Thread by @ordefk

Thread: 1/ EU is wrong to call killing of Fakhrizadeh "a criminal act." The U.S. Army JAG Corps has explicitly taken the position that such a killing is legal during international armed conflict, using as an example the U.S.'s own nuclear weapons program. law.upenn.edu/institutes/cer…

https://twitter.com/laurnorman/status/1332674496596242432

2/ Per the JAG Corps' definitive memorandum: "More than 90% of the World War II Project Manhattan personnel were civilians, and their participation in the U.S. atomic weapons program was of such importance as to have made them liable to legitimate attack." law.upenn.edu/institutes/cer…

3/ The US JAG Corps memorandum explains that Project Manhattan civilians were legitimate targets for killing during wartime because they were "civilian scientists occupying key positions in a weapons program regarded as vital to a nation’s national security or war aims."

4/ Fakhrizadeh more than fit the description: he was not just an Iran nuclear weapons scientist but program chief, and per BBC also "head of the ministry of defence's research and innovation organisation." bbc.com/news/world-mid…

5/ Per BBC, Fakhrizadeh was also "senior officer of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," part of Iran armed forces, which has in its entirety been designated by US as terrorist org. Per JAG memo, F was legit target simply because IRGC officer, in addition to nuke weapon chief.

6/ Thus, existence of Iran-Israel international armed conflict means, according to longstanding interpretation of the US Army JAG Corps, that Israel would have had at least two fully sufficient rationales for killing Fakhrizadeh: his roles in 1) Iran nuke weapon program & 2) IRGC

7/ Its longtime war against Israel, w/frequent terror attacks, means Iran has no legal grounds to complain if Israel kills head of nuke arms program designed to provide Iran w/ means to achieve frequently expressed genocidal desire to wipe off map #Israel and its 6 million Jews.

8/ Worth noting that the US Institute of Peace lists dozens of ILLEGAL killings by the IRGC, of which Fakhrizadeh was a senior officer, across four continents. This includes scores of Jewish civilians in Argentina & Bulgaria, Iranian dissidents, others. iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2020/sep/…