Category archive

Foreign Policy & War

Complicity in foreign conflicts, weapons deals, ICC obstruction, and military threats

Records in this lens

26 incidents

Trump Issues Ultimatum: 'A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight' Unless Iran Capitulates

Trump's explicit threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran — every bridge, every power plant — with the stated goal of ensuring Iran 'could literally never rebuild as a nation again' …

  • Trump stated 'Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, every power plant will be out of business, burning, …
  • Trump warned 'a whole civilization will die tonight' unless Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday 8 PM ET deadline.

U.S. Double-Tap Strike Destroys Iran's B1 Bridge, Killing Civilians on Nowruz Holiday

US forces destroyed Iran's landmark B1 bridge near Karaj in a double-tap strike during Nowruz holiday celebrations, killing 8 civilians and wounding 95. The bridge — 176 meters tall and 1,050 meters …

  • On April 2, 2026, US forces destroyed the B1 bridge near Karaj, west of Tehran — Iran's most complex engineering project, standing 176 …
  • The strike used a double-tap tactic: bombing the same location twice, killing first responders and bystanders who rushed to help after the …

U.S. Strikes on Iran's Kharg Island Oil Export Hub

U.S. military strikes on Kharg Island — Iran's primary oil export facility handling 90% of crude exports — constitute attacks on critical civilian economic infrastructure. Combined with explicit …

  • The U.S. carried out strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, a small coral island in the northern Persian Gulf responsible for handling …
  • While the U.S. claims it targeted 'military targets' on the island, the strikes risk catastrophic damage to civilian economic infrastructure …

Trump Threats to Obliterate Iran's Civilian Power Infrastructure

Trump's explicit threat to destroy Iran's civilian power infrastructure constitutes a per se violation of international humanitarian law. The threats escalated from 'obliterate' to a promise of …

  • Trump explicitly threatened to 'obliterate' Iran's power plants, which Amnesty International assessed as a 'threat to commit war crimes' -- …
  • As of March 21, 2026, the Iran war has killed at least 5,900 people including 595 documented civilians, according to the Hengaw …

F-15E Shot Down Over Iran: Massive Rescue Operation Raises Escalation and Press Freedom Concerns

The shootdown of a US F-15E over Iran and the massive rescue operation that followed document the intensity and cost of the 2026 Iran war. The rescue itself was a legitimate military operation, but …

  • On April 3, 2026, a US F-15E Strike Eagle of the 494th Fighter Squadron was shot down over the interior of Iran.
  • A 36-hour race ensued to locate and extract the weapons systems officer before Iranian forces could capture him. He was found in a mountain …

Repeated Strikes Near Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant Risk Radioactive Catastrophe

Repeated strikes near Bushehr nuclear power plant violate Additional Protocol I Article 56's specific protection of nuclear electrical generating stations. Even without a radiation release, strikes on …

  • Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been struck by projectiles at least four times since the war began on February 28, 2026.
  • One security guard was killed and a side building was damaged in the April 4 strike.

Attacks on Iranian Healthcare Facilities: WHO Verifies 18 Strikes on Hospitals and Medical Infrastructure

A sustained pattern of strikes on Iranian hospitals, ambulances, and medical infrastructure has killed healthcare workers and forced the evacuation of six hospitals. The WHO has verified 18 attacks on …

  • WHO has verified 18 attacks on healthcare facilities in Iran since the war began on February 28, 2026, with at least 8 medical workers …
  • Six hospitals have been evacuated, 29 clinical facilities damaged, and 10 rendered inactive. Patients required evacuation from seven …

America First Arms Transfer Strategy: Human Rights Safeguards Removed From Weapons Exports

An executive order stripped human rights safeguards from the US arms transfer framework, replacing decades of bipartisan policy with a commerce-first approach. The subsequent emergency bypass of …

  • Executive Order 14383, signed February 6, 2026, establishes the 'America First Arms Transfer Strategy,' which reorders US arms export …
  • The EO makes no mention of human rights, international humanitarian law, or civilian protection — a stark departure from all previous …

Pentagon Signs $210M+ Deal to Purchase Cluster Munitions From Israel

The US contracted with an Israeli state-owned arms manufacturer for banned cluster munitions at industrial scale, reversing decades of declining reliance on these weapons and funding an Israeli …

