TEHRAN – The head of the Department of Environment (DOE), Shina Ansari, has said that the environmental degradation caused by the US-Israel coalition during the 40-day imposed war should be prosecuted in international courts.

Buildings and equipment of the DOE in 20 provinces and 113 protected areas in seven provinces of the country have been destroyed during the war. Once documented with the help of the Ministry of Justice, the environmental war crimes can be prosecuted in international courts, IRNA quoted Ansari as saying.

The official made the remarks in a meeting with Justice Minister Amin-Hossein Rahimi on Monday.

Ansari also highlighted that prior to the outbreak of the war on February 28, the DOE had corresponded with its counterparts in the region, the international organizations, and the United Nations Environment Program, warning on the consequences. “Unfortunately, they failed to issue, even a neutral statement in response.”

For his part, Rahimi said despite all international laws that require armies involved in conflicts to protect environment during wartime, the aggressors caused widespread damage to the environment and natural resources of the country, their measures are clear examples of war crimes.

“We will document these destructions and seek reparation in international arenas, the same as President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered,” Rahimi added. 

Moreover, Hamid Zohrabi, an official with the DOE, in an official letter to the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, has elaborated on the detrimental impacts of the war on the biodiversity, and irreparable damage to ecosystems. 

The letter has confirmed clear violations of the articles of the convention, considerations of human rights, and the goals of Kunming Montreal global biodiversity framework, calling on the executive secretary to take a more active role in protecting biodiversity, and release a formal statement to censure this war and its environmental impacts during the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held in October in Yerevan, Armenia.

Iran has already launched a comprehensive legal and technical inquiry into the extensive environmental degradation caused by the recent American-Israeli campaign of aggression, characterizing the strikes as a calculated assault on the nation’s ecological health and natural heritage.

On March 28, the DOE head said that the war has left a lasting scar on the country’s protected lands and industrial heartlands, describing the damage as a core component of the enemy’s hostile agenda.

Ansari provided a grim inventory of the structural damage sustained by the country’s administrative and personnel networks.

She noted that several provincial and county-level offices were either damaged or completely destroyed since the US and the Zionist regime of Israel began their campaign of aggression on February 28.

Beyond administrative infrastructure, the aggression has damaged the country’s natural reserves and protected areas, which are strictly managed to preserve unique biodiversity.

Ansari highlighted the Sefidkouh protected area in western Lorestan province and the HaftadGholleh protected area in central Markazi province as regions that sustained “significant damage to natural arenas and biodiversity.”

Recent U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran also targeted oil depots and critical infrastructure, causing serious environmental and human consequences. These actions not only violate international humanitarian law but, by striking civilian infrastructure, constitute clear examples of environmental crimes (ecocide). 

An initial research analysis by Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with the Climate and Community Institute London and Lancaster University, found that in just the first 14 days of the war, approximately 5–5.6 million tons of CO2 equivalent were released into the atmosphere, roughly equal to Iceland’s total annual emissions or the output of 1.1 million gasoline cars.

The aggression violates both the Geneva Protocols and the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD). Long-term consequences include air pollution, acid rain, public health threats, and regional crises affecting water and electricity supplies.

ENMOD, adopted in 1976, bans the use of environmental modification techniques as a tool of warfare and prohibits any action that could cause “widespread, long-lasting, or severe damage to the natural environment,” emphasizing state responsibility.

Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions, an amendment to the original conventions, includes Articles 35 and 55, which obligate countries to protect the environment during armed conflicts. Additionally, the First and Second Additional Protocols of the 1977 Geneva Conventions emphasize environmental protection and civilian safety during war. 

Article 55 of the First Protocol specifically prohibits actions that could lead to “widespread, long-term, and severe damage to the natural environment.” These protocols provide an initial legal framework for assessing environmental damage in wartime, though enforcement has always been challenging.

Moreover, international humanitarian law and human rights law recognize the protection of a healthy environment as a human necessity. International organizations have repeatedly stressed that environmental protection should hold the same political importance as human rights, since a healthy environment underpins peace and the fulfillment of human rights. 

This perspective frames environmental protection not merely as a technical issue but as a legal and humanitarian obligation during conflict.