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Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Are Israel's attacks against Iran legal?
United States President Donald Trump is considering joining Israel in what it claims are its efforts to destroy Iran's nuclear programme, based on its stated belief that Iran is 'very close' to developing a nuclear weapon. Israel argues that it has carried out attacks on Iran's military and nuclear sites over the past week in anticipation of an Iranian nuclear attack. But is this a valid justification? The United Nations Charter, which is the founding document for states' rights since World War II, outlaws aggressive war, allowing military action only as self-defence. Only the UN Security Council is empowered to decide if military action is justified, once countries have tried and failed to resolve their differences peacefully. If a country is attacked while the UNSC deliberates, that country still has the 'inherent right of individual or collective self-defence', however. The question of the legality of Israel's strikes on Iran, therefore, revolves around whether Israel – and any allies coming to its aid – can justify its attacks on Iran as 'anticipatory' self-defence. Many experts say they are not. 'This is not a situation in which Israel is allegedly responding to an Iranian attack occurring now, whether directly or through proxies such as the Houthis,' wrote Marko Milanovic, a professor of public international law at Reading University who has served on the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the European Journal of International Law, which he edits. Israel cannot make the case that an attack is imminent, argued Milanovic. 'There is little evidence that Iran has irrevocably committed itself to attacking Israel with a nuclear weapon, once it develops this capability,' wrote Milanovic. 'And even if such an intention was assumed – again, it would be for Israel to provide any further evidence of such intention – I don't see how it could plausibly be argued that using force today was the only option available.' 'Even if the broadest possible [legally plausible] understanding of anticipatory self-defence was taken as correct, Israel's use of force against Iran would be illegal,' he concluded. The United Kingdom's chief legal counsel, Richard Hermer, advised Prime Minister Keir Starmer against getting involved in any attack on Iran, 'unless our personnel are targeted', according to Sky News. 'The possibility of acting in self-defence in view of an attack that might be coming is illegal in international law and we're all very, very clear about that,' agreed Maria Gavouneli, a professor of international law at Athens University. She said nuclear weapons have been discussed in international legal circles as a special case. 'There might be a chance for anticipatory self-defence, in other words, an exception to the rule, when we have clear evidence that there is a nuclear weapon being built,' Gavouneli told Al Jazeera. Israel might try to make the case that its 'continued existence was at stake and they had to act', she said. To make this case, Israel would need 'warranties, some kind of evidence offered by the International Atomic Energy Agency', the UN's nuclear IAEA has said that it cannot verify what Iran is doing. But it has not clearly suggested that Iran may be building a bomb. Iran stopped cooperating with the IAEA in February 2021 after Trump annulled a key agreement during his first term that obliged it to do so. That agreement – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – had been negotiated by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, in 2015. On June 9, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Iran's failures to comply with reporting obligations had 'led to a significant reduction in the agency's ability to verify whether Iran's nuclear programme is entirely peaceful'. He said Iran had 'repeatedly either not answered, or not provided technically credible answers to, the agency's questions' regarding the presence of man-made uranium particles at three locations – Varamin, Marivan and Turquzabad – and had 'sought to sanitise the locations'. Grossi also described Iran's 'rapid accumulation of highly-enriched uranium' as a 'serious concern'. He was referring to 60 percent pure uranium enrichment facilities at Fordow and Natanz, and the IAEA's discovery of 83.7 percent pure uranium particles at Fordow in 2023. Weapons-grade uranium is at least 90 percent pure. Under the JCPOA, Iran was to have uranium at no higher than 5 percent purity. On June 12, just before Israel launched its assault on Iran's military and nuclear sites, the IAEA approved a resolution declaring that Tehran was not complying with its commitment to international nuclear safeguards. However, this week, Grossi emphasised that the IAEA had found no evidence of Iranian nuclear weapons production. 'We did not have any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon,' he said. Iran has responded that it is a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), under which it has agreed not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, and the discovery of highly enriched particles at its sites may be the result of sabotage or malicious acts. On Monday, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that lawmakers were preparing a bill to withdraw Tehran from the NPT, in light of the Israeli attacks. In 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed Iraq's unfinished Osirak nuclear reactor, which was being built by French commercial interests, invoking anticipatory self-defence. But the UNSC Resolution 487 (PDF) strongly condemned the attack as a violation of the UN Charter and the 'inalienable and sovereign right of Iraq and all other States, especially the developing countries, to establish programmes of technological and nuclear development to develop their economy and industry for peaceful purposes'. It also noted that Israel is not a signatory to the NPT. Israel is currently believed to possess 90 nuclear bombs. Then-President George W Bush also invoked the argument of preemptive self-defence when justifying the 2003 US war against Iraq. He suggested Iraq might one day 'cooperate with terrorists' to deliver a weapon of mass destruction on US soil, even though UN weapons inspectors said there was no hard evidence Iraq was developing such a weapon. The UNSC refused to endorse Bush's war, but he went ahead anyway with a 'coalition of the willing'. Once in control of Iraq, foreign troops discovered no weapons of mass destruction. In 2018, Israel revealed it had bombed a Syrian reactor 11 years before, apparently only just before it became operational, believing it to be part of a plan of the then-government of