Un Experts Say Us Israel Attack On Iran Lebanon Violates International

Alistair Lowe

-Apr 7, 2026, 12:14 AM

un experts say us israel attack on iran lebanon violates international

The United States and Israel initiated strikes on Iran over one month ago, on February 28, 2026. The attack was a clear violation of the United Nations Charter. The conduct of the war, and statements of U.S. officials, also raise serious concerns about violations of international humanitarian law, including potential war crimes. We have written the below statement together with over 100 U.S.-based international law experts, to detail our profound concerns about the war.

The letter is signed by international law experts across the United States, including senior professors; leaders of prominent international law associations, non-governmental organizations, and legal clinics; former government legal advisors; and military law experts and former Judge Advocates General (JAGs). Letter of over 100 international law experts on Iran war We, the undersigned U.S.-based international law experts, professors, and practitioners write to express profound concern about serious violations of international law and alarming rhetoric by the United States, Israel, and Iran in the present armed conflict in the Middle East.

Due to our connection to the United States, our focus here is on the conduct of the U.S. government, but we remain concerned about the risk of atrocities across the region including the continuing risks posed by the Iranian government to Iranians through violent crackdowns on dissent, and to civilians across the Middle East through Iran’s ongoing unlawful strikes on civilian infrastructure using explosive weapons in densely populated areas. One month has passed since the United States and Israel launched strikes across Iran.

The initiation of the campaign was a clear violation of the United Nations Charter, and the conduct of United States forces since, as well as statements made by senior government officials, raise serious concerns about violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including potential war crimes. We collectively affirm the importance of equal application of international law to all, including countries that hold themselves out as global leaders. Recent statements from senior U.S.

government officials describing the rules governing military engagement as “stupid” and prioritizing “lethality” over “legality” are profoundly alarming and dangerously short-sighted. These claims, particularly in combination with the observable conduct of U.S. forces, are harming the international legal order and the system of international law that we have devoted our lives to promoting. The war, which is costing U.S.

taxpayers between $1-2 billion each day, is imposing significant harm to civilians in the region, has resulted in the loss of hundreds of civilian lives across the Middle East, and is causing serious environmental and economic harms. We write to express our concern about 1) jus ad bellum, or the decision to go to war, 2) jus in bello, or the conduct of hostilities, 3) rhetoric and threats from senior U.S.

officials and their allies, which portend further abuses, and 4) the decimation of civilian harm mitigation structures within the U.S. government as a part of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s “gloves off” approach to warfare. 1. Jus ad bellum concerns: The strikes launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026 clearly violated the United Nations Charter prohibition on the use of force. Force against another state is only permitted in self-defense against an actual or imminent armed attack or where authorized by the UN Security Council.

The Security Council did not authorize the attack. Iran did not attack Israel or the United States. Despite the Trump administration’s varied and sometimes conflicting claims to the contrary, there is no evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat that could ground a self-defense claim.

Many international law experts have concluded that Israel and the United States’ actions violate the UN Charter, including the President and President-elect of the American Society of International Law, and the President of the American Branch of the International Law Association; UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the attacks as undermining international peace and security. 2. Concerns about violations of international humanitarian law: The laws of armed conflict constrain the conduct of hostilities of all parties to the ongoing conflict.

We are concerned that these fundamental rules may have been violated, including in the context of reported strikes on civilians and civilian objects such as political leaders who have no military role, oil and gas infrastructure, including South Pars, and water desalination plants. On March 19, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned strikes on energy infrastructure, noting their “disastrous” impacts for civilians. We are seriously concerned about strikes that have hit schools, health facilities, and homes.

The Iranian Red Crescent reports that “67,414 civilian sites have been struck, of which 498 are schools and 236 health facilities.” A report by leading civil society organizations found that at least 1,443 Iranian civilians, including 217 children, were killed by U.S. and Israeli forces between February 28 and March 23. The strike on Minab primary school is particularly concerning. On February 28, Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, Iran, was struck, resulting in the deaths of at least 175 people, many of them children, according to Iranian officials.

