The world is forced to pass through harrowing moments by the rantings of US President Donald Trump.
In his latest, Trump has said “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not make a deal after saying he will take Iran to “stone age” by bombing it “like never before,” with his latest deadline expiring 7 April night.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkin showed equal determination, declaring that more than 14 million people of his country are commit ted to sacrificing their lives to defend Iran.
Most would hope that this level of brinkmanship would not lead to devastating consequences for the Middle East and the rest of the world.
Article 52 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva conventions prohibits attacks on civilian targets.
On these grounds, the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military officers and officials responsible for attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The same measure should have applied to the US and Israel after the bombing of the primary school and killing of some 600 schoolgirls in Iran.
But everyone is aware that rules don’t apply equally, if at all.
Trump is least bothered about allegations of committing war crimes.
He explicitly said so at a Press briefing where he threatened again on 6 April to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants if Tehran does not meet his deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told media that international law bars attack on such infrastructure.
Even if specific civilian infrastructure were to qualify as military objectives, an attack would still be prohibited if it risks “excessive incidental civilian harm,” the spokesman clarified.
It is known to all how little Guterres’ and the UN’s opinion matters to Trump.
As the deadline approached in the afternoon in India time of 07 April, there was little indication that Iran was ready to agree to Trump’s ultimatum.
Instead Iran joked about the exact time of the impending attack and asked if it was in....
