Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the continued war crimes of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran and the threats by US officials to commit war crimes   Thirty-four days have passed since the illegal and savage war launched by the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran, and every day a new dimension of the aggressors' brutality and their deep-seated animosity toward Iran and Iranians is revealed. During these 34 days, the US-Zionist aggressors have crossed every legal, moral, and humanitarian boundary and have refrained from committing no crime or atrocity under the guise of "war." From the very first hours of their barbaric onslaught on Iran, simultaneously with terrorist attacks on the workplace of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and senior state officials and commanders, the aggressors targeted schools, hospitals, and sports stadiums. The attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab and the Lamerd Stadium in Fars on the morning of Sunday, February 28, are but two examples of the savage enemy’s crimes on the first day of the assault on Iran.   Over these 34 days, the US-Zionist enemy, in addition to attacking more than 600 schools and educational centers, has also struck numerous universities and scientific-research institutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as historical-cultural sites and museums. These attacks are a clear indication of the enmity of the United States and the Zionist regime toward Iranian identity and roots, and their hostility toward the scientific growth and development of Iranians.   The US-Zionist enemy has also attacked a large number of the country's industrial and manufacturing facilities, which were built over several decades through the efforts and dedication of patriotic Iranian entrepreneurs and industrialists, despite harsh sanctions and economic pressure.   At the same time, US officials—having been disappointed by the unparalleled resilience of the Iranian people against their malevolence, and having failed to achieve their illegitimate objectives and satanic delusions against the Iranian nation or to intimidate the world into complicity with their crimes—have escalated their crude threats and insulting rhetoric against the cultured and proud Iranian people.   The repeated threats by the US President to attack Iran's energy infrastructure, including those made in his speech on the evening of Wednesday, April 1, are not only a clear sign of the US administration's hostility toward every single Iranian, but also constitute clear evidence of the criminal intent of US decision-makers to commit the most heinous international crimes, especially war crimes and genocide.   The rhetoric of US officials and threats to destroy Iran's energy, service, and industrial infrastructure are in themselves tantamount to incitement to war crimes and genocide. Under international law and international humanitarian law, all states are obliged to condemn such threatening rhetoric.   The explicit threat to "bomb Iran back to the Stone Age" and to destroy power plants—which are vital for the survival and livelihood of a nation—is a brutal and unlawful threat whose primary purpose is to instill terror among the civilian population. Pursuant to Article 51 of Additional Protocol I of 1977 and Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, this constitutes a war crime.   The Islamic Republic of Iran, trusting in God and relying on the support of its valiant nation, while reaffirming its firm resolve to mount a comprehensive and decisive defense of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity against the military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime, reminds the United Nations, the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, humanitarian bodies including the International Committee of the Red Cross, and every single state of their clear responsibility to fulfill their duties in condemning the flagrant violations of international law and the crimes that, without doubt, are unprecedented in their severity and consequences in the past 80 years, and to take practical measures to prosecute and punish the perpetrators.   Indifference toward the US and Zionist military aggression against Iran and the crimes they have already committed or threaten to commit will certainly have dire consequences for international law, morality, and humanity—consequences that will affect the entire international community.   The Islamic Republic of Iran, as it has repeatedly proven, will defend with all its might the country's territorial integrity and the security of its citizens against the military aggression of the enemies, and in this sacred and patriotic path, it will utilize all its capacities and capabilities.