UN rights chief warns against using war as tool of international relations as Mideast conflict escalates

GENEVA

The UN human rights chief on Wednesday warned that the escalating conflict involving Iran risks spiraling into a broader crisis, saying "we cannot go back to war as a tool of international relations."

In a video message to an urgent Human Rights Council debate on Iran, Volker Turk said the situation is "extremely dangerous and unpredictable," with civilians bearing the brunt across the region.

Referring to the US and Israel's strike on Iran, as well as Iran's attacks on Gulf States and Jordan, he stressed that many of the strikes in the conflict raise "serious concerns under international law, which prohibits attacks targeting civilians and their infrastructure and attacks on military targets where harm to civilians is disproportionate."

Turk also warned of wider regional consequences, saying the conflict carries "grave ramifications" for countries, including Iraq and Syria, as well as the occupied Palestinian territory.

He added that recent missile strikes near nuclear sites in both Israel and Iran highlight "the immense danger of further escalation," warning that states are "flirting with unmitigated catastrophe."

The conflict is also disrupting global supply chains, he said, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz affected, raising risks of food and energy crises worldwide.

According to the human rights chief, the attacks on civilian infrastructure raise "serious concerns under international law," stressing that deliberate strikes on civilians may constitute war crimes.

"This conflict has an unprecedented power to ensnare countries across borders and around the world," Turk said, adding: "The only guaranteed way to prevent this is to end the conflict."

Urging states to uphold the rules-based order, he said: "When some powerful states are trying to weaken the multilateral system, we need the rest – the vast majority – to stand up for it."

"We cannot go back to war as a tool of international relations," he concluded.