On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes across Iran, hitting targets in Tehran, Isfahan, Qom and other cities across 24 provinces. Iran's Red Crescent reported at least 201 people killed and 700 injured. US President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" and openly urged regime change. Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Israel and US military installations across the Gulf States.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk deplored the strikes, noting that the parties "had been actively seeking a solution only hours earlier." He stated that "bombs and missiles are not the way to resolve differences but only result in death, destruction and human misery" and warned that continued escalation "risks an even wider conflict, that will inevitably lead to further senseless civilian deaths and destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale, not just in Iran but across the Middle East region." He reminded all parties that under international humanitarian law, "the protection of civilians is paramount" and that violations "must lead to accountability."

The strikes came 48 hours after the conclusion of a third round of US-Iran indirect nuclear negotiations in Geneva, mediated by Oman, that had produced what multiple parties described as an unprecedented breakthrough. The bombardment appears to have killed not only Iranian civilians, but also the potential for the strongest nuclear agreement ever negotiated with Iran.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi told CBS News Feb. 27 that Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium, with existing stockpiles to be down-blended to the lowest possible level and converted into irreversible reactor fuel under full International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verification. "The single most important achievement, I believe, is the agreement that Iran will never, ever have a nuclear material that will create a bomb," Albusaidi said, describing the understanding as "something completely new," stronger than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated under Obama.

Albusaidi said that technical discussions with the IAEA had been scheduled for the following week in Vienna. Broad political components of a deal "can be agreed tomorrow," Albusaidi said, with implementation related to stockpiles, verification, and access achievable within 90 days. He was unequivocal: "I don't think any alternative to diplomacy is going to solve this problem." He warned that military action would only "complicate resolving this problem and delay it.”"

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi responded to the US-Israel strikes by raising a question that indeed demands an answer: "I do not know why the US administration insists on beginning a negotiation with Iran and then attacking Iran in middle of talks."

— Pitasanna Shanmugathas for JURIST, March 1, excerpt. Used with permission. Internal links added.