Bashar al-Assad to acquire nuclear weapons. Under Operation Outside the Box, it destroyed the North Korean-built plutonium reactor in Deir Az Zor in September 2007. Israel's justification was, again, that it was anticipating a Syrian nuclear attack. Israel killed several top Iranian physicists working on Iran's nuclear programme on June 13. It is suspected of having been involved in several more assassinations of Iranian physicists and engineers since 2010. Milanovic said scientists who were enlisted in the armed forces of Iran could be considered fighters and targeted. However, he said, 'scientists who are civilians – and most probably are – cannot lawfully be made the object of an attack. Simply working on a weapons programme as a researcher does not entail direct participation in hostilities that could remove civilian immunity from an attack'. Both countries have been criticised for carrying out attacks on each other's hospitals. About 70 people were injured when Iranian missiles hit the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba in southern Israel on Thursday. Israel accused Iran of a 'war crime', but Iran said the hospital was close to a military site, which was the real target. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed the missile attack hit an Israeli military and intelligence centre located near Soroka hospital, causing only 'superficial damage to a small section' of the health facility. Meanwhile, Israel itself has damaged or destroyed the vast majority of hospitals and medical centres in the Gaza Strip since its war on the Palestinian territory began on October 7, 2023. In many cases, it has argued that Hamas was using those sites as cover for its operations. But it is not permitted to strike hospitals and medical facilities under international law. The International Committee of the Red Cross, referring to international humanitarian law, states: 'Under IHL, hospitals and other medical facilities – whether civilian or military – enjoy specific protection that goes beyond the general protection afforded to other civilian objects. This elevated protection ensures that they remain functional when they are needed most. These protections were put in place by the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims in 1949.' Israel also struck the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, interrupting a live broadcast on Monday. TV anchor Sahar Emami denounced the 'aggression against the homeland' and the 'truth' as a blast went off and smoke and debris filled the screen. The footage then showed her fleeing the studio as a voice is heard calling, 'God is greatest'. Israel has also targeted and killed more than 200 journalists and media workers in Gaza since October 2023. In 2021, a building housing the offices of Al Jazeera and The Associated Press news agency in Gaza was destroyed in an Israeli strike. Media professionals do not have special protections under the Geneva Conventions, but they are protected under the same clauses that protect all civilians in armed conflict, according to the British Institute of Comparative and International Law.
Saudi Gazette
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
US joining Israeli strikes would cause hell, says Iranian minister
LONDON — The US joining Israeli strikes would cause "hell for the whole region", Iran's deputy foreign minister has told the BBC. Saeed Khatibzadeh said this is "not America's war" and if US President Donald Trump does get involved, he will always be remembered as "a president who entered a war he doesn't belong in". He said US involvement would turn the conflict into a "quagmire", continue aggression and delay an end to the "brutal atrocities". His comments came after the Soroka hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack. Iranian state media reported that the strike targeted a military site next to the hospital, and not the facility itself. Israel's Ministry of Health said 71 people were injured during the attack on the Soroka Medical Center. Meanwhile, Israel's military said it had targeted Iran's nuclear sites including the "inactive" Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz has not given an update on casualties in Iran from Israeli latest attacks come at a critical time. On Thursday, the White House said Trump would decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the conflict within the next two to the BBC, Khatibzadeh insisted that "of course, diplomacy is the first option", but said but while bombardment continues "we cannot start any negotiation".He repeatedly called Iran's attacks on Israel "self defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter" and said "we were in the middle of diplomacy" when in a major escalation of the conflict on 13 June, Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, killing several top generals and nuclear deputy foreign minister called the conflict "unprovoked" and "unnecessary".Responding to Trump's repeated comments that the conflict could have been avoided if Iran had accepted a nuclear deal, Khatibzadeh said they were negotiating until Israel "sabotaged" discussions by launching attacks Iran."We were planning to have the sixth round of nuclear talks in Muscat, and we were actually on the verge of reaching an agreement," he said."President Trump knows better than anybody else that we were on the verge of reaching an agreement."He also criticized Trump's "confusing and contradictory" social media posts and interviews, which he said indicated "that Americans have been aware and have participated" in the special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have reportedly spoken on the phone several times since Friday, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, Reuters to three diplomats who spoke to the news agency and asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, Araqchi said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the has alleged Iran has recently "taken steps to weaponise" its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear program is entirely Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — the UN's nuclear watchdog - said Iran had amassed enough uranium enriched up to 60% purity - a short technical step away from weapons grade, or 90% — to potentially make nuclear bombs."This is nonsense," Khatibzadeh said in response. "You cannot start a war based on speculation or intention."If we wanted to have a nuclear bomb, we would have had it way before."Iran has never developed any program for nuclear weaponization of peaceful nuclear activities. Bottom line."IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that nuclear facilities "must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment".Khatibzadeh also discussed potential diplomatic channels after a G7 summit in said: "What we are hearing from Europeans is that they would like to get back to diplomacy at a ministerial level"."They are going to have a meeting in Geneva and we are very much happy that finally they have to come and talk at the table about the issues at hand." — BBC
