February 28, 2026, New York – In response to the U.S./Israel bombing campaign in Iran, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

The Center for Constitutional Rights stands in solidarity with the people of Iran and across the region who are enduring bombardment and the horror of escalating war. As civilians bear the brunt of yet another catastrophic U.S./Israeli military campaign, we affirm the fundamental principle that no population should be subjected to collective punishment, indiscriminate violence, or endless war.

This escalation reflects a decades-long pattern of militarism and impunity that has devastated communities across the Middle East and Central-South Asia and eroded international legal norms meant to protect civilian life. We grieve the lives already lost and call for an immediate cessation of attacks and the protection of civilians, and we demand an end to impunity and the profound disregard for human rights.

This moment cannot be separated from the expansion of the post-9/11 “national security” state, particularly the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the founding of ICE, which both took place in March 2003. The same architecture that gave rise to normalized surveillance, secrecy, and impunity at home has enabled unaccountable violence abroad, creating a circular effect of increased lawlessness and collective precarity. The erosion of democratic oversight and international legal constraints, particularly when “terrorism” is opportunistically invoked, has made repeated military escalation not an exception, but a pattern.

This moment also comes just two months after the world – especially Latin America and the Caribbean – was jolted by the U.S. attack on Venezuela, ​​whose leader, surreally, sits in a prison cell in New York City under a gag order as the administration moves on to yet another attempt to remake a country through force. Then, as now, there was no pretense by the administration about the underlying U.S. interest for domination and control. In both cases the goal is resource extraction catalysed through state collapse and regime change; the exploitation of many for the enrichment of a narrow elite. The desperation of people in Iran suffering under the current regime is real. It is, however, ahistorical to think that this U.S. war, like any other in the region or beyond, will result in lasting health and well-being for the people and land of Iran.

Further, we condemn the role of Israel, a key partner of the U.S.’s always-expanding war machine, which has been pursuing regime change in Iran for decades. U.S./Israeli strikes in Iran today reportedly hit nuclear sites, in a dangerous and blatant violation of UN Charter article 2(4), as well as an elementary school, killing dozens of children in a horrifying replay of Israel’s crimes against Palestinians in its genocidal assault on Gaza. When any state is allowed to violate international law with impunity and even openly commit genocide without consequence, our collective humanity is degraded and every life is at risk. 

In this moment of acute danger, we stand with all people resisting war, displacement, occupation, subjugation, and authoritarian violence, and renew our commitment to real accountability, justice, and the preservation of human dignity for all people everywhere. We urge you to contact your members of Congress right now to demand an end to this war.