Analysts say US threat of ‘no quarter’ for Iran violates international law

Analysts say the US threat to show 'no quarter' to Iran violates international law as Washington and Israel press on with their campaign.

“Rights groups have slammed United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for saying that “no quarter” will be shown to Iran, as the US and Israel continue their military campaign against the country”

Al Jazeera

Rights groups criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for declaring 'no quarter, no mercy for our enemies,' arguing that such language breaches the Hague Convention and other treaties.

Al Jazeera

Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group called the remarks striking and questioned whether belligerent, lawless rhetoric could influence battlefield conduct.

Hegseth has publicly rejected concerns, saying he would abide no 'stupid rules of engagement' and no 'politically correct wars.'

The controversy comes as the United States has already carried out strikes, including one on a girls' school in southern Iran that killed more than 170 people, most of them children.

The Hague Convention and the 1996 War Crimes Act, along with US military manuals, make such policies illegal.

Prohibitions against declaring 'no quarter' go back more than a century, with historical precedent in Nuremberg and beyond.

Al Jazeera

Brian Finucane described Hegseth's remarks as striking and questioned how belligerent rhetoric translates on the battlefield.

Sarah Yager of Human Rights Watch called the rhetoric alarming, warning that language dismissing legal restraints is a serious red flag from an atrocity-prevention perspective.

Senator Jeff Merkley condemned the Pentagon chief as a 'dangerous amateur' and cited the attack on the Iranian girls' school as an example of the consequences of 'no hesitation' rules.

“Rights groups have slammed United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for saying that “no quarter” will be shown to Iran, as the US and Israel continue their military campaign against the country”

Al Jazeera

He warned that such engagement policies risk misidentifying civilians as military targets.

President Donald Trump remarked that he asked why the ship was sunk rather than captured, citing a general’s comment that 'it's a lot more fun doing it this way.'

Airwars reports that the pace of the US-Israeli assault on Iran has far outstripped other modern histories, with the United States dropping nearly $5.6 billion worth of munitions in the first two days and striking more targets in the first 100 hours than in the first six months of the campaign against ISIL.

The attack on the girls' school that killed more than 170 people—mostly children—provides a stark backdrop to Merkley’s criticism.

The basic idea that it is inhumane and counterproductive to execute people who have laid down arms is echoed in the Nuremberg framework, and the trials upheld such norms.

The article notes that even the mere announcement of 'no quarter' by a government official can be a war crime.

Al Jazeera

Sarah Yager of Human Rights Watch warned that rhetoric dismissing legal restraints is a red flag from an atrocity-prevention perspective.

Analysts say the Pentagon’s emphasis on lethality over human rights concerns has carried over into its war against Iran.