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(Washington,
D.C., June 15,
2026) – In
response to
the
announcement
of the U.S.
and Iran agreeing
on an
extension to
the ceasefire
and on a
framework for
negotiations
and the end of
hostilities,
DAWN issues
the following
statement:
“Ending
the war does
not
retroactively
legalize it,
nor does it
extinguish the
obligation to
account for
the crimes
committed in
it. A
ceasefire is
not an
amnesty,” said
Omar Shakir,
DAWN’s
Executive
Director.
“Israel and
the U.S.’
decision to
launch this
war violated
the UN
Charter, and
the way they
waged it
violated the
laws that
govern the
conduct of
hostilities.
Unless
Congress and
other states
press for
accountability,
the takeaway
will be that
states can
wage war
whenever and
however they
choose.”
“The
greatest
threat to this
agreement is
neither Iran
nor the United
States. It is
Israel,” said
Raed Jarrar,
DAWN’s
Advocacy
Director.
“Israel is not
a party to the
agreement and
its government
transparently
wants a
different
outcome. To
avoid Israel
again upending
the ceasefire,
President
Trump should
state
publicly that
any Israeli
strike or
other move to
derail the
agreement will
be met with a
suspension of
arms transfers
and sanctions
on the Israeli
officials who
order it.”
“The
extension of
this ceasefire
underscores a
reality that
diplomats and
nuclear
experts have
recognized for
years: Iran’s
nuclear
program can
only be
addressed
through
negotiations,
not war,” said
Omid Memarian,
DAWN’s Senior
Iran Analyst.
“With parties
now returning
to the
negotiating
table, it has
to be asked
why thousands
of people had
to die and so
much
destruction
had to occur
before
diplomacy was
allowed to run
its course.
The suffering
caused by this
war cannot be
treated as a
footnote to an
agreement that
could have
been pursued
from the
outset. Those
who chose
military
action over
diplomacy
should be held
accountable
for the
consequences
of that
choice. The
civilians
killed,
injured and
whose lives
have been
shattered
deserve
justice.”
Background
The
United States
and Israel
launched their
assault on
Iran on
February 28
without UN
Security
Council
authorization
and without a
lawful basis
in
self-defense
under Article
51 of the UN
Charter,
making the war
illegal, as
DAWN documented.
The war also
violated U.S.
domestic law
from the
outset: it
proceeded without a declaration of war,
a national
emergency
arising from
an attack on
the United
States, and no
statutory
authorization.
Oman,
who mediated
indirect
U.S.-Iran
talks before
the war,
indicated that
the pre-war
negotiations
were making
headway. On
February 27,
2026, Omani
Foreign
Minister Badr
Albusaidi told
CBS News' Face
the Nation
that "a peace
deal is within
our reach" if
diplomacy were
given "enough
room and
enough space"
to close the
remaining
gaps. He said
the parties
had achieved
"substantial
progress,"
including an
Iranian
commitment to
zero
stockpiling of
nuclear
material that
could be used
for a bomb,
conversion of
existing
enriched
material into
irreversible
fuel, and full
IAEA
verification.
After the U.S.
and Israel
launched their
assault,
Albusaidi said
he was
"dismayed"
that "active
and serious
negotiations"
had been
undermined,
and later wrote
that the
attack came
only hours
after "the
latest and
most
substantive
talks" and
struck against
"the peace
that had
briefly
appeared
really
possible."
Once
the war began,
U.S. and
Israeli forces
committed apparent war crimes,
including
strikes on a
girls’
elementary
school,
hospitals, and
30 fuel depots
that released
toxic
compounds
falling as
black acid
rain over
Tehran. The
U.S.-Israeli
assault has killed
more than
3,400 people
in Iran,
including more
than 370
children.
The
agreement follows
a fragile,
April 8, 2026
ceasefire that
was repeatedly
violated.
Trump said
on May 23 that
a deal to
reopen the
Strait of
Hormuz was
“largely
negotiated,”
with a framework
involving a
60-day
ceasefire
extension
during which
the strait
reopens, Iran
resumes oil
exports, and
nuclear
negotiations
continue
separately.
Even as the
framework came
together,
Netanyahu pressed
Trump to
resume strikes
on Iran.
Israel has
also violated
the
U.S.-brokered
Lebanon ceasefire
on an almost
daily basis
since it was
announced in
mid-April, and
on May 28,
2026, defied a
U.S. demand
not to strike
Beirut,
reportedly hitting
an apartment
building and killing
a woman and
two children.
Israeli forces
again struck
Beirut on June
7 in an
apparent
attempt to
sabotage the
emerging
Iran-U.S.
deal, killing
at least two
people, which
triggered an overnight escalation in
which Israel,
Iran and
regional
actors
exchanged
fire. Israeli
forces have
also continued taking over
land, killing
and starving
Palestinians
and destroying
civilian
infrastructure
in Gaza
despite an
October 2025
“ceasefire”
agreement.
Read the statement on
DAWN's
website: https://dawnmena.org/dawn-statement-on-the-u-s-iran-agreement-on-framework-to-end-hostilities/
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