(Washington, D.C., April 7, 2026) – In response to President Trump's threat to destroy "Iranian civilization" tonight, DAWN issues the following statements:
"Trump's latest unhinged comments go far beyond mere bellicose rhetoric or even a threat to commit atrocity crimes—they are crimes in and of themselves under U.S. and international law," said Omar Shakir, DAWN's executive director. "Trump's threats appear aimed to spread terror amid the Iranian civilian population, which U.S. and international law clearly forbid, and may amount to incitement to commit genocide under the Genocide Convention, which grew out of the ashes of World War II."
"It's more than just rhetoric—the U.S. and Israel are already targeting civilian infrastructure on which millions of Iranian civilians depend, undermining essential systems, blocking access to basic services and risking humanitarian disaster," said Omid Memarian, DAWN's senior Iran analyst. "Concerned U.S. and international actors shouldn't fall for the Trump trap and let the focus on an arbitrary deadline or threat of cataclysmic action distract them when there is already systematic unlawful death and destruction taking place. They should demand an immediate, unconditional, and permanent end to this unlawful war."
"Every service member ordered to act on Trump's unlawful dictates should refuse those illegal orders," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's advocacy director. "Executing war crimes, crimes against humanity, or acts of genocide does not become legal just because a president commands it. The law is unambiguous that soldiers must disobey unlawful orders. The Nuremberg tribunals established that principle. U.S. military law enshrines it. Any service member who carries out illegal strikes could face personal criminal liability for them."
Background:
Trump's threats have escalated over the past five weeks. On March 30, he vowed to obliterate Iran's power plants, oil wells, and desalination plants. On April 1, he threatened to send Iran "back to the Stone Ages," a threat Defense Secretary Hegseth echoed. On April 5, Trump wrote: "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day. Open the F—in' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell." On April 6, he said, "the entire country can be taken out in one night"; when a reporter asked the president if he was concerned about committing war crimes by bombing power plants and bridges, he responded: "No, I'm not. I hope I don't have to do it." Most recently, on April 7, Trump wrote that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."
More than 100 legal experts published an open letter on April 2 stating that Trump's threatened strikes "could entail war crimes." Under international humanitarian and criminal law, targeting—or even threatening to—destroy objects and other infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival is itself a violation of the laws of war. The laws of war also prohibit targeting or action or speech designed to terrorize civilians, as well as indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.
The Department of Defense (now Department of War) Law of War Manual prohibits "measures of intimidation," which primarily seek "to spread terror among the civilian population." Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the federal law governing the U.S. armed forces, American service members are legally required to refuse unlawful orders. This principle was established at the Nuremberg tribunals after World War II and is enshrined in the U.S. Army's Law of War Manual. Senator Jeff Merkley stated Sunday that U.S. military leaders are legally required to refuse orders to commit war crimes. Senator Elissa Slotkin confirmed that such strikes would violate the Geneva Conventions and the Pentagon's own Law of War Manual. There is no statute of limitations for war crimes in the United States.
