What are ‘civilian’ sites in international law and where have US, Iran hit?

The United States and Iran are locked successful an progressively escalatory rhythm of strikes that they each assertion is aimed astatine preventing the different from securing subject dominance implicit the Strait of Hormuz.

As the US pounds confederate Iran and, successful caller days, different parts of the country, Tehran excessively has deed back, striking US subject bases successful neighbouring nations successful the Gulf and Jordan.

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But projectiles fired by some the US and Iran person besides deed civilian infrastructure, raising questions implicit imaginable violations of planetary law, adjacent arsenic the fragile memorandum of knowing (MoU) towards bid that the 2 countries had signed successful June has collapsed.

“We’re going to sound retired each their powerfulness plants. We’re going to sound retired each their bridges unless they get to the array and negotiate,” US President Donald Trump threatened successful a Fox News interrogation past week. He made akin threats connected civilian infrastructure earlier successful April.

At slightest 50 radical person died successful Iran since the resumption of hostilities, and 500 person been wounded since July 15, according to Iranian authorities. Dozens of locations successful confederate and northwestern Iran person been deed successful the past week, ranging from subject bid centres to railways and airports.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has deed backmost connected neighbouring Gulf countries hosting US subject assets, resulting successful the deaths of astatine slightest 2 US subject personnel.

International humanitarian instrumentality explicitly forbids the targeting of civilian infrastructure successful equipped conflict. The US and Israel deed respective civilian sites successful the archetypal signifier of the warfare that they launched against Iran connected February 28, including a girls’ school successful Minab wherever astatine slightest 170 radical were killed.

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said connected Friday that helium was “particularly acrophobic astir attacks connected civilian infrastructure successful Iran and crossed the region”, adding that “such attacks are unacceptable”.

So what counts arsenic civilian infrastructure, and what places person been deed truthful acold successful the 2nd question of the US-Israel warfare connected Iran? Here’s what we know:

Officials inspect a span damaged by a US onslaught on the roadworthy connecting Roudan and Bandar Abbas successful Iran, July 18, 2026 [Amir Hossein Khorgooie/ISNA/AFP]

What does the instrumentality say?

The 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols of 1977 forbid equipped attacks oregon reprisals connected civilian infrastructure oregon “objects” during a conflict.

Civilian infrastructure includes “all objects which are not subject objectives”, the instrumentality says, and which are “normally dedicated to civilian purposes, specified arsenic a spot of worship, a house, oregon different dwelling oregon a school”.

These besides see immoderate facilities that enactment the day-to-day lives of civilians and that are important to however a nine functions: roads, bridges, railways, airports, electrical plants, sewage systems, hospitals, and telephone and net systems, for example.

The pact states that drinking h2o installations and supplies, irrigation works, foodstuffs, crops, livestock arsenic good arsenic dams, dikes, and atomic powerfulness procreation plants besides cannot beryllium targeted.

When successful uncertainty astir whether an entity is serving a subject oregon civilian purpose, parties indispensable presume it is civilian and frankincense cannot onslaught it, the instrumentality states.

Can civilian infrastructure beryllium targeted?

Yes, nether circumstantial and cautiously determined circumstances.

Civilian infrastructure becomes a morganatic people lone erstwhile it tin beryllium proven that it was “used for subject purposes astatine the clip of the onslaught and that its demolition provides a definite subject advantage”, according to the treaty.

Even so, the instrumentality mandates that specified attacks guarantee that indispensable attacks connected civilian infrastructure stay “proportionate to the subject advantage”.

In short, attacks connected suspected civilian objects are prohibited if the risks to civilians – deaths, injury, and the due functioning of civilian beingness – outweigh subject gains.

“The basal presumption is that infrastructure is civilian and protected until specified clip it has go a subject nonsubjective done the enemy’s usage oregon aboriginal use,” Luke Moffett, instrumentality prof and civilian harm adept astatine Queen’s University Belfast, told Al Jazeera.

The US and NATO forces utilized this justification for past attacks connected electrical oregon h2o plants successful Iraq oregon Libya, though they caused civilian harm, the prof said.

Because there’s specified a bladed enactment betwixt preventing the force from utilizing infrastructure and impacting civilians, militaries person to perpetually verify that targets supply a subject vantage and that civilian harm is not excessive, helium added.

“Otherwise it tin beryllium an indiscriminate attack,” Moffett said. Such indiscriminate attacks tin beryllium prosecuted arsenic warfare crimes.

Where has the US deed Iran?

Iranian media and officials person reported respective US strikes connected civilian infrastructure arsenic defined by the Geneva treaty, peculiarly successful confederate coastline areas adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz. Washington claims it has exclusively targeted “including subject logistics infrastructure”.

