WANA (Aug 13) – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei issued a statement on X marking the 77th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, strongly condemning U.S. actions and threats against Iran’s civilian infrastructure as an “unprecedented blow” to international humanitarian law.

 

Baghaei noted that the four Geneva Conventions—adopted on August 12, 1949—established fundamental principles of the laws of war, including military necessity, proportionality, distinction between civilian and military targets, and the prevention of unnecessary suffering.

 

“The founders of these four treaties certainly did not imagine that in 2026, 77 years after their adoption, the United States—as the host country of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council—would repeatedly threaten to attack, and actually carry out strikes against, another nation’s infrastructure, bridges, and power plants,” Baghaei wrote.

 

He emphasized that under Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, member states and Switzerland (as the depositary state) are obligated not only to respect the treaties but also to ensure respect for them.

 

He called on the international community not to remain silent, warning that ignoring threats against civilian targets undermines a core achievement of post-WWII international law.

 

“If attacks on civilian infrastructure or threats thereof become normalized in international relations, no country can rely on the immunity of its hospitals, power grids, bridges, or water systems,” Baghaei stated.

 

Concluding his statement, Baghaei cited a Persian poetic couplet emphasizing Iran’s resilience: “A mountain is not moved a single grain by the storm; a true traveler on the path of devotion cannot be broken by a hundred trials.”