Legal scholars call Trump's Iran desalination threat a war crime

International law scholars condemned President Trump's threat to destroy Iran's desalination plants on March 13, 2026, as a threatened war crime under international humanitarian law. Marko Milanovic of the University of Reading stated strikes on civilian water infrastructure would be manifestly unlawful unless plants served exclusively military purposes. Amnesty International warned the plants supply tens of millions of civilians and their destruction would constitute prohibited collective punishment. Iran had accused the U.S. of already attacking a Qeshm Island desalination plant on March 7.