As its threats to strike even its civilian and energy facilities, if Tehran does not agree by April 6 to the US proposal to end it, are causing widespread concern about the course of the conflict in and alarm among experts — who point out that such attacks may violate the rules of war and international conventions — Tehran is reporting that a desalination plant was hit.
Out of operation desalination unit in Kesm
More specifically, according to a report by the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA, which cites information from an official of the Ministry of Health, a desalination plant on the Iranian island of Qeshm has been put out of business after an airstrike.
According to the head of the Environmental and Occupational Health Center of Iran’s Ministry of Health, Mohsen Farhadi: “Drinking water on Qeshm Island is provided by desalination plants. One of the desalination plants on the island was targeted and has been completely shut down as it cannot be repaired in the short term.”
Iran had earlier announced in March that a desalination plant on Qeshm Island — which is essentially a hub for controlling the Straits of Hormuz, as it lies outside the port of Bandar Abbas — had been the target of airstrikes.
At the time, on March 7, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had commented on the attack, saying it was a “flagrant and desperate criminal act”.
The importance of the incident
It is unclear whether the damage the Iranian official is now reporting is a result of that strike or whether a new attack has occurred. However, the fact that the issue is resurfacing takes on particular significance given Trump’s recent threats.
In this context, a related report by Axios notes that Trump’s threat to disrupt Iran’s water supply would constitute the most dramatic violation of the rules of war designed to protect civilians in times of conflict.
Trump’s threats and the rules of war
According to the outlet’s analysis, the war with Iran is the biggest test of how Trump’s disdain for what he calls the “politically correct” way of waging war translates into practice.
The Trump administration has already green-lighted assassinations of political leaders, threatened “no mercy” for opponents and initially denied responsibility for the attack that left hundreds dead at a girls’ elementary school.
However, so far the United States has focused its strikes mainly on military installations and Iran’s nuclear program. But the threat to hit civilian infrastructure shows how determined Trump is to increase pressure on Tehran, even if it means violating the generally accepted principles of war.
The Trump administration’s stance over time
Axios also notes that Trump, in 2016, had strongly criticized the Geneva Conventions, arguing that “soldiers are afraid and can’t fight,” while campaigning to bring back the torture of waterboarding and other “much worse methods.”
Then-Fox News host and current US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had also pushed for pardons for soldiers convicted or prosecuted for war crimes — something Trump as president did in 2019.
What does international humanitarian law provide?
As Axios experts note, international humanitarian law expressly prohibits attacks on facilities essential to the survival of civilians, such as drinking water infrastructure. Conversely, power plants can under conditions be considered legitimate targets if they serve military purposes.
Retaliation against civilians—also known as collective punishment—is expressly prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.
In a March 13 Pentagon briefing, Hegseth declared that “there will be neither mercy nor leniency for our enemies” — a phrase that the Pentagon’s own Just War Manual calls a war crime.
Hegseth moves
In the first months of Trump’s presidency, Hegseth fired the top legal advisers of the Army, Navy and Air Force, saying he did not want them to be “an obstacle to orders given by the commander in chief.”
He also tried, unsuccessfully, to punish Senator Mark Kelly for posting a video calling on soldiers to “refuse illegal orders”.
At the same time, Hegseth disbanded the Pentagon’s civilian casualty reduction program, which involved about 200 personnel embedded in military commands to prevent civilian casualties.
Of course, the above — as noted by Axios — is not exactly a surprise, as the Trump administration’s stance on international war crimes law became clear last year, when it sanctioned International Criminal Court officials for investigating cases involving American and Israeli citizens.