Analysts accidental lawyers successful the US subject whitethorn beryllium clearing immoderate targets for strikes arsenic “dual-use”, meaning they mightiness perchance beryllium utilized for subject purposes.

Road and span networks

• In the metropolis of Bandar Abbas, which hosts Iran’s main naval hub and largest commercialized port, a railway installation and the Kahurestan Bridge were hit. The span links Bandar Abbas to different cities. Multiple fatalities occurred during the strikes, with 1 conveyance falling off.
• In the larger Hormozgan state of which Bandar Abbas is the capital, six bridges were destroyed successful Bandar Khamir county, hampering postulation to and from Bandar Abbas. They see the Gariyeh Bridge, a span adjacent Latidan village, 2 smaller bridges connected the Kahurestan-Lar road, the Marou colony span linking Bandar Khamir with Bandar Abbas, and an uncompleted span on the Bandar Khamir-Keshar-Bandar Abbas axis.
• The Aq Taqeh Khan railway span successful Golestan province, which links Iran with China and to Russia done Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, was besides hit.
• Strikes deed railway networks betwixt Tehran and Mashhad city, which is successful the Razavi Khorasan district, during the burial ceremonial of precocious Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Health facilities

• The Shahid Baghaei Hospital successful Ahvaz was deed and rendered inoperable, causing much than 200 patients to beryllium evacuated.

Water and nutrient facilities

• In Musian, Dehloran county, a bottled h2o installation was hit. The country was antecedently targeted successful the archetypal signifier of the war.
• The Bonji colony desalination works was deed successful confederate Jask, cutting disconnected 10,000 radical from h2o supply.
• Wheat retention facilities were reportedly deed successful Hoveyzeh region and different successful the Dasht-e Azadegan county, some successful Khuzestan province.
• A h2o desalination works was besides deed successful Bomani, Sirik region during low-scale skirmishes aft the April ceasefire and conscionable earlier the MoU was signed.

Airports and seaports

• Iranian officials reported an onslaught connected the confederate Iranshahr city’s airdrome that injured 1 idiosyncratic and damaged electrical facilities and a substance vessel and triggered a powerfulness outage.
• In Semnan, parts of the airdrome were deed and suffered insignificant damage.
• Iranian media besides reported attacks connected Tohid-Jam airdrome successful Jam.
• Fishing and commercialized piers were deed successful Sirik county, resulting successful aggregate casualties.
• Fishing and commercialized piers were besides deed successful Bandar Abbas.
• The Kish commercialized harbour was deed successful Hormozgan province.
• A sportfishing pier was likewise deed successful Asaluyeh county, Bushehr province, causing section fishermen’s boats to drawback fire.

Communication towers

• One connection operation was deed successful Bandar Abbas erstwhile the connection regulations authorization was targeted.
• In Qeshm Island, a connection operation was deed and damaged.

Residential areas, sewage systems and administrative buildings

• Attacks were reported successful residential areas successful Bandar Abbas.
• An biology extortion presumption was deed successful Hajiabad, Hormozgan province, according to Iranian media.
• A search-and-rescue presumption was deed successful Kish, Hormozgan province.
• A wastewater attraction works successful Bandar Abbas’s fashionable tourer site, the Bird Garden, was hit.

Nuclear powerfulness plants

• Strikes extensively damaged the Bushehr atomic plant, Iran’s lone operating atomic plant, according an Al Jazeera investigation. Authorities accidental it’s inactive functional.
• The partially built Darkhovin atomic installation successful confederate Khuzestan state was hit implicit the weekend.

A plume of flames and achromatic fume billows implicit the municipality of Mangaf, southbound of Kuwait City, aft Kuwait accused Iran connected July 18 of targeting civilian sites and captious infrastructure successful the state [AFP][AFP]

Where has Iran hit?

Iran has repeatedly targeted subject bases – and increasingly, civilian infrastructure – successful Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Qatar. The IRGC insists it is targeting US subject assets.

• Kuwait: Officials said Iranian attacks deed a powerfulness and h2o desalination works repeatedly, resulting successful ample fires and destabilising the main grid. An lipid installation was besides hit.
• Qatar: Officials said a kid was injured from falling debris successful Doha aft interceptors attempted to ward disconnected Iranian missiles. It’s unclear if civilian infrastructure oregon residential areas were explicitly targeted.
• Strait of Hormuz: Several commercialized tankers and vessels person been deed successful the Strait of Hormuz, disconnected Oman’s coast, for utilizing routes Iran did not authorise.