Based on easily accessible online information and commercially available satellite imagery, it appears the building had been used as a school for a decade. President Trump denied U.S. responsibility, falsely stating that “It was done by Iran.” However, a preliminary investigation by the Department of Defense reportedly determined that the U.S. conducted the strike, and the targeting had been based on outdated intelligence. The strike likely violates international humanitarian law, and if evidence is found that those responsible were reckless, it could also be a war crime.

The strike is among the deadliest single attacks by the U.S. military on civilians in recent decades. 3. Concerns about rhetoric and threats from senior officials. We are deeply concerned about the dangerous rhetoric government officials have engaged in during the war, including: a.

Threatened denial of quarter: On March 13, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated “We will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies.” In international law, it is “especially forbidden” to “declare that no quarter will be given,” a prohibition also set out in the Department of Defense’s own law of war manual. Hegseth’s statement likely violates international humanitarian law as well as the U.S. War Crimes statute 18 U.S.C. 2441. Ordering or threatening no quarter is a war crime. b.

Dismissal of rules of engagement and international law: Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s “no quarter” statement followed similarly alarming statements by the Secretary, including on September 25, 2025 and March 2, 2026 that the U.S. does not fight with “stupid rules of engagement.” On January 8, 2026 President Trump had made the disturbing comment that “I don’t need international law.” On March 13, he stated that the U.S. may conduct strikes on Iran “just for fun.” c.

Threats on energy infrastructure: President Trump threatened on March 13, 2026: “I could take out things within the next hour, power plants that create the electricity, that create the water… We could do things that would be so bad they could literally never rebuild as a nation again.” International law protects from attack objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, and the attacks threatened by Trump, if implemented, could entail war crimes. On March 21, President Trump further threatened to “obliterate” power plants in Iran. U.S.

Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, defended power plant attacks the next day, and also said that striking nuclear power plants was not off the table. It is prohibited to attack civilian energy infrastructure. If a power plant has both civilian and military purposes (“dual-use”), it may be considered a military objective where it makes “an effective contribution to military action” and the attack “offers a definite military advantage.” However, any strike must respect the principles of proportionality and precautions in attack.

The proportionality principle prohibits attacks expected to cause incidental civilian harm that would be excessive in relation to the military advantage. The civilian harm to be considered includes foreseeable reverberating or indirect harm. In any attack, “all feasible precautions” must be taken to avoid civilian harm. Attacks on nuclear power plants, even if they have a military purpose, require particular care because of the high risk of releasing radiation and radioactive material and consequent severe harm to the civilian population.

Such a strike could harm the health and safety of millions of civilians. On March 23, 2026, the ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger expressed her deep concern, noting that “War on essential infrastructure is war on civilians” and described threats to nuclear power plants as “Most alarming.” 4. Concerns about institutional safeguards against further violations: Since the start of the second Trump administration, the Defense Department under Secretary Hegseth has deliberately and systematically weakened the protections meant to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.

This includes removing senior military lawyers without publicly citing misconduct, and replacing the Army, Navy, and Air Force judge advocates general, directly undermining legal oversight of combat operations. It has also abolished “civilian environment teams” and other mechanisms specifically designed to limit harm to civilians during operations. The 2026 National Defense Strategy omits references to civilian protection and international law entirely.

These changes are especially concerning in light of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments that rules of engagement interfere with “fighting to win.” We are gravely concerned that the conduct and threats outlined here are causing serious harm to civilians in the Middle East, and that they also contribute to escalating the conflict, damaging the environment and the global economy, and that they risk degrading the rule of law and fundamental norms that protect every nation’s civilians.

Public statements by senior officials indicate an alarming disrespect for the rules of international humanitarian law accepted by states, and which protect both civilians and members of the armed forces. We urge U.S. government officials to uphold the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, and human rights law at all times, and to publicly make clear U.S. commitment to and respect for norms of international law.

We remind all states of their legal obligations not to aid or assist the United States, Israel, or Iran in the commission of internationally wrongful acts, as well as to cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means serious breaches of peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens) including the prohibition of aggression and the basic rules of international humanitarian law. We also urge the U.S.

governments’ allies and cooperating partners to take steps to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, in line with Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions and associated customary international law. The United States has itself acknowledged that states should seek to promote adherence by others to international humanitarian law.