  • On September 30, 2025, the Pentagon awarded an indefinite delivery/quantity contract with a ceiling value of $829.1 million to Tomer, an …
  • The contract was awarded without public competition under a 'public interest' exception to federal contracting law, bypassing normal …

New START Treaty Expires: First Time Since 1970s With No Nuclear Arms Control

The expiration of the last US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty ends over five decades of binding limits on the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. No replacement is under negotiation. The loss of …

  • New START expired on February 5, 2026, ending the last legally binding limits on US and Russian nuclear arsenals — 1,550 deployed strategic …
  • This marks the first time since the early 1970s that there are no binding nuclear arms control agreements between the two nations that …

Operation Hawkeye Strike: Massive US Bombing Campaign in Syria

A large-scale US retaliatory bombing campaign in Syria following the deaths of three Americans near Palmyra. The scale of the operation — hundreds of munitions across dozens of targets in populated …

  • On December 19, 2025, the US launched Operation Hawkeye Strike with over 100 munitions on 70+ ISIS targets across Syria, using A-10s, F-16s, …
  • The operation was retaliatory — responding to the December 13 Palmyra attack that killed two US soldiers (Sgt. Edgar Torres-Tovar and Sgt. …

Hegseth Reverses US Landmine Ban, Rescinds $5B+ Humanitarian Demining Program

The Trump administration reversed decades of bipartisan progress toward eliminating antipersonnel landmines by authorizing their global use and simultaneously dismantling the US humanitarian demining …

  • Defense Secretary Hegseth signed a memo on December 2, 2025, reversing the Biden-era policy that prohibited US use of antipersonnel …
  • The same memo rescinded the US Humanitarian Mine Program, a decades-long government initiative that had provided over $5 billion in …

Trump Orders Pentagon to Resume Nuclear Weapons Testing, Breaking 33-Year Moratorium

Trump directed the Pentagon to match other nations' nuclear testing programs, breaking a moratorium that has held since 1992 and threatening to collapse the global norm against nuclear testing that …

  • On October 30, 2025, Trump publicly directed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, stating the US should match 'other countries' …
  • The US has not conducted a live nuclear weapons test since 1992, when President George H.W. Bush imposed a unilateral testing moratorium. No …

Afghanistan Frozen Assets and Aid Termination: 22.9 Million Face Humanitarian Catastrophe

The combined effect of freezing Afghanistan's sovereign assets and terminating all US humanitarian aid has created a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in which millions face starvation. UN officials …

  • The United States and European nations froze nearly $9.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, …
  • In 2025, the Trump administration terminated all remaining US humanitarian aid to Afghanistan — $561.8 million — ordering an immediate …

Houthi FTO Redesignation Chills Humanitarian Operations for 19.5 Million Yemenis

The reimposition of FTO status on the Houthis threatens to deepen what was already the world's worst humanitarian crisis by chilling aid delivery, disrupting commercial imports, and creating legal …

  • On March 4, 2025, the State Department redesignated Ansarallah (Houthis) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, carrying criminal penalties …
  • Biden had revoked the FTO designation in February 2021 specifically because of its humanitarian impact, stating it was 'due entirely to the …

Ukraine Minerals Coercion: Trump Demanded $500B 'Payback,' Humiliated Zelenskyy, Conditioned Aid on Deal

Trump demanded $500 billion from a nation under active invasion, publicly humiliated its president in the Oval Office, suspended aid and intelligence, and conditioned continued support on a minerals …

  • The Trump administration initially demanded a $500 billion share of Ukraine's rare earths and minerals as 'repayment' for US aid. Zelenskyy …
  • A February 28, 2025 Oval Office meeting devolved into a confrontation where VP Vance asked Zelenskyy 'Have you said thank you even once?' …

Emergency Arms Sales to Gulf States: $23 Billion Bypassing Congressional Review

Using emergency waivers under the Arms Export Control Act, the administration has bypassed Congress to approve massive arms sales to Gulf states, including to the UAE despite documented evidence of …

