International law experts allege violations in Iran war

More than 100 experts on international law have signed an open letter expressing "profound concern" about what they see as serious violations of international law by the US, Israel and Iran in the Middle East war.

They say the US-Israeli decision to attack on Iran was a clear breach of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the use of force outside of self-defence or when authorised by the UN Security Council.

The experts point to "alarming rhetoric" being used by officials, including US President Donald Trump's threats to "obliterate" Iran's power plants.

In response, the White House said Trump was making the entire region safer, and dismissed what it described as "so-called experts".

In the letter, the experts also took issue withDefence Secretary Pete Hegseth's statement that "no quarter" be given for enemies.

Denial of quarter in conflict means refusing to spare the life of anybody, even those who surrender or are wounded.

In international law, say the signatories, 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.

The signatories include:

• Jonathan Tracy, a former US army judge advocate

• Harold Hongju Koh, a former legal adviser at the US state department

• Oona A Hathaway, a professor of International Law at Yale Law School and president-elect of the American Society of International Law

They say: "We are gravely concerned that the conduct and threats outlined here are causing serious harm to civilians… 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."

In a statement, the White House accused the Iranian authorities of "maiming and killing Americans, acting as the number one state sponsor of terror, and brutally murdering its own people for merely speaking out against its oppressive rule" for the past 47 years.

Trump, it insisted, was "making the entire region safer and more stable by eliminating Iran's short- and long-term threats to the United States and our allies".

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says that 1,606 civilians, including at least 244 children, have been killed in Iran since the start of the conflict.

Missile attacks on Israel launched from Iran and Lebanon have killed 19 civilians since the start of the war, according to Israeli emergency services.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday, Tom Fletcher, UN humanitarian chief, said that "somewhere along the way" international law had been "thrown aside".

"The rules are very clear and very strong," he added, but the problem was "enforcement". He described the war as "reckless".

The experts' letter also highlights the attack on a primary school in the Iranian town of Minab on the war's first day, reported to have killed at least 168 people including 110 children.

The US Department of Defense has said it is investigating the attack, which a growing body of evidence has suggested was probably the result of a US strike.

One theory believed to be part of the investigation is that the school, next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps base, could have been hit as a result of outdated intelligence.

The experts' letter says 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 letter has been published in Just Security, an online journal based at New York University School of Law.