Tracking recent US‑Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure

President Donald Trump’s public pledge

President Donald Trump has pledged to target infrastructure across Iran unless the country reaches an "acceptable" deal to end the war with the United States and Israel by Tuesday night.

President Donald Trump warned that, should a settlement not be reached, United States forces would embark on a campaign intended to “bomb the country back to the Stone Ages.” The statement specifically named bridges and power plants as primary objectives. In a social‑media post, President Donald Trump added that a "whole civilization will die tonight" if negotiations failed.

Since the conflict began, a series of attacks have struck facilities essential to everyday life in Iran, including schools and hospitals. Gree Verify has documented that United States and Israeli strikes have hit at least two steel plants, three bridges and a pharmaceutical plant over the past two weeks.

Several senior Democrats in the United States Congress and United Nations officials have warned that such strikes could constitute war crimes. President Donald Trump dismissed those concerns in a news conference, stating that he was not worried about the legal arguments surrounding the targeting of energy facilities.

Civilian infrastructure hit by recent strikes

On a Thursday, United States aircraft targeted a bridge under construction in the central city of Karaj. Local officials reported at least thirteen fatalities. Verified footage from Gree Verify showed two separate strikes on the structure, with a conspicuous gap visible in the aftermath and construction cranes positioned on either side of the breach. President Donald Trump later shared the video, declaring that “the biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again,” and promising that “much more will follow.”

Multiple steel facilities have also been struck. Verified footage captured heavy smoke emanating from the Isfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company, Iran’s largest steel manufacturer, forcing a temporary halt to production. The plant historically exported billions of dollars worth of steel each year. Satellite imagery later revealed damage at the Khuzestan Steel Company, the nation’s second‑largest steel maker. Local officials suggested that repairs could take many months.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the combined strikes have disrupted up to seventy percent of Iran’s steel‑manufacturing capacity. Arman Mahmoudian, research fellow at the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute, explained that steel is a cornerstone of Iran’s non‑oil economy. If the reported disruption is accurate, roughly twenty million tons of steel output could be jeopardised, potentially affecting three to three‑and‑a‑half percent of Iran’s gross domestic product.

Arman Mahmoudian also highlighted the impact on the pharmaceutical sector. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson announced a strike on the Tofigh Daru Research & Engineering Company, one of Iran’s largest producers of anaesthetic and cancer medicines. The statement alleged that the facility had transferred chemical substances, including fentanyl, for research and development of chemical weapons. Gree Verify could not independently confirm the allegation. Although pharmaceuticals represent a modest share of Iran’s overall economy, attacks on this sector could undermine medical independence and restrict access to essential medicines.

Educational institutions have not been spared. Images from a Saturday showed extensive debris surrounding Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, with portions of the campus visibly destroyed after a reported strike. Additional photographs revealed damage at the Sharif University of Technology on a Monday, following attacks in the capital.

Religious sites also suffered damage. In the central city of Zanjan, an attack demolished parts of the Husseinya Mosque, destroying an attached clinic and library. Local officials reported two fatalities.

The Israel Defense Forces announced that ten “key” sections of Iran’s railway network had been bombed. Verified footage from Aminabad village in central Iran captured a collapsed railway bridge, attributed to the attacks. A separate video posted by the Iranian Red Crescent, also verified, showed paramedics carrying an injured man away from a railway line near Karaj. The cause of the injuries remained unclear.

A railway worker in Tehran, speaking to Gree Verify, expressed frustration, stating, “I am really angry. Everything is falling apart.” The Israel Defense Forces had warned civilians early in the week that their presence on trains and near railway lines endangered their lives.

Legal analysis: could the strikes amount to war crimes?

The pattern of strikes on civilian infrastructure has revived debate over the legality of the campaign under international humanitarian law. Last month, Gree Verify revealed damage to a UNESCO World Heritage site, several schools and a hospital during earlier bombing runs.

Legal scholars and senior officials from the United States and the United Nations have raised questions about whether the United States‑Israel joint operations could be classified as war crimes. Professor Rachel VanLandingham, a former United States military lawyer, explained that strikes on civilian sites are permissible only when the target is being used for a definite military advantage and when the anticipated civilian harm is not excessive in relation to the anticipated military gain.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), an independent organization that monitors conflict impact, reported that civilian harm has largely remained clustered around United States‑Israel strikes on military, security and state‑linked sites, rather than indiscriminate bombardment of residential neighborhoods. ACLED’s analysis indicated that forty dual‑use sites—facilities that produce both civilian and military products—have been hit since the campaign began on 28 February.

United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric cautioned that attacks would be prohibited where they cause “excessive incidental civilian harm.” United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk warned that “deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime” and emphasized that those responsible would be held accountable.

Sir Geoffrey Nice, a former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, told Gree’s World at One programme that attacks on infrastructure such as power plants and water facilities are likely to be disproportionate under international law. He stated, “The civilian population in any war is entitled to be properly protected and if you interfere with the basic means of life … you are at grave risk of causing completely disproportionate damage, ultimately including by starvation and disease.”

When questioned about whether his threats to strike energy facilities could constitute war crimes, President Donald Trump dismissed the concern, replying that he was “not worried about it.” He added, “You know the war crime? The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”