  • The Trump administration invoked wartime emergency powers to force through more than $23 billion in arms sales to the UAE, Kuwait, and …
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an emergency waiver to bypass the standard 30-day congressional review period, citing the Iran war as …

Defense Secretary Hegseth Declares 'No Quarter, No Mercy' for Iran

The US Defense Secretary's public declaration that no quarter would be given to Iran constitutes a textbook war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii), which criminalizes 'declaring that no …

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly declared there would be 'no quarter, no mercy' for Iran during the 2026 Iran war.
  • Declaring that no quarter will be given is explicitly listed as a war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii). It is a per se …

Destruction of Iranian UNESCO World Heritage Sites in US-Israeli Airstrikes

US and Israeli strikes have damaged UNESCO World Heritage Sites and over 100 cultural heritage sites across Iran, including Golestan Palace, Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan Square complex, the 8th-century …

  • UNESCO documented at least four historic sites damaged by shockwaves from a March 10 strike alone. Iran's Ministry of Cultural Heritage …
  • Golestan Palace in Tehran, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, suffered shattered glass from mirrored ceilings, broken archways, blown-out …

Sinking of IRIS Dena: USS Charlotte Torpedoes Iranian Frigate Off Sri Lanka

A US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate returning from a peaceful international naval event, killing 87 sailors. The failure to rescue shipwrecked sailors violates the Second Geneva Convention's …

  • The USS Charlotte torpedoed the IRIS Dena approximately 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka on March 4, 2026. The Iranian frigate was returning …
  • Eighty-seven sailors were killed. The Sri Lanka Navy rescued 32 survivors.

Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Global Energy and Food Security Catastrophe

The Iran war triggered closure of the world's most critical energy chokepoint, causing the largest supply disruption since the 1970s. Oil above $120/barrel, 70% food import disruption across Gulf …

  • The Strait of Hormuz — through which approximately 20 million barrels of oil pass daily, representing 20% of global seaborne oil trade — was …
  • Tanker traffic dropped by approximately 70%, with over 150 ships anchoring outside the strait to avoid risks.

Minab School Strike: US Tomahawk Cruise Missile Kills 175-180 Schoolgirls

A Tomahawk cruise missile struck a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing up to 180 schoolchildren in one of the deadliest single incidents of civilian harm in the 2026 Iran war. …

  • A US Tomahawk cruise missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, Iran, on February 28, 2026, …
  • The school was 'triple-tapped' — struck three distinct times. Analysis showed missiles hit a nearby military base and the school but …

Repeated US Vetoes of UN Security Council Gaza Ceasefire Resolutions

The US was the sole dissenter blocking Gaza ceasefire resolutions supported by all other Security Council members, while famine and allegations of genocide continued in Gaza. The pattern of vetoes …

  • In June 2025, the US cast its sole veto against a resolution demanding 'an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza' — the …
  • In September 2025, the US vetoed another ceasefire resolution, the sixth such veto, being the only member to not support it. The vote took …

Dismantlement of Pentagon Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Program

The Pentagon's civilian casualty prevention infrastructure was gutted in early 2025, removing safeguards that existed specifically to prevent the kinds of civilian harm documented in the …

  • The CHMR program and its Civilian Protection Center of Excellence were tagged for elimination by February 2025.
  • Approximately 200 personnel assigned to civilian harm mitigation were affected.

Intensified Cuba Sanctions Regime: Blackouts, Hospital Shutdowns, and Collective Punishment

The systematically intensified US sanctions regime against Cuba has caused 20-hour blackouts, hospital closures, medication shortages for 5 million chronically ill people, and collapse of essential …

  • US sanctions have cut Cuba's fuel imports by approximately 90 percent as of February 2026, causing electrical grid collapse with blackouts …
  • Cuba's Health Minister reports 5 million people with chronic illnesses face medication or treatment disruption, including 16,000 cancer …

Sanctions Against UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine

The United States sanctioned a UN human rights investigator for performing the duties of her mandate, in what UN experts described as an unprecedented threat to the international human rights system.

  • Francesca Albanese was sanctioned under EO 14203 for engaging with the ICC in its investigation of Israel.
  • Sanctions include asset freezes, prohibition on donations and transfers, and suspension of U.S. entry.