The White House is standing by President Donald Trump’s threat to cripple the desalination infrastructure that supplies Iran’s population with drinking water and downplaying the possibility that bombing such civilian targets would constitute war crimes under both American criminal law and international treaties to which the U.S. is a party.
Asked about Trump’s warning that he would order U.S. forces to attack vast swaths of Iranian civilian infrastructure — including water purification plants — if Tehran does not agree to his terms for a ceasefire and allow free passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing on Monday that the Iranian regime’s “best move is to make a deal or else.”