The International Committee of the Red Cross 2016 Commentary on the First Geneva Convention of 1949 provides that a state is “in a unique position to influence the behavior” of partner states where the state “participates in the financing, equipping, arming or training of the armed forces of a Party to a conflict, even plans, carries out and debriefs operations jointly with such forces.” Signed,* William J. Aceves Chief Justice Roger Traynor Professor of Law California Western School of Law E.

Tendayi Achiume Professor of Law Stanford Law School Rabiat Akande Wilson H. Elkins Chair and Associate Professor University of Maryland School of Law Susan Akram Clinical Professor of Law Director, International Human Rights Clinic Boston University School of Law Philip Alston John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law NYU School of Law José E.

Alvarez Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law NYU School of Law Faculty Director, US-Asia Law Institute Diane Marie Amann Visiting Professor, LSE Law School Special Adviser to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor on Children in & affected by Armed Conflict (2012-2021) Baher Azmy Legal Director Center for Constitutional Rights Sandra L. Babcock Clinical Professor of Law Director, International Human Rights Clinic Cornell Law School Aslı Ü. Bâli Howard M. Holtzmann Professor of Law Yale Law School Thomas B. Becker, Jr.

Legal & Policy Director, University Network for Human Rights Carolyn P. Blum Clinical Professor of Law, Emerita Berkeley Law, University of California Christine Bustany Senior Lecturer in International Law Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Charli Carpenter Professor of Political Science University of Massachusetts Department of Political Science Christina M.

Cerna Adjunct Professor of Law (ret.) Georgetown University Law Centre Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (ret.), OAS Sandra Coliver Former Executive Director Center for Justice and Accountability Jorge Contesse Professor of Law Rutgers Law School Cody Corliss Associate Professor of Law West Virginia University College of Law Avidan Y.

Cover Professor of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law Rebecca Crootof Nancy Litchfield Hicks Professor of Law University of Richmond School of Law Jamil Dakwar Director, ACLU Human Rights Program Adjunct Professor, New York University and Hunter College Tom Dannenbaum Professor of Law, Stanford Law School Frank Stanton Professor of Nuclear Security Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University Frederick T. Davis Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School Principal, Fred Davis Law Office Christian M.

De Vos Visiting Assistant Professor City University of New York School of Law Laura Dickinson Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law The George Washington University Law School Joseph F.C. DiMento Distinguished Professor of Law University of California Irvine Stephanie Farrior Professor of Law (ret.) Eugene R. Fidell Visiting Lecturer in Law Senior Research Scholar Yale Law School Martin S.

Flaherty Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University Laurel Fletcher Chancellor’s Clinical Professor of Law UC Berkeley, School of Law Claudia Flores Clinical Professor of Law Director, Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic Faculty Co-Director, Orville H. Schell Jr. Center for International Human Rights Yale Law School Idriss Fofana Assistant Professor of Law Harvard Law School Barbara Frey Director Emerita, Human Rights Program University of Minnesota Hannah R.

Garry Clinical Professor of Law Founding Faculty Director, Donna and Spencer Gilbert Global Justice & Human Rights Center Founding Director, International Human Rights Clinic University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law James A. Goldston Executive Director Open Society Justice Initiative Jonathan Hafetz Professor of Law Seton Hall Law School Lisa Hajjar Professor of Sociology University of California – Santa Barbara Rebecca Hamilton Professor of Law American University, Washington College of Law Hurst Hannum Professor Emeritus of International Law Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Tufts University Oona A.

Hathaway Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law, Yale Law School Professor, Yale University Department of Political Science Faculty, Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University Director, Center for Global Legal Challenges, Yale Law School President-elect, American Society of International Law Adil Haque Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge Jon O. Newman Scholar Rutgers Law School Hadar Harris Founder and Principal Rights and Justice Consulting Lindsay M.

Harris Professor of Law Director, International Human Rights Clinic University of San Francisco School of Law Sarah Harrison Former Associate General Counsel Department of Defense J. Benton Heath Associate Professor of Law Temple University School of Law Paul Hoffman Director, Defending Democracy Clinic University of California at Irvine School of Law Partner, Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman, LLP David B. Hunter Professor Emeritus American University Washington College of Law Deena R. Hurwitz, Esq.

