Oona Hathaway

“Our government is treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment … But, in the end, we lose our humanity when we are thrilled by the destructive power of our military. … The longer we remain blind to the terrible consequences of war ...

In Iran, the Trump Administration has targeted a range of "dual use objects"--objects that have both civilian and military uses.

Here, we explain how such targeting blurs the line between civilian and military--eroding critical protections for civilians.

yalelawjournal.org/pdf/134.8.Ha...

A water desalination plant is presumptively a civilian object & it is an object indispensable to survival.

Targeting a civilian object is a war crime.

Targeting an object indispensable to survival can implicate the starvation war crime.

NB: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

How Good Intentions Helped Pave Trump’s Road to Iran

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/w...

How Good Intentions Helped Pave Trump’s Road to Iran

“The harm is felt in the wars that haven’t happened yet,” Professor Hathaway said. “It’s felt in the unleashing of other states who want to use military force against our neighbors, or against others, but might have felt limited in the past.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/w...

Analysis Suggests School Was Hit Amid U.S. Strikes on Iranian Naval Base

Even if it is a "mistake," it can still be a war crime. A person who acts recklessly in causing disproportionate civilian deaths can be found to have acted “wilfully” and thus responsible for a war crime.

Read "'Mistakes' in War": papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/w...

“The Unwillingness to Call This Illegal Is a Terrible Mistake”

Five Questions to Oona A. Hathaway

Read it in English here:

verfassungsblog.de/the-unwillin...

And in German here:

verfassungsblog.de/die-weigerun...

Qutoe: “I see few world leaders standing up for the rule of law in the face of blatant lawlessness. That is a great tragedy, and it is that failure that may ultimately spell the end of the postwar legal order.”

The US–Israeli war against Iran is “clearly and unequivocally unlawful.”

We spoke with OONA A. HATHAWAY (@oonahathaway.bsky.social), Professor at Yale Law School, about the international legal order and Europe’s reluctance to call the attack on Iran illegal.

verfassungsblog.de/the-unwillin...

FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?

Are the US-Israeli strikes on Iran legal under international law? - ABC listen The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended Britain's non-involvement in the strikes on Iran, by pointing to needing a sound legal basis for doing so.  The question whether the joint U-S-Isr...

Are the US-Israel strikes on Iran legal under international law?

Take a listen:

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Double Preemption, Imminence, and the U.S. Attack Against Iran Rubio’s argument that Operation Epic Fury was preemptive self-defense is not credible and does not satisfy the necessary precondition.

The Trump Administration keeps throwing new arguments at the wall to see what might stick--but each one is worse than the last.

This is an excellent piece by @eliavl.bsky.social explaining why Rubio's recent "double preemption" argument is a non-starter.

www.justsecurity.org/133093/preem...

NEW

The White House has submitted its War Powers report to Congress for the attack on Iran.

The justification for military action rests on 1) Iran's supposed continued quest for nuclear weapons and 2) the threat Iran's missiles pose to US forces, vessels, civilians and those of partners. 1/n

U.S. Military Death Toll Rises to 6

US military death toll rises to 6, Israel death toll at 10, Iran over 500 (including over 100 in a strike that hit a girl's school); 5 in Gulf states.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/w...

Prof. Hathaway: A Moment of Peril—and Possibility—to Reimagine the International Legal Order - ECPS Giving an interview to the European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS), Professor Oona A. Hathaway—Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of

I spoke with the European Center for Populism Studies about this moment of extreme peril for the international legal order--and the opportunity to reimagine what is possible.

www.populismstudies.org/prof-hathawa...

Trump campaign peace promises loom large over Iran war The "anti-war" candidate has bombed seven countries and launched a new regime-change war in Iran.

"No president in the modern era has ordered more military strikes against as many different countries as Donald Trump."

www.axios.com/2026/03/02/t...

TAMPA, Fla. – As of 9:30 am ET, March 1, three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury. Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty. Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing. The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified.

First US fatalities in Trump's illegal war on Iran.

At least 80 children dead as missile reportedly hits school in southern Iran The building appears to be among many devastated in Trump’s ‘major combat operations’ as long expected attacks arrive

Make that "at least 80 children," according to The Guardian.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Opinion | The Great Unraveling Has Begun

Today's attack on Iran is an attack on the postwar legal order. Yet again, Trump has taken an action that threatens to end an era of historic peace and return us to a world in which might makes right. The cost will be paid in human lives.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...

Wars of choice kill those who have no choice. "Mistakes" like the reported strike on a girls' school that killed forty civilians are the predictable result of poor planning and execution.

For more on "Mistakes" in War, read this by me and @azmatzahra.bsky.social
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Opinion | Trump’s Strikes on Iran Were Unlawful. Here’s Why That Matters.

The strikes on Iran are blatantly illegal. I explained in June why the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were unlawful under US and international law. Everything I wrote then is true today, but this is a far larger assault with far graver consequences.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/o...

Army using AI to update doctrine Leaders at the Combined Army Doctrine Directorate have started training authors on generative AI tools to speed up research and drafting.

Yikes.

www.militarytimes.com/news/your-mi...

Couldn't agree more.

This shows once again that the Trump Administration is prepared to ignore the most fundamental principles of US and international law. Congress has completely abdicated its responsibility to check the President, and the world is paying the price.
6/6

It's possible that this is all a big expensive bluff meant to push Iran into a new nuclear deal. (To replace the one Trump tore up.) That, too, is illegal. The Charter prohibits illegal "threats" to use force. And international law makes treaties obtained through gunboat diplomacy unenforceable. 5/

A state can use force if authorized by the UN Security Council or if necessary to defend against an armed attack. Neither is true here. It is possible the Trump Administration will claim self defense, but that is not plausible. It has offered no evidence that Iran is planning an imminent attack. 4/

The strikes would also be illegal under international law. The United Nations Charter requires that states “refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” There are limited exceptions . . . 3/

The strikes would be illegal under US law. The US Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the power to declare war. As I explained in June, the 1973 War Powers Resolution does not change this. It is meant to prevent a president from launching illegal wars. 2/

Opinion | Trump’s Strikes on Iran Were Unlawful. Here’s Why That Matters.

I wrote about the US strikes on Iran in June for @nytimes.com. It seems that we're about to watch a replay, but this time it could be far worse.

Like the June strikes, new strikes would be blatantly illegal under the U.S. constitution and international law.
1/

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/o...

Impact of two decades of humanitarian and development assistance and the projected mortality consequences of current defunding to 2030: retrospective evaluation and forecasting analysis ODA funding has played a decisive role in reducing preventable mortality across LMICs over the past two decades, and the abrupt withdrawal of this support threatens to cause millions of avoidable deat...

Horrific cost of DOGE cuts:

If current projected US foreign aid cuts remain in place, by 2030 "the projected excess deaths would be 9.4 million (95% UI 6.2–12.6) overall and 2.5 million (1.8–3.2) among children younger than 5 years."

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Too true.