Ramifications of attacks on infrastructure won’t be limited to Iran, deputy FM warns

A senior Iranian diplomat warns that the consequences of US President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran’s infrastructure will not be confined to the Islamic Republic alone, advising him to stop such rhetoric.

In a post on his X account on Monday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said US threats to attack non-military infrastructure in Iran would be tantamount to a “war crime,” vowing a “decisive and immediate” response to any act of aggression.

He added that the use of force against Iran’s territorial integrity is a clear violation of Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter (absolute prohibition on the threat or use of force) and constitutes an act of aggression under UN General Assembly Resolution 3314.

He emphasized that threats to attack power plants and bridges, which are non-military infrastructure, constitute a war crime as per Article 8(2)(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and Article 52 of Additional Protocol I of the 1977 Geneva Convention.

The US President, as his country’s highest official, has openly threatened to commit war crimes -- an act that entails his individual criminal responsibility before the International Criminal Court and any competent national court, the Iranian diplomat said.

Based on Article 51 of the UN Charter, Gharibabadi noted, Iran will deliver a decisive, immediate and regret-inducing response to any act of aggression or imminent threat.

He advised the US president to stop making such threats, whose consequences will not be limited to Iran, before his name is recorded in history as a “major war criminal.”

Gharibabadi’s post comes after Trump renewed his threat on Sunday to unleash “hell” on Iran if it continues to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, saying the US will destroy the country’s power plants and bridges.

The US president wrote that Tuesday is the day of attacks on power plants and bridges across Iran, which he said all would be “wrapped up in one.”

He later postponed the deadline until Wednesday.

Iran has intensified its restrictions on the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing US-Israeli war against the country.

Iranian authorities have indicated that the world's vital energy lifeline, through which nearly one-fifth of global oil passed before the war, remains open to everyone except to ships tied to the US, Israel and their allies.

The restrictions have led to a significant rise in global energy and commodity prices, with experts suggesting that the impact could escalate to historic levels if the confrontation continues.

In a post on his X account on Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that Trump’s “reckless” moves would have broad adverse consequences for the United States and the entire West Asia region.

“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s commands,” Qalibaf said.

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