Van Hollen Says Trump, Hegseth Possibly Committing ‘War Crimes’ in Iran
On CNN’s “The Arena” Monday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said the bombing, which reportedly killed more than 100 Iranian schoolgirls, may have been a war crime.
Host Kasie Hunt said: “You’re saying this is an illegal war. You also posted this today. “Let’s be clear, targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime under international law. The world has criticized Russia for doing just that in Ukraine. If Trump and Hegseth follow Putin’s plan, they must be held accountable. Now you were talking about targeting the Iranian power grid there. So if the president goes through with it, what would be the appropriate sanction?”
Van Hollen said, “Well, that would be a war crime. If the president just targeted Iranian infrastructure, civilian infrastructure, there are very limited circumstances in which a country can target infrastructure for military purposes. But the president said that unless we open the Strait of Hormuz, we’re going to blow up all of your civilian infrastructure, which is clearly a violation of international law. And so the president should be held accountable in international courts or in the United States.”
He added: “There are ways that people can bring lawsuits, you know, against individuals in the United States who have committed war crimes. Obviously, while the president is in the White House, this Supreme Court has made it much more difficult to hold the president accountable. But when he leaves office, he could still be vulnerable to accountability in the courts and, obviously, the international courts as well. But again, I hope we don’t get to that point. We should also conduct an investigation into what exactly happened when a US Tomahawk missile killed 100 Iranian schoolgirls I mean, we have a Secretary of Defense who said he wanted to get rid of what he called stupid rules of engagement. These rules of engagement are designed to enforce international law and prevent civilian harm.
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