Amnesty International: Iran's Drone Strikes on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia May Constitute War Crimes

A new accountability reckoning for Iran's Gulf drone campaign

Amnesty International published new research on Thursday concluding that Iranian drone strikes on civilian targets in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in March 2026 violated international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes.amnesty The findings cover two documented attacks that collectively killed four civilians and wounded at least 12 others, and come as the United States and Iran have reached a fragile preliminary ceasefire agreement that both sides are still disputing.reuters

What the strikes hit and who died

In the early hours of March 2, two Iranian Shahed drones struck the MT Stena Imperative, a civilian oil tanker docked for repairs at the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard in Al Hidd, Bahrain.jpost One Bangladeshi worker, SM Tareq, was killed and two others were injured; witnesses told Amnesty researchers they saw Tareq engulfed in flames.jpost Less than a week later, on March 8, an Iranian drone hit a labor camp in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, at around 4 p.m. while workers were preparing to break their Ramadan fast.jpost Three Bangladeshi nationals — Musharaff Hussain, 42; Abdullah Mamun; and Bachchu Mia, 35 — were killed, and 10 more were wounded.jpost The IRGC claimed it was targeting a radar system near the Prince Sultan Air Base some 15 kilometers away; witnesses told Amnesty that no military forces had ever been present at the camp.jpost

A pattern of unlawful targeting across the Gulf

Amnesty's findings align with an earlier Human Rights Watch report from March that documented at least 11 civilian deaths and 268 injuries from Iranian drone and missile strikes across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE since the broader regional conflict began on February 28.hrw HRW found that Iran had struck hotels, residential buildings, airports, financial centers, and embassies — with migrant workers bearing the heaviest toll of the dead.hrw Iran's IRGC general Ebrahim Jabbari was quoted saying Tehran would "hit all economic centers in the region," a statement HRW characterized as evidence of unlawful targeting intent.hrw Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for the strikes in March and pledged they would stop, but attacks continued for weeks afterward.hrw

Accountability pressure mounts as ceasefire holds tenuously

Heba Morayef, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director, said civilians "are paying with their lives in attacks by Iran that must be investigated as war crimes" and called on Iranian authorities to stop targeting civilian infrastructure.jpost The legal exposure lands in delicate diplomatic territory: the US and Iran signed a preliminary ceasefire agreement on June 17, committing to a 60-day window of further negotiations, though both sides are still disputing its terms.reuters Amnesty's report increases international pressure on Iran to be held accountable for civilian deaths that occurred before the ceasefire, even as diplomats work to prevent renewed hostilities.