Legal Experts Accuse US of War Crimes in Iran Campaign

The signatories—comprising senior law professors, former government advisers, and military legal experts—assert that the conflict, launched on February 28 alongside Israel, fails to meet the criteria for the use of force under international law. The group maintains that the UN Security Council did not authorize the operation, and there is no credible evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States or its allies.

The Shift in Rules of Engagement

Beyond the initiation of the war, the experts point to a systematic disregard for humanitarian standards. They highlight rhetoric from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has dismissed traditional rules of engagement as "stupid" and prioritized "maximum lethality." Such policies have reportedly led to the destruction of over 67,000 civilian sites, including 498 schools and 236 health facilities, according to data from the Iranian Red Crescent. A particularly lethal incident cited in the letter involves the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, which resulted in at least 175 deaths, primarily of children.

The letter further criticizes the administration’s dismantling of internal military safeguards, such as the removal of senior legal oversight and the dissolution of teams tasked with assessing civilian impact. While focusing on US conduct, the signatories also condemned Iran for its own illegal actions, including violent domestic crackdowns and retaliatory strikes against civilian areas. American University professor Rebecca Hamilton, a signatory, noted that the legal community is attempting to push Congress to address the executive branch's unchecked military actions, which she described as a failure to uphold the rule of law.