GENEVA: The UN rights chief decried on Tuesday the “incendiary rhetoric” in the Middle East war, warning that deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure was “a war crime”.
“Under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime,” UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk said in a statement, insisting that “anyone responsible for international crimes must be held to account by a competent court.”
Hours before the deadline, the Israeli military said it had already completed a broad wave of strikes targeting “infrastructure sites” across Iran.
Turk did not explicitly mention Trump nor the other countries involved in the conflict that began on February 28. But he said “I deplore the tirade of incendiary rhetoric being used in the Middle East war over the last couple of weeks by all parties.”
In particular, he highlighted “the latest threats to annihilate a whole civilisation and to target civilian infrastructure”.
“This is sickening,” he said, warning that “carrying through on such threats amounts to the most serious international crimes”.
The UN rights chief stressed that “threats that spread fear and terror among civilians are unacceptable and must cease immediately”.
He called on the international community to “take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and to help protect the lives of all civilians”.
Meanwhile, Iranians formed human chains to protect power plants on Tuesday after President Donald Trump´s threats to strike energy infrastructure, according to images published by state media, as top officials said they were also prepared to sacrifice their lives.
After a campaign online and through SMS texts to sign up for the human chains nationwide, officials claimed that more than 14 million people had joined.
It was not immediately possible to verify that figure or how many people were taking part, although initial images showed dozens involved at each location.
The state-run IRNA news agency showed people forming a human chain “to support power plants” in the southern city of Bushehr, which is home to Iran´s nuclear power plant.
State television and the Mehr news agency showed dozens of people outside the main power station in the northern city of Tabriz, as well as at a plant in the northeastern city of Mashhad
With US-Israeli strikes also targeting bridges, people gathered on the main span over a river in the western city of Ahvaz, Mehr reported.
While the more than five-week war between the Islamic republic and the United States and Israel has seen a whole echelon of the Iranian leadership killed, strikes on energy plants would mark a major escalation.
