US President Donald Trump has renewed his threat to “blow up” various Iranian civilian infrastructure, including all of Iran’s desalination facilities. The practice threatens water supplies for millions of people and experts say is illegal.
President Trump has regularly warned Iran about possible U.S. attacks on energy and power facilities, but on Monday he added water stations to the list of targets in his latest threat.
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“The United States is in serious discussions with a new, more rational administration to end military operations in Iran,” Trump said in a social media post.
He added that “significant progress” had been made in the talks.
“However, if for some reason a deal is not reached soon (as it likely will be), and the Strait of Hormuz is not ‘open for business’ soon, we intend to end our great ‘sojourn’ in Iran by deliberately blowing up and completely obliterating the power plants, oil wells, and Kharg Island (and perhaps all desalination plants as well!) that we have not yet ‘touched’,” the US President said.
International law explicitly prohibits making civilian facilities “the subject of attack or retaliation.”
Yusra Suedi, assistant professor of international law at the University of Manchester, said Trump’s threats “reinforce the climate of impunity surrounding collective punishment in war.”
“This is clearly an act of collective punishment, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law. You cannot intentionally harm an entire civilian population to put pressure on the government,” Suedi told Al Jazeera.
Collective punishment and the fear of war crimes
The Fourth Geneva Convention states that “collective penalties and likewise any means of intimidation or terrorism are prohibited.”
Raed Jarrah, advocacy director for human rights organization DAWN, said Trump’s threats were “clear public evidence of criminal intent.”
“Threatening to destroy a country’s power grid, oil infrastructure and water supply in order to coerce the government is not a negotiation tactic. It is textbook collective punishment and a war crime,” Jarrah told Al Jazeera.
President Trump first issued threats targeting Iran’s power grid and energy infrastructure on March 21, at the same time giving Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president then delayed the deadline by five days and then extended it again until April 6.
President Trump has maintained for the past week that Iran has been “begging” for a deal and that talks are underway between Washington and Tehran.
The Iranian government has acknowledged receiving a 15-point ceasefire proposal from the United States through an intermediary, but several Iranian officials deny direct talks with the United States.
Iran and the US have suggested that both countries are winning the war.
Despite the US and Israeli killings of several senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, there is no public evidence to support President Trump’s claim that a new government has been established in the country.
Khamenei was replaced by his son Mojtaba, but President Trump criticized this appointment.
Iran also continues to fire missiles and drones across the region, blockade the Strait of Hormuz and send energy prices soaring around the world, despite President Trump’s frequent threats.
Iran’s ruling regime has not faced large-scale anti-government protests or defections during the conflict, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps spearheading the country’s war effort.
So far, President Trump’s threat to “destroy” Iran’s civilian infrastructure has not deterred Iran from attacking or affected the public defiance expressed by Iranian officials.
Earlier this month, Iran accused the United States and Israel of attacking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Separately, authorities said Iranian attacks damaged water facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Iran, which is less reliant on drinking water desalination plants than some Gulf states, would threaten civilian infrastructure across the region if its facilities were targeted by the United States and Israel.