Rebecca Ingber Professor of Law Cardozo Law Co-Director, Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy Senior Fellow, Reiss Center on Law and Security, NYU School of Law Former Counselor, Office of the Legal Advisor, U.S Department of State Tejal Jesrani Human Rights Clinical Instructor Director, TrialWatch Project Columbia Law School Brett Jones Charles E. Scheidt Human Rights Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor Benjamin N.

Cardozo School of Law Kelsey Jost-Creegan Lecturer in Law Deputy Director Smith Family Human Rights Clinic Columbia Law School Dr Ioannis Kalpouzos Visiting Professor Harvard Law School Jeffrey Kahn Professor of Law Director, Program on Law and Government American University Washington College of Law David Kaye Clinical Professor of Law UC Irvine School of Law UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression (2014 – 2020) U.S. Member, European Commission for Democracy through Law (“Venice Commission”) Pardiss Kebriaei Senior Staff Attorney Center for Constitutional Rights Michael J.

Kelly Professor of Law Senator Allen A. Sekt Endowed Chair in Law Director, Kaiman Center for International Criminal Justice & Holocaust Studies Creighton University Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum Professor of Law Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law John H. Knox Henry C. Lauerman Professor of International Law Wake Forest University School of Law Former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment Harold Hongju Koh Sterling Professor of International Law Yale Law School Steven Arrigg Koh R.

Gordon Butler Scholar in International Law Boston University School of Law Jeremy Konyndyk President, Refugees International David A. Koplow Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law Georgetown University Law Center Christopher Kutz C. William Maxeiner Distinguished Professor of Law Philosophy and Political Science (by courtesy) Berkeley Law School, UC Berkeley Beatrice Lindstrom Senior Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law Harvard Law School Katerina Linos I.

Michael Heyman Professor of Law Co-Faculty Director, Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law UC Berkeley, School of Law Bert Lockwood Distinguished Service Professor Director of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights University of Cincinnati College of Law Editor-in-Chief, Human Rights Quarterly David Luban Distinguished University Professor Georgetown University Law Center Kate Mackintosh Executive Director, Professor from Practice UCLA’s The Promise Institute for Human Rights (Europe) David G.

Mandel-Anthony Faculty Instructor, Binghamton University Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP) Former Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, U.S.

Department of State Sarah Margon Founder and Principal, Windsong Advisory Former Director of US Foreign Policy at Open Society Foundations Joseph Margulies Professor of the Practice of Government Cornell University Craig Martin Professor of Law Co-Director, International and Comparative Law Center Washburn University School of Law Elisa Massimino Visiting Professor of Law Executive Director, Human Rights Institute Georgetown University Law Center Daniel Maurer Associate Professor of Law, Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law Advisor, Center for Military Law & Policy, Texas Tech University School of Law Board of Directors, National Institute of Military Justice Lieutenant Colonel, U.S.

Army (ret.) Juan E. Mendez Professor of International Law (ret.) Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (2010-2016) Washington College of Law, American University Gay J. McDougall Former Vice Chair and 3-term Member, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Former UN Special Rapporteur on Minorities (2005-2011) MacArthur Award Fellow, 1999 Senior Fellow and Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Leitner Center for International Law and Justice / Center for Race, Law and Justice Fordham University School of Law Margaret E. McGuinness Professor of Law Co-Director, Center for International and Comparative Law St.

John’s University School of Law Chi Adanna Mgbako Clinical Professor of Law Director, Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic Fordham Law School Zinaida Miller Professor of Law & International Affairs Northeastern University Saira Mohamed Agnes Roddy Robb Chair in Jurisprudence, Ethics, and Social Responsibility Professor of Law UC Berkeley, School of Law Bridget Moix General Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation Priyanka Motaparthy Director, Center for International Human Rights Clinical Professor Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Karen Musalo Bank of America Foundation Chair in International Law Professor & Director, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies U.C.

Law, San Francisco Aryeh Neier President Emeritus, Open Society Foundations Former Executive Director, Human Rights Watch Former Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union Mary Ellen O’Connell Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law Concurrent Professor of International Peace Studies University of Notre Dame Diane Orentlicher Professor Emerita American University Washington College of Law Arzoo Osanloo Professor of Anthropology Co-Director of the Human Rights Initiative Princeton University Jessica Peake Director, International & Comparative Law Program UCLA School of Law Stephen J.

