Trump Renews Threat to Strike Iran’s Bridges and Power Plants
WASHINGTON, July 15, Saudi Arabia Breaking News — US President Donald Trump renewed his threat to strike bridges and power plants in Iran unless Tehran returns to negotiations, warning that attacks on the infrastructure could begin next week.
“Next week it gets really bad for them, because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges,” Trump told Fox News on Tuesday.
Trump said Iran should reach an agreement with Washington or its population risked further consequences, warning that the country was “not going to have anybody left.”
The president has previously threatened Iranian infrastructure. In April, he warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” as a US deadline approached for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Military and legal experts have raised questions about whether attacks on bridges and energy infrastructure would comply with international humanitarian law.
Retired US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said bridges and infrastructure primarily used to support military forces could be considered legitimate military targets.
“Let’s hope we’re going to stay focused on the military targets,” Kimmitt told CNN.
Craig Jones, a senior lecturer at Newcastle University, said the legality of any attack would depend on whether it provided a concrete and direct military advantage and whether that advantage was proportionate to the expected harm to civilians and the environment.
“Retaliation, retribution is just off the table in terms of international law, it’s not legal to do that,” Jones said in March.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa regional director, previously warned that attacks on energy infrastructure could cause “devastating” civilian harm and risk violating international humanitarian law. In some circumstances, she said, they could amount to war crimes.
Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, said in March that attacks against civilian energy infrastructure by either the United States or Iran would constitute “war crimes under international law.”
