Former Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth has warned that any US attack on Iran’s civilian infrastructure, particularly power plants or water desalination facilities, would amount to a war crime. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Roth said that if former US President Donald Trump carried out his threats to strike such sites, it would clearly violate international humanitarian law.

Roth, now a visiting professor at Princeton University, explained that such attacks would lack legitimate military justification and cause disproportionate harm to civilians. He cited the International Criminal Court’s previous actions against Russian commanders for similar strikes in Ukraine as precedent.

Roth further noted that more than 100 international law experts share this assessment, emphasizing that any such move would undoubtedly be treated as a war crime under international standards.