GENEVA – UN experts* today condemned the ongoing military assaults on Iran and Lebanon by the United States and Israel as flagrant violations of international law.
“The conflict risks engulfing the wider region in catastrophic armed violence and threatens to set yet another precedent of total impunity for some of the world’s strongest military powers,” the experts said.
They stressed that the unprovoked attack by the United States and Israel on Iran – carried out while negotiations were still ongoing and with the implicit or explicit endorsement of numerous States – is entirely illegal under international law and constitutes an act of aggression.
“U.S. and Israel should stop waging and expanding wars, and considering themselves as above international legality,” the experts said.
They expressed deep alarm at the U.S. demand for Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, warning that such a move could lead to prolonged war and enormous human suffering. They also condemned U.S. demands for regime change, including declarations by the U.S. President that “he will choose the future leadership of Iran”.
“No violations of human rights in Iran or elsewhere provide any legal or moral justification for an unwarranted interference with the sovereignty of a UN Member State and an illegal attack,” the experts said.
They urged all States to respect the rights of the Iranian people to self-determination, and to define and change their own political system free from foreign interference.
“Only the Iranian people can decide their own future, in full sovereignty, and in line with the principles of the rule of law and respect for human rights,” the experts said. They added that decades of U.S. interference in Iran and the rest of the Middle East through coups, military interventions and unilateral sanctions, had caused chaos in the region and must end.
“Any loss of life in an illegal war is a violation of the right to life,” the experts said.
They called for independent investigation of specific attacks that could constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law. They cited the targeting of a girls’ school in Iran, in which at least 180 girls were killed, the strikes on Iran’s oil refineries that caused acid rain, and attacks on a desalination plant.
The experts also underscored that while Iran has the right to self-defence, retaliatory strikes against civilian targets — including desalination infrastructure and residential towers in neighbouring Gulf countries — also violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.
The entire Middle East is heavily urbanised, with an estimated urban density between 75 and 80 per cent. The experts pointed out that an air war and the use of heavy weapons, often reportedly guided by AI, will disproportionately devastate civilians.
“We are alarmed at the prospect that the kind of large-scale destruction and violence seen in Gaza could be extended to Iran, Lebanon and other countries in the region — a dreadful scenario that would further plunge the world into a moral and legal abyss, with devastating consequences for the people in the region and beyond,” the experts said.
They also condemned Israel’s escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, which could amount to an irresponsible act of aggression.
“The orders issued to the inhabitants of South Lebanon and southern Beirut to leave their homes are blatantly illegal,” the experts said. “Combined with heavy and indiscriminate bombardment, these orders have resulted in the forced displacement of at least 700,000 people – which would constitute yet another war crime.”
The experts deplored the failure of the UN Security Council to fulfil its responsibilities for international peace and security in the region. “This dereliction is irreversibly pushing the world towards a precipice,” they said.
They urged an immediate ceasefire between all parties and called for an international peace conference to address the future of the region.
The experts have engaged with the authorities on this issue.