the Nuremberg trials, in which top Nazi leaders were tried for their crimes during the Holocaust.
Meanwhile, he warned that Trump’s threats also risk creating a “permission structure to threaten others or commit similar crimes.”
shadow of gaza
Three former US officials who resigned from the Biden administration over US support for Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip said the seriousness of Trump’s threats should not be minimized.
Josh Paul, who resigned from his role as director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in 2023, said there is a growing “willingness” to commit potential war crimes, “whether by the United States or certainly by some of its allies.”
