Trump stands accused, but a chilling message has exposed Iran’s own war crime

April 8, 2026 — 3:30pm

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London: In a desperate bid to defy Donald Trump, the Iranian regime just resorted to a propaganda exercise that is being condemned as a war crime.

Iranian leaders urged young people to act as human shields at power plants in the hope they would deter the US president from ordering missile strikes against energy systems.

Hours later, the regime used the state broadcaster to air footage of Iranian citizens gathering at the potential missile targets, apparently willing to die for their cause.

The internet blackout in Iran makes it impossible to be sure if people are really assembling to be martyred. Even as the regime fights for its survival, it continues to execute political prisoners, crack down on dissent and censor the media.

Trump is exposed to claims of war crimes, also, because he has threatened death to the entire civilisation of Iran rather than limiting the war to military targets. The ultimate test, however, is in what the US president does, not what he says. This time, he chose a two-week ceasefire.

US-Iran war live updates: Trump agrees to two-week ceasefire subject to Strait of Hormuz reopening as US strikes military targets on Kharg Island

The Iranian footage, however, leaves no doubt about the regime’s objectives and actions. The deputy minister for youth and sport, Alireza Rahimi, sought to put civilians between the enemy and the likely targets.

“I invite all the youth, athletes, artists, university students and professors to come tomorrow, Tuesday, at 2pm, and circle the power plants which constitute national assets and capital,” he said on Monday.

Rahimi timed this to coincide with Trump’s deadline for missile strikes against power stations, setting up a bleak contest. If the White House had launched its missile strikes, Tehran would have increased the civilian death toll.

The Iranian media showed dozens of women waving the national flag as they circled a power station in what appeared to be a gathering of hundreds. One picture showed people standing on a bridge to wait for the strikes. Another showed young men at the front gate of a power plant.

Shiva Mahbobi, a former political prisoner in Iran, told the BBC on Tuesday that using children as shields was a crime against humanity. Mahbobi, who set out her views in this masthead last month as the spokeswoman for the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran, said the regime was also using child soldiers at checkpoints.

The Iranian government killed nine young political prisoners in the past week. “I didn’t see any media really talking about that,” Mahbobi said.

This is true. With Trump consuming the world’s attention, there seems to be little left for the regime, regardless of its crimes.

Arranging a human shield is a war crime under the Rome Statute that is central to the international law on conflict. This is set out in Article 8 (2) (b) (xxiii) of the elements of potential crimes. One element is that the perpetrator intended to shield a military objective from attack using protected persons.

Rahimi not only had this intention: the state media encouraged it to happen.

Trump backs ceasefire as the 10-point peace plan comes into play, but key details still missing

The easy rejoinder to any criticism of the Iranian regime is to point to something worse elsewhere. Unfortunately, the world does not have a shortage of war crimes. But any honest debate about this war has to acknowledge the repression in Tehran.

Trump has made serial misjudgments in this war, and he will have to answer for what he does. His threat to order the “total demolition” of Iran left him exposed to accusations of imminent war crimes. In the end, he was engaging in his usual hyperbole, and the result was a temporary ceasefire.

What comes after the two weeks? The judgment on Trump depends in part on what he does next. The US president already has to accept responsibility for strikes that have killed civilians, including more than 100 schoolgirls.

Trump once threatened to destroy desalination plants, but stepped back from depriving Iranians of water. Iran, on the other hand, went ahead with attacks on power and desalination plants in Kuwait.

‘Ideally people will come out and overthrow the regime. But it’s complicated’

With his call for human chains, Ramiri highlighted the evil of the Iranian regime. Some of its leaders sent their children to live in safety in America – and, sometimes, Australia – with total freedom from religious law. Meanwhile, they imprisoned and executed young women who wanted the same freedom at home.

This week, they asked young people to give their lives to save the regime. That looked like a war crime. And it had the whiff of decay from a rotten regime.

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