In his news conference on Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to blow up every bridge and power plant in Iran, a declaration so far-reaching that some experts in military law said it could constitute a war crime.The issue could turn on whether the power plants were legitimate military targets, the attacks were proportional compared with what Iran has done and whether civilian casualties were minimised.Trump's threat was so broad brush it did not seem to account for the harm to civilians, prompting Democrats in Congress, some United Nations officials and scholars in military law to say such strikes would violate international law.The president's eventual actions often fall short of his all-encompassing rhetoric in the moment, but his warnings about the power plants and bridges were unambiguous both on Sunday and Monday as he set a deadline of Tuesday night for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that attacking such infrastructure is banned under international law."Even if specific civilian infrastructure were to qualify as a military objective," Stephane Dujarric said, an attack would still be prohibited if it risks "excessive incidental civilian harm." Rachel VanLandingham, a Southwestern Law School professor who served as a judge advocate general in the US Air Force, said civilians are likely to die if power is cut to hospitals and water treatment plans."What Trump is saying is, We don't care about precision, we don't care about impact on civilians, we're just going to take out all of Iranian power generating capacity,'" the retired lieutenant colonel said.Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows, has been all but halted, sending oil prices soaring and roiling the stock market.Trump said Monday that he's "not at all" concerned about committing war crimes as he continues to threaten destruction.
He also warned that every power plant will be "burning, exploding and never to be used again." "I hope I don't have to do it," Trump added.When asked for further comment Monday, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, "The Iranian people welcome the sound of bombs because it means their oppressors are losing." "The Iranian regime has committed egregious human rights abuses against its own citizens for 47 years, just murdered tens of thousands of protestors in January, and has indiscriminately targeted civilians across the region in order to cause as much death as possible throughout this conflict," Kelly wrote in an email.As the conflict has entered its second month, Trump has escalated his warnings to bomb Iran's infrastructure, including Kharg Island, central to Iran's oil industry, and desalination plans that provide drinking water.In a Truth Social post on March 30, Trump warned that the US would obliterate "all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinisation plants!), which we have purposefully....
