US President Donald Trump has escalated his threats against Iran. The president warned that he would destroy key civilian infrastructure if ongoing negotiations fail to produce a deal. The latest threats expand his previous warnings to now include water sources for millions of people.
Donald Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ desalination plants in Iran
US President Donald Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s desalination plants, electricity-generating facilities, oil wells, and Kharg Island if nuclear talks fail. The threat expands his previous warnings beyond energy infrastructure to now include water sources for millions of people.
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched’.”
Yusra Suedi, assistant professor in international law at the University of Manchester, said the threat “reinforces the climate of impunity around collective punishment in warfare,” adding: “This is clearly an act of collective punishment, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law. You can’t deliberately harm an entire civilian population to pressure its government.”
The Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits collective penalties and measures of intimidation against civilian populations. International law also bans making civilian sites the object of attack or reprisals.
Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at DAWN, stated: “Threatening to obliterate a nation’s power grid, oil infrastructure and water supply to coerce its government is not a negotiating tactic; it is textbook collective punishment and a war crime.”
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt denied any legal concerns. She stated: “This administration and the United States Armed Forces will always act within the confines of the law.”
Trump first threatened Iran’s electrical grid on March 21, setting a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He pushed the deadline back twice, extending it to April 6.
Originally reported by Vritti Johar on Mandatory.com.
