United Nations human rights officials are urging the U.N. Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, citing documented atrocities committed by forces loyal to the Bashar al-Assad regime during the country’s two-year-long conflict. Most plausible scenarios for prosecution of Syrian officials would require a referral by the United Nations Security Council, where Russia and China have both used their veto authority to shield Assad and his allies. The report comes in the wake of new evidence pointing to broad Iranian complicity in purported war crimes. Last week, a top Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander was killed inside Syria, and this week Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah reportedly lost troops on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Lebanese border. Hezbollah has been criticized for directly participating in potential war crimes committed on behalf of Damascus.