Under international humanitarian law, civilian sites cannot be made the “object of attack or of reprisals.” The only exception is if they are used for military purposes, but attacks must still adhere to the principles of international law.
In his threat, Trump said that such attacks on civilian infrastructure would be carried out as “retribution” for the deaths of U.S. military members, with at least 13 service members killed in the war, while two more have died of noncombat causes.
More than 3,000 people have been killed across the region in the war, with at least 1,900 people estimated killed in Iran under Israeli and American strikes and more than 1,300 killed in Lebanon, while 19 people have died in Israel.
Human rights groups have said that in addition to the U.S., Israel and Iran have committed possible war crimes during the monthlong conflict.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on criticisms of Trump’s threats to target civilian infrastructure in Iran.
During a news conference Tuesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to try to downplay Trump’s threats.
Hailing the U.S. military as “the most professional force in the world,” Caine said it had “numerous processes and systems to carefully consider the whole range of considerations, from civilian risk to legal considerations.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt separately said Monday that the U.S. military would always operate within the “confines of the law.”
David J. Scheffer, who served as the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues and led the American delegation to the United Nations talks for establishing the International Criminal Court, said he wouldn’t necessarily call America a “rogue state.”
However, the “entire international community” will be watching the conduct of U.S. forces in the Iran war — “and will reach conclusions that could easily identify the United States as a nation that is not complying with international law,” he said.
The U.S., Israel and Iran are not signatories to the International Criminal Court, which investigates and tries crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Threats as war crimes
International law experts also said that under international law, threatening to carry out a war crime can be considered a war crime in and of itself, although threats alone were unlikely to be prosecuted.
“Even if the threat is not deemed a war crime in itself, it would be evidence of criminal intent, as opposed to an erroneous misfire, if the attack is carried out,” according to Roth.
While Rapp said Trump’s comments could be put down to “bluster,” he felt the president was “tearing up” Washington’s historic role in leading efforts to prosecute war crimes on the world stage, including in the Nuremberg trials, which saw top Nazi leaders prosecuted for their crimes during the Holocaust.
Meanwhile, he warned that Trump’s threats also risked creating a “permission structure for others to threaten or commit similar crimes.”
Shadow of Gaza
Three former U.S. officials who resigned from the Biden administration over America’s support for Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip said the gravity of Trump’s threats should not be downplayed.
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 appeared to be a growing “willingness to commit” possible war crimes, “whether by the U.S. or certainly by some of its partners.”
