President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to continue strikes on Iran for a second night, threatening vital civilian infrastructure including desalination plants.
President Donald Trump, flanked by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, 2026, delivering stark new threats against the Iranian government.
Escalating Strikes and Infrastructure Threats
On Wednesday, Trump confirmed that American operations would persist for another night. He warned that if necessary, the United States would seize much of the country’s oil reserves while targeting vital electric and desalination facilities. International law experts have repeatedly cautioned that striking civilian infrastructure such as desalination plants constitutes a war crime due to the disproportionate harm inflicted on civilian populations.
The renewed military campaign comes in direct response to maritime skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global choke point that carried roughly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and natural gas prior to the conflict. Under a June 17 interim agreement, Iran had ostensibly permitted unhindered passage for 60 days without tolls. However, leadership in Tehran insisted that oil tankers use designated navigation routes.
“Based on their actions over the last week or two, they’re not doing a service to the people. I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them.”
President Donald Trump, via Mother Jones
Economic Pressures and Sberbank Warnings in Russia
Meanwhile, the four-year-old war in Ukraine continues to exact a heavy toll on Russia’s domestic economy, drawing unprecedented public warnings from the nation’s financial leadership. German Gref, head of the state-controlled Sberbank, publicly urged Vladimir Putin to bring an end to military hostilities, warning that prolonged conflict is dragging the nation toward economic collapse.
Speaking on state television, Gref pointed to surging interest rates, acute fuel shortages, and mounting disruptions from Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries. Russia’s Central Bank previously elevated its key interest rate to 21 percent in late 2024 to combat inflation, and although borrowing costs were trimmed to 14.25 percent in June, regulators warn that elevated rates must remain in place amid a widening budget deficit.
“I think we are all worried about the same thing. I don’t believe there is anyone in this country whose primary concern is anything other than an end to military hostilities as soon as possible.”
German Gref, head of Sberbank, via New York Post
Demobilisation Fears and Organised Crime Risks
Beyond immediate fiscal damage, the protracted conflict in Ukraine has sparked serious security concerns regarding a potential resurgence of organized crime within Russia. Criminologists note that historical parallels from the post-Soviet “wild 90s”—when weak institutions and economic chaos spawned violent criminal syndicates—risk repeating themselves as hundreds of thousands of military personnel eventually demobilise.
Since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, Russia has mobilized a vast military force, including up to 180,000 former convicts who received pardons in exchange for frontline service.
Systemic Reparation Delays for War Survivors
The long-term social costs of armed conflict are mirrored in the ongoing struggles faced by civilian survivors seeking formal justice and reparations. In Bosnia, war crimes victims’ associations report a profound disparity in how compensation is administered by the courts.
“The key difference is that people who have been acquitted generally manage to collect the amount awarded in a relatively short time, while victims, despite final verdicts, often wait years for payment or never receive it at all.”
Women Victims of War, via Balkan Insight
Psychologists emphasize that prolonged administrative roadblocks severely impair recovery. Azra Frlj, a psychologist with the Progress Association, noted that survivors carry heavy burdens of stigma, impaired health, and economic hardship while waiting for institutional acknowledgment.
“When individuals wait years or decades for verdicts to be enforced, rights to be realised, or access to the support they need, it deepens feelings of invisibility, abandonment, and mistrust toward institutions.”
Azra Frlj, psychologist at the Progress Association, via Balkan Insight
Legal challenges addressing these systemic failures have yielded limited practical relief. In 2017, TRIAL International filed a case before the UN Committee against Torture on behalf of a Bosnian conflict-related sexual violence survivor. Although the UN ordered public apologies and prompt compensation in 2019, the survivor remains uncompensated years later, prompting four additional appeals from other claimants facing similar institutional inertia.
