Amnesty says March Tehran strikes may amount to war crimes

Amnesty International has said three strikes carried out by the United States and Israel in Tehran in March may amount to war crimes. The organisation said the attacks hit densely packed suburbs in the Iranian capital and caused damage to surrounding civilian areas that was entirely predictable. It has called for independent investigations by both countries into the strikes.

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The report focuses on three incidents in March that Amnesty said killed at least 41 civilians. According to the organisation, the targets may have been justified under international law, including police stations and paramilitary compounds, but the choice of weapons and the setting raised serious concerns. Amnesty said it reviewed photos and videos posted on social media, eyewitness accounts and official reports in Iranian state media when assessing the attacks.

The group said apartment blocks and businesses in congested neighbourhoods were damaged in the strikes. It argued that military forces must take feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties, including warnings where possible and ensuring attacks are proportionate to the military objective. A spokesperson for Amnesty International Australia said the organisation believed the consequences for civilians were foreseeable and that the damage should have prompted a rethink.

The findings add to scrutiny of the conduct of the war between Iran, the United States and Israel, which Amnesty has described as unlawful. The report also refers to a separate strike on the Minab school on the first day of the war, which it said was widely criticised and killed 150 people, including 120 children. By raising the possibility of war crimes, the organisation is placing renewed attention on how military targets are selected in densely populated urban areas.

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Tehran has long been a sensitive setting for military and security operations because of the concentration of government, police and paramilitary sites alongside residential districts. In such environments, even strikes aimed at security facilities can have wider effects on nearby civilians and infrastructure. That is one reason international humanitarian law places emphasis on distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.

Amnesty said one of the incidents it examined took place on Niloufar Square in central Tehran on the evening of March 1, the second day of the war. It said a police station appeared to be the target, but the surrounding area was heavily built up. The report suggests that the location of the strikes was central to the civilian harm it documented.

The organisation is now pressing the United States and Israel to permit independent investigations into the three attacks and into their wider conduct during the war. It is not clear from the report whether either government plans to do so. What remains to be established is whether any formal inquiry will be launched, and whether the findings will lead to legal or diplomatic consequences.

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