In early March 2026, after a Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli joint attack on Iran that killed the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, social media users claimed that the United Nations Security Council had declared U.S. President Donald Trump a "wanted international war criminal."
The rumor spread on Facebook (screenshotted), X and Instagram (screenshotted).
Meanwhile, Snopes readers asked whether the claim was true.
It was not. While the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting following the military strikes, it had not released any resolutions, presidential statements or news releases that labeled Trump as a war criminal at the time of publication. A Google search showed no reputable news outlets had reported that the council declared Trump a war criminal, which would have been the case if the claim were true.
Furthermore, the United States is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and has veto power over decisions it makes. That means the United States would be able to overrule any potential attempt by the U.N. Security Council to label Trump a war criminal.
As such, we have rated this claim false.
What U.N. secretary-general, Iran ambassador said
On Feb. 28, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Iran's subsequent retaliation. He called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation."
The full, two-hour emergency session of the U.N. Security Council held in reaction to the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran is available on the U.N. website.
The U.N. also provided live updates of the meeting. A search of those updates found only Iran's ambassador,
U.S. power over U.N. Security Council
The U.N. Security Council, widely considered the organization's most powerful body, oversees international peace and security. It is made up of 15 U.N. member nations. Five of those members are permanent, whereas the other 10 are elected for two-year terms by U.N. member countries.
The United States is a permanent member alongside China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Article 27 of the Charter of the United Nations grants all permanent members the power to veto all decisions the council makes, aside from procedural decisions like changing the meeting agenda (emphasis ours):
1. Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote.
2. Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members.
3. Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is nominated by the president and represents U.S. interests. As of this writing, the current ambassador is Mike Waltz, a former Republican congressman, White House adviser and Department of Defense policy director.
As such, under U.N. rules, it would be impossible for the Security Council to take any official actions labeling Trump as a war criminal without U.S. support, which would be highly unlikely while he is in office.