More than 100 United States-based international law experts have signed an open letter condemning military strikes by the US and Israel on Iranian territory as a violation of the United Nations Charter and potentially amounting to "war crimes". The letter, published on Thursday, asserts that the campaign, which began on February 28, was launched without UN Security Council authorisation and without credible evidence of an imminent Iranian threat. The scholars emphasized that force against another state is only permitted in self-defense against an actual or imminent armed attack or with Security Council approval, conditions they claim were not met in this case.
The experts' concerns focus on four key areas: the legality of the decision to initiate war, the conduct of hostilities, threatening rhetoric from senior officials, and what they describe as the dismantling of civilian protection structures within the US government under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's "gloves off" approach to warfare. They highlighted a strike on a primary school in Minab, Iran, on the first day of the war that killed at least 175 people, mostly children, as well as attacks on hospitals, water plants, and energy infrastructure, raising serious questions about compliance with international humanitarian law.
The letter also condemns public statements by senior US officials, including former President Donald Trump. It specifically notes a mid-March comment from Trump where he allegedly said the US may conduct strikes on Iran "just for fun", and cites remarks from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in early March in which he purportedly stated the US does not fight with "stupid rules of engagement". The experts warned that such statements indicate "an alarming disrespect for the rules of international humanitarian law" that protect both civilians and military personnel.
Signatories include prominent legal scholars such as Oona Hathaway and Harold Koh from Yale Law School, Philip Alston of NYU, and former Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth. The experts noted that due to their connection to the US, their primary focus is on the conduct of that government, but they "remain concerned about the risk of atrocities across the region". They also stressed the "importance of equal application of international law to all, including countries that hold themselves out as global leaders", expressing concern about the damage this war is inflicting on the international legal order.
The signatories are urging Washington to change course, writing: "We urge US government officials to uphold the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, and human rights law at all times, and to publicly make clear US commitment to and respect for norms of international law." The letter adds that the war is costing US taxpayers up to $2 billion per day, underscoring the economic burden of the campaign and its broader implications for global stability.
Source: www.aljazeera.com