JIJ attorney : Iran targeted civilians as war tactic , report seeks accountability

What Happened

Adv. Uri Morad, director of international law and public diplomacy at the Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ), stated that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) systematically targeted civilians as a deliberate war tactic during a missile and drone campaign against Israel from late February through early April. In a JIJ report titled 'Indiscriminate fire: The legal case against Iran’s 2026 missile campaign,' Morad claimed that Iran fired approximately 2,300 missiles and drones, knowing that 15–20% would fall in densely populated areas due to the strain on Israeli air defenses. He alleged that the IRGC used cluster munitions, which scatter submunitions over wide areas, violating the international humanitarian law principle of distinction between combatants and civilians. Morad called for international legal accountability, suggesting the International Criminal Court (ICC) could assert jurisdiction because some alleged strikes landed in Jordan and Cyprus, both Rome Statute parties, and that universal jurisdiction might be pursued by Western states against senior Iranian figures, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The JIJ’s legal push aims to shift the international response to Iran’s attacks from political discourse to criminal accountability, potentially pressuring Western governments and the ICC to act. If the ICC opens an investigation or issues arrest warrants against senior Iranian officials, it could escalate diplomatic tensions, isolate Iran further, and set a precedent for prosecuting state actors for missile campaigns that rely on saturation tactics in civilian areas.

Watch For

Monitor whether the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor publicly acknowledges the JIJ submission or takes steps toward a preliminary examination, especially given the claimed jurisdictional hook through Jordan and Cyprus. Watch for any arrest warrant applications, diplomatic reactions from the 40 missions that received the report, and whether UN special rapporteurs or the Secretary-General address the allegations in upcoming reports.