Someone Forgot to Redact Page 47: UN War Crimes Allegations Highlight Double Standards, Omissions
UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently commented that there exist 'reasonable grounds' to believe war crimes have been perpetrated by both parties in the ongoing hostilities concerning Iran. This statement, reported by outlets such as The Independent, frames the issue as a bilateral conflict with generalized blame, equating actions carried out under drastically different contexts. The
Independent's headline, for example, states 'UN chief says there are ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe war crimes have been committed by both sides in Iran,' implying an equal culpability without delving into the historical asymmetry of power and provocation. This framing conveniently omits the US's direct participation as a joint aggressor alongside Israel, rather than merely a supporter. While
Washington publicly maintains a posture of de-escalation, its military presence, including active carrier groups and B-52 deployments in the region, directly contributes to the aggressive posture that enables Israeli actions. The United States has been deeply embedded in strategies against Iran for decades, exemplified by the 2010 Stuxnet cyberattack, a joint US-Israeli operation that
significantly damaged Iranian nuclear facilities, predating much of the current nuclear proliferation discourse. This pattern of external provocation followed by blaming all parties for subsequent conflict is not new. Consider the 1983-88 period, when the US, despite its contemporary denunciations of chemical warfare, provided intelligence and logistical support to Saddam Hussein's regime,