Rapp Senior Fellow, Center for National Security Law, Georgetown Law School Former US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (2009-2015) Paul Rink Associate Professor of Law Seton Hall Law School Francisco J. Rivera Juaristi Clinical Professor of Law Santa Clara Law Scott Roehm Adjunct Professor of Law Georgetown Law School Dr. Cesare P.R. Romano Professor of Law W. Joseph Ford Fellow Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Gabor Rona Professor of Practice Cardozo Law School Naomi Roht-Arriaza Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita UC Law San Francisco Brad R.

Roth Professor of Political Science and Law Wayne State University Kenneth Roth Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Former Executive Director, Human Rights Watch Susana SáCouto Professorial Lecturer-in-Residence Director, War Crimes Research Office Director, Summer Law Program in The Hague American University Washington College of Law Leila Nadya Sadat James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law Washington University School of Law Director, Crimes Against Humanity Initiative Chair, International Law Association (American Branch) Former Special Advisor on Crimes Against Humanity to the ICC Prosecutor (2013-2023) Margaret L.

Satterthwaite Professor of Law NYU School of Law Beth Van Schaack Former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, U.S. State Department Visiting Fellow (Feb. 2026 – June 2026) European University Institute Distinguished Fellow Center for Human Rights & International Justice, Stanford University Michael P. Scharf President of the American Branch of the International Law Association Joseph C. Hostetler – BakerHostetler Professor of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law Michael N. Schmitt Professor of International Law, University of Reading Professor Emeritus, US Naval War College Former G.

Norman Lieber Distinguished Scholar, West Point Steven M. Schneebaum Adjunct Professor Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Visiting Professor, Tashkent State University of Law, Uzbekistan Eric Schwartz Professor of Public Affairs Chair, Global Policy University of Minnesota Elizabeth Shackelford Distinguished Lecturer Dartmouth College Gregory Shaffer Scott K.

Ginsburg Professor of International Law Georgetown University Law Center Dinah Shelton Manatt/Ahn Professor of Law (Emeritus) The George Washington University Law School Rebecca Shoot Co-Convener, Washington Working Group for the International Criminal Court Co-Convener, ImPact Coalition on Strengthening International Judicial Institutions James Silk Binger Clinical Professor Emeritus of Human Rights Yale Law School Matiangai Sirleaf Nathan Patz Professor of Law University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University of Maryland School of Medicine David Sloss John A. and Elizabeth H.

Sutro Professor of Law Santa Clara University School of Law Stephan Sonnenberg Associate Professor of Practice Wesleyan University Milena Sterio James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law & LLM Programs Director Cleveland State University College of Law Jonathan Tracy Former Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Jennifer Trahan Clinical Professor and Director of the Concentration in International Law and Human Rights NYU Center for Global Affairs Convenor, The Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression Rachel E.

VanLandingham Lieutenant Colonel (USAF) (ret.) Professor of Law & Associate Dean for Research, Southwestern Law School President Emerita & Director, National Institute of Military Justice Salma Waheedi International Human Rights Lawyer and MENA Legal Advisor University Network for Human Rights Carrie Booth Walling Director, Human Rights Program University of Minnesota Elisabeth Ward Clinical Faculty Founding Director, International Human Rights Law Clinic Executive Director, International Human Rights Law Institute DePaul University College of Law Allen S.

Weiner Senior Lecturer in Law Director, Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law Stanford Law School Alex Whiting Professor of Practice Harvard Law School Richard Ashby Wilson Professor of Anthropology Co-Director, Human Rights Initiative Princeton University Richard J. Wilson Professor of Law Emeritus American University, Washington College of Law Katharine G. Young Professor Boston College Law School * Signatories are signing in their individual capacities and affiliations are for identification purposes only.

Un Experts Say Us Israel Attack On Iran Lebanon Violates International

People Also Asked

UN experts denounce aggression on Iran and Lebanon, warn of devastating ...?

UN experts say US-Israel attack on Iran, Lebanon violates international ...?

Are US-Israeli attacks against Iran legal under international law?

Double Standards: The UN's Response to U.S. and Israeli Strikes on Iran?

Over 100 International Law Experts Warn: U.S. Strikes on Iran Violate ...?