President Donald Trump said Wednesday night that the United States could escalate its military campaign against Iran by destroying critical civilian infrastructure, threatening to bomb the country into the “Stone Ages” as U.S. and Israeli forces continue strikes on energy facilities, medical sites, and transportation systems.
Speaking in prime time remarks, Trump outlined a timeline for intensified attacks over the next several weeks. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” he said, referring broadly to Iran, a nation of roughly 93 million people.
Trump indicated that electrical infrastructure could be targeted if negotiations do not produce a resolution to the war. “If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously,” he said. He also acknowledged the strategic significance of energy infrastructure, stating that the United States had refrained from targeting certain oil facilities because doing so could prevent recovery. “We have not hit their oil … because it would not give them even a small chance of surviving or rebuilding. But we could hit it.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reinforced the language shortly after the speech, posting on social media: “Back to the Stone Age.”
The threats came amid reports that U.S. and Israeli strikes have already damaged major oil and gas facilities as well as other sites essential to civilian life. According to the source material, targets have included a pharmaceutical factory producing cancer drugs, a century-old medical research center, residential buildings, and infrastructure relied upon by emergency responders aiding wounded civilians.
Trump expanded the scope of his threats the following day, referencing attacks on transportation and power systems. After sharing a video of a damaged Iranian bridge, Trump wrote that the United States “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran.” He then specified additional infrastructure targets, writing: “Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!” He added that Iranian leadership “knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”
Legal scholars and international observers have raised concerns that threats against infrastructure necessary for civilian survival could violate international humanitarian law. A letter published Thursday and signed by more than 100 international law experts characterized the war as a “clear violation of the United Nations Charter.”
The letter states that both the conduct of the war and statements by senior officials may indicate serious legal risks. “[T]he conduct of United States forces since, as well as statements made by senior government officials, raise serious concerns about violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including potential war crimes,” the signatories wrote.
The experts also warned about rhetoric suggesting that legal limits on warfare should be minimized. “Recent statements from senior U.S. government officials describing the rules governing military engagement as ‘stupid’ and prioritizing ‘lethality’ over ‘legality’ are profoundly alarming and dangerously short-sighted,” the letter states. “These claims, particularly in combination with the observable conduct of U.S. forces, are harming the international legal order.”
Brian Finucane, senior adviser to the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group, also warned that the president’s statements could signal unlawful conduct. Finucane described Trump’s comments as “more threats of war crimes as POTUS flails and seeks to coerce an exit to his own self-inflicted, unnecessary, and ill-conceived war.”
Trump’s language echoed phrasing widely associated with Curtis LeMay, a U.S. military commander known for directing large-scale aerial bombing campaigns during World War II and the Vietnam War. In his 1965 autobiography, LeMay described telling North Vietnamese forces to “stop their aggression, or we’re going to bomb them back into the Stone Age.”
The phrase became associated with a period of warfare marked by widespread destruction across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Historical estimates cited in the source material place the death toll from U.S. bombing campaigns in Vietnam and neighboring countries at approximately 4 million people. Decades after the war, unexploded ordnance continues to cause civilian deaths and injuries throughout the region.
LeMay later distanced himself from the phrase. In a 1968 interview with The Washington Post, he said, “I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it. I want to save lives on both sides.”
As the conflict continues, reports have emerged of Iranian military responses to U.S. operations. An Iranian official told journalist Jeremy Scahill that Iranian forces struck an F-15 fighter jet over Tehran, causing the aircraft to crash and sparking “an intense fire.” According to the official, the pilot could not have evacuated because of the “nature of the strike,” though “no remains have yet been found.”
As of the reporting referenced in the source material, U.S. Central Command had not publicly commented on the claim. The reported incident follows an earlier case in which a U.S. F-35 was forced to make an emergency landing at an air base in the Middle East after reportedly being struck by Iranian fire.
Political figures and analysts have also raised alarm about the direction of the war. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), the only Iranian American member of Congress, wrote: “War crime after war crime after war crime.” She added that the consequences of the conflict “will be vast and catastrophic.”
Ben Rhodes, a former national security official, criticized the stated rationale for the military campaign, writing that the actions have “nothing to do with nuclear or helping Iranians.” Rhodes added: “Just pointless forever war, death and destruction—a flailing, furious, rapidly declining superpower.”
International legal experts emphasized that statements by senior officials can play a role in evaluating whether violations of international law have occurred. The letter signed by more than 100 scholars warns that the conduct of the war and public comments describing the targeting of infrastructure may have lasting consequences for global legal norms governing armed conflict.
“These claims, particularly in combination with the observable conduct of U.S. forces, are harming the international legal order.”
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