Essential Information
- The American president threatens Iran with strikes on its civilian infrastructure.
- The Iranian regime has called for forming “human chains” around threatened sites.
- The use of “human shields” has occurred in many modern conflicts.
“A human chain will be formed around power plants across the country, with the presence of young people and artists,” said Alireza Rahimi, Secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Deputy Minister of Sports, in a televised statement. This is the regime’s first official response to Donald Trump’s new ultimatum on Monday, April 6, which gave Tehran until the next day to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face bombing all Iranian infrastructure. While such strikes could constitute war crimes, is the use of human shields, voluntary or not, legitimate?
Human Shields
The use of human shields immediately brings to mind the first Gulf War in 1990-1991. Saddam Hussein used Western nationals present in the country during an attack on Kuwait to deter bombings. In subsequent conflicts like the invasion of Iraq in 2003, people volunteered as human shields, although only a few remained. The tactic has been denounced in most conflicts in the 21st century, from Afghanistan to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Civilian Targets
According to international law, the use of human shields, forcing or calling on non-combatants to protect legitimate military targets, is forbidden and can be considered a war crime. However, in the case where American forces may attack civilian infrastructure like power plants, as announced by Donald Trump, it’s different if these structures are proven to harbor military targets, which Trump did not mention in his 1.5-hour press conference on Monday evening.
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“An entire civilization will die tonight,” declares Donald Trump before the end of the ultimatum to Iran
Images from the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnimnews showed dozens of people forming a human chain while waving Iranian flags in Ilam [a city in western Iran, NDLR] denouncing Trump’s threats to attack bridges and power plants. Meanwhile, the American president reiterated his threat on his platform Truth Social: “An entire civilization will die tonight.” During the day, without waiting for the deadline the next night, American and Israeli aircraft bombed bridges, railways, and a highway.
