President Donald Trump issued fresh warnings against Iran Thursday evening, threatening to target the nation’s bridges and electrical grid as part of escalating military action against the country’s infrastructure.
In a social media post, Trump declared that the American military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants.”
The president’s message indicated that Iranian officials “knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”
During a televised address Wednesday, Trump had already suggested the conflict might intensify if Iran refuses to accept Washington’s demands, warning that energy and petroleum facilities could become targets. The president has previously given varying timeframes and objectives regarding the ongoing military action.
International legal scholars raised alarm Thursday, with dozens of experts in the United States releasing a public statement warning that American attacks on Iran could constitute war crimes.
The Geneva Conventions of 1949, which govern humanitarian rules during warfare, specifically ban assaults on infrastructure vital to civilian populations.
These international agreements and their additional protocols require warring parties to differentiate between “civilian objects and military objectives,” explicitly forbidding strikes against civilian targets.
“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 Ages, where they belong,” Trump declared during his Wednesday speech.
Although Trump suggested Washington was close to achieving its objectives in Iran, he provided no specific timeline for concluding the military campaign.
The conflict commenced February 28 when American and Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes against Iran. Tehran retaliated by conducting its own offensive operations against Israel and Gulf nations hosting American military installations. Combined U.S.-Israeli operations in Iran and Israeli strikes in Lebanon have resulted in thousands of casualties and displaced millions of people.
The military action has also driven up petroleum prices and created instability in international financial markets. Trump’s contradictory statements have failed to calm anxiety about America’s most significant military engagement since the 2003 Iraq invasion.
