Local experts weigh in on Iran war, safety and potential attacks on Iranian infrastructure
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- President Trump is threatening to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants on Tuesday night if the countries don’t agree to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. ET.
ABC57’s Jordan Tolbert spoke with two Professors from the University of Notre Dame about the Iran war. Professor Asher Kaufman, PhD, is the Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Kaufman is an expert in the modern Middle East. Eugene Gholz, PhD, is an associate professor of Political Science and an expert on National Security.
Gholz says for the most part, people living in the US do not have reason to worry about their safety as it pertains to Iran. He says there are reasonable concerns for Americans serving in the military, overseas or even in civilian jobs in the region.
Gholz pointed out that America is far from Iran, saying the US has high-end military capabilities that Iran doesn't. He says Iran does not have any weapons that can reach the United States directly and would be more likely to react within the region where it has more capabilities.
“The only possible direct repercussions to Americans living in the United States, well, there are the economic repercussions of higher gas prices, but to safety repercussions would be terrorist incidents. The United States, there could easily be a higher risk. That doesn't mean it's easy to carry out a terrorist attack, but there might be motivated people, either directly prompted by Iran, or acting in what they believe is in Iran's interest, like lone wolf attacks,” said Gholz.
The president has given Iran a Tuesday night deadline to make a deal, but the president has said any deal must include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Gholz brought up that it’s hard to know what would satisfy the US, Iran, or Israel in terms of a deal.
“It would be really nice to know what the United States is actually trying to achieve, and how this fits into a vision of US strategy, how this, in the end, makes the United States better off. Like, this kind of aggression from the United States, Iran is not a nice country, hasn't been a nice country for a long time, is hostile to the United States. But in general, the United States defends against that situation instead of going on the attack,” said Gholz.
Kaufman says it's hard to know what kind of negotiations are taking place between the U.S. and Iran.
“They are clearly happening, but we do not know the details, and the president has been inconsistent in his messages about these negotiations, also because it is not clear what are the objectives of the United States in this war,” said Kaufman.
In response to the threats made by President Trump on Sunday, the speaker of the Iranian parliament responded on X, saying in part, quote: "Make no mistake: you won’t gain anything through war crimes. The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game."
The President’s threat to destroy Iranian infrastructure has raised concerns about targeting civilian infrastructure and the potential consequences.
When asked on Monday about possibly committing war crimes, Trump said: “The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
The Geneva Conventions and their protocols say objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population are illegal military targets.
“Civilian infrastructure should not be targeted, according to international law in warfare, and so the president is explicitly threatening to use or to attack civilian infrastructure, and that is a major concern when you approach it from the perspective of international law,” said Kaufman.