(Washington, D.C., June 15, 2026) – In response to the announcement of the U.S. and Iran agreeing on an extension to the ceasefire and on a framework for negotiations and the end of hostilities, DAWN issues the following statement:
"Ending the war does not retroactively legalize it nor does not extinguish the obligation to account for the crimes committed in it. A ceasefire is not an amnesty," said Omar Shakir, DAWN's Executive Director. "Israel and the U.S.' decision to launch this war violated the UN Charter, and the way they waged it violated the laws that govern the conduct of hostilities. Unless Congress and other states press for accountability, the takeaway will be that states can wage war whenever and however they choose."
"The greatest threat to this agreement is neither Iran nor the United States. It is Israel," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's Advocacy Director. "Israel is not a party to the agreement and its government transparently wants a different outcome. To avoid Israel again upending the ceasefire, President Trump should state publicly that any Israeli strike or other move to derail the agreement will be met with a suspension of arms transfers and sanctions on the Israeli officials who order it."
"The extension of this ceasefire underscores a reality that diplomats and nuclear experts have recognized for years: Iran's nuclear program can only be addressed through negotiations, not war," said Omid Memarian, DAWN's Senior Iran Analyst. "With parties now returning to the negotiating table, it has to be asked why thousands of people had to die and so much destruction had to occur before diplomacy was allowed to run its course. The suffering caused by this war cannot be treated as a footnote to an agreement that could have been pursued from the outset. Those who chose military action over diplomacy should be held accountable for the consequences of that choice. The civilians killed, injured and whose lives have been shattered deserve justice."
Background
The United States and Israel launched their assault on Iran on February 28 without UN Security Council authorization and without a lawful basis in self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, making the war illegal, as DAWN documented. The war also violated U.S. domestic law from the outset: it proceeded without a declaration of war, a national emergency arising from an attack on the United States, and no statutory authorization.
Oman, who mediated indirect U.S.-Iran talks before the war, indicated that the pre-war negotiations were making headway. On February 27, 2026, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi told CBS News' Face the Nation that "a peace deal is within our reach" if diplomacy were given "enough room and enough space" to close the remaining gaps. He said the parties had achieved "substantial progress," including an Iranian commitment to zero stockpiling of nuclear material that could be used for a bomb, conversion of existing enriched material into irreversible fuel, and full IAEA verification. After the U.S. and Israel launched their assault, Albusaidi said he was "dismayed" that "active and serious negotiations" had been undermined, and later wrote that the attack came only hours after "the latest and most substantive talks" and struck against "the peace that had briefly appeared really possible."
Once the war began, U.S. and Israeli forces committed apparent war crimes, including strikes on a girls' elementary school, hospitals, and 30 fuel depots that released toxic compounds falling as black acid rain over Tehran. The U.S.-Israeli assault has killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, including more than 370 children.
The agreement follows a fragile, April 8, 2026 ceasefire that was repeatedly violated. Trump said on May 23 that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was "largely negotiated," with a framework involving a 60-day ceasefire extension during which the strait reopens, Iran resumes oil exports, and nuclear negotiations continue separately. Even as the framework came together, Netanyahu pressed Trump to resume strikes on Iran. Israel has also violated the U.S.-brokered Lebanon ceasefire on an almost daily basis since it was announced in mid-April, and on May 28, 2026, defied a U.S. demand not to strike Beirut, reportedly hitting an apartment building and killing a woman and two children. Israeli forces again struck Beirut on June 7 in an apparent attempt to sabotage the emerging Iran-U.S. deal, killing at least two people, which triggered an overnight escalation in which Israel, Iran and regional actors exchanged fire. Israeli forces have also continued taking over land, killing and starving Palestinians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Gaza despite an October 2025 "ceasefire" agreement.
