The United States and its allies have launched a war on Iran that has killed over 3,300 people and displaced millions, with senior officials openly boasting of violating international laws meant to protect civilians. US President Donald Trump told NBC News the destruction of Iran's Kharg Island was justified and said, "We may hit it a few more times just for fun." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared "no quarter" would be given to Iranian forces, a phrase historically associated with war crimes because it permits the killing of surrendering combatants. A preliminary US military report confirmed American forces were responsible for an airstrike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing more than 170 children and staff. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to destroy homes across southern Lebanon and prevent displaced civilians from returning, echoing tactics used during the war in Gaza. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has responded by declaring US banks, investment firms, and commercial ships legitimate military targets, despite their civilian status, and has warned of harsh reprisals against any domestic protests. State television has issued direct threats to Iranians in the diaspora, with one presenter vowing their "mothers will sit in mourning." Iran has used internationally banned cluster munitions against Israeli cities and attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Israel has deployed white phosphorus, a weapon prohibited in populated areas, on Lebanese residential zones. More than 2,000 people have died in Iran, over 1,200 in Lebanon, and 17 in Israel since the conflict began two months ago. The Geneva Conventions require all nations not only to abide by the laws of war but to actively uphold them globally, including by withholding arms from forces accused of war crimes. Yet Western governments remained silent after Israel's use of white phosphorus in Lebanon, despite swift condemnation of Iran's attacks on energy infrastructure. The erosion of consistent enforcement has created a climate where violations are no longer concealed but flaunted.
When Trump says he doesn't "need international law" and acts on his "own morality," that means the world's most powerful military is now operating without legal constraints, and that matters because it gives cover to other leaders to do the same. Hegseth's "no quarter" directive isn't just rhetoric—it signals a deliberate abandonment of rules meant to prevent mass slaughter of surrendering soldiers and civilians. The selective outrage from Western governments—swift on Iran, silent on Israel—has turned the Geneva Conventions into a tool of geopolitical convenience rather than universal protection. If this precedent holds, no civilian, anywhere, is truly safe.
