The UN rights chief has decried the "incendiary rhetoric" in the Middle East war, warning that deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure were "a war crime".
"Under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday, insisting that "anyone responsible for international crimes must be held to account by a competent court."
His comment came as US President Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric against Iran, vowing to carry out the "complete demolition" of critical infrastructure, particularly bridges and power plants, if Iran did not agree to a deal by late Tuesday.
Turk did not explicitly mention Trump or the other countries involved in the conflict that began on February 28. But he said, "I deplore the tirade of incendiary rhetoric being used in the Middle East war over the last couple of weeks by all parties."
In particular, he highlighted "the latest threats to annihilate a whole civilisation and to target civilian infrastructure".
"This is sickening," he said, warning that "carrying through on such threats amounts to the most serious international crimes".
Writing on Truth Social, Trump stated that "a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will if the country does not heed his call for a deal.”
The UN rights chief stressed that "threats that spread fear and terror among civilians are unacceptable and must cease immediately".
He called on the international community to "take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and to help protect the lives of all civilians".
Hours before the deadline, Israel said it had already completed a broad wave of strikes targeting "infrastructure sites" across Iran.