India Today
8 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Moral support, no military aid: Pak denies receiving any request from Iran
Pakistan on Thursday said it has received no request for any 'military assistance' from Iran in the ongoing conflict against Israel while stressing that the Islamic Republic has the right to defend itself.'Pakistan's position on Iran is clear and transparent: We provide full moral support to Iran; we strongly condemn the aggression against Iran,' Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said at the weekly press briefing said no request has been received from Tehran to provide asylum to Iranian refugees in Pakistan, which borders the Islamic Republic. 'Nor has Iran asked us for any kind of military assistance so far,' he added. "Iran has the right to defend itself under the UN Charter," Khan stated that twenty-one Muslim countries rejected the Israeli aggression against Iran in a joint statement, calling the Israeli actions against international law and the UN spokesperson said that the situation in Iran was a cause for grave concerns for Pakistan and asked for ending the Israel also said that Pakistan supported a negotiated resolution to the Iran-Israel Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held telephonic contacts with the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom and highlighted that Israeli actions against Iran can have dangerous effects in the region and beyond, Khan spokesperson also stressed that targeting Iranian nuclear facilities was a violation of IAEA safeguards and other international also said that the Pakistani Embassy in Tehran and the consulates in Mashhad and Zahedan were assisting in the evacuation of Pakistani nationals. He added that so far 3,000 Pakistanis have been brought InTrending Reel IN THIS STORY#Pakistan#Iran#Israel
Business Recorder
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Israel's attack on Iran violates international law: FO
ISLAMABAD: Expressing Pakistan's unambiguous stance, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson strongly condemned the Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, calling them a sheer violation of international law. 'Pakistan strongly condemns unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Israeli military strikes violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and clearly contravene the UN Charter and fundamental principles of international law. Iran has the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.' Pakistan stands in resolute solidarity with the people of Iran and unequivocally denounces these blatant provocations, which constitute a grave danger and a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the entire region and beyond, with serious implications. Dar tells Senate: Pakistan, other OIC member states slam Israeli aggression against Iran FO Spokesperson Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan stated this while speaking at a weekly media briefing on Thursday. He; however, dismissed the reports of regime change in Iran, terming them speculative and rumors. To a query, he asserted that no requests have so for been made by Iran regarding security assistance or hosting refugees in case of prolonged conflict between Iran and Israel. 'Pakistan strongly advocates for diplomatic solutions and wishes Iran to engage constructively,' he remarked. On the IAEA resolution concerning Iran, Ambassador Khan said Pakistan abstained from voting. 'Pakistan firmly supports diplomacy to de-escalate the Iran-Israel conflict, which poses a serious threat to regional and global security.' Responding to questions regarding Field Marshal Asim Munir's meeting with US President Donald J Trump in the White House, Ambassador Shafqat chose to not go into the details saying, the ISPR statement covers all aspects and is self-explanatory. Reaffirming the robust ties between Pakistan and the United States, Field Marshal appreciated the role played by President Trump in defusing recent tensions with eastern neighbour and facilitating a ceasefire between Pakistan and India. The FO spokesperson highlighted that India has been involved in state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan and globally. He stated that efforts are being made to evacuate Pakistanis from conflict zones are ongoing, with estimated 3,000 citizens have been successfully repatriated via Taftan, Baku, and Baghdad. With regard to recent conflict in May, the spokesperson asserted that Pakistan took measured actions in response to Indian provocations and aggressions, in line with international law. Islamabad continues to emphasise peaceful resolutions, particularly regarding the Kashmir dispute, he added. He announced that Pakistan is fully prepared to welcome and host Sikh pilgrims for Guru Arjun Dev Gee celebrations. However, the spokesperson added that no visa applications have been submitted to the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi for Guru Arjan Dev Gee's anniversary. Pakistan reiterates its commitment to peaceful conflict resolution and diplomacy, stressing that even a courteous acknowledgment from a leader like President Trump holds significance. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
NHK
11 hours ago
- Politics
- NHK
Putin, Xi discuss Israel-Iran conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed the conflict between Israel and Iran during telephone talks on Thursday. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov says the leaders "firmly condemn Israel's actions," calling them a "violation of the UN Charter." Ushakov says they "adopted a position of principle in their belief that the current situation and matters relating to the Iranian nuclear programme cannot be resolved by force." This comment appears to target US President Donald Trump's administration, which has not ruled out military intervention. A remark by Xi, released by China's foreign ministry, also appears to call on the United States to exercise restraint. The ministry says Xi told Putin that the international community, especially major countries with special influence over the parties involved, should make efforts to calm the situation, not the opposite. Ushakov adds, "In view of this increasingly challenging environment, the two leaders agreed to instruct their respective teams in the relevant agencies and services of the two countries to work closely together in the coming days by sharing insights and perspectives."
