Monash Expert: The legal case for US involvement in Iran
The US shocked the world on Sunday when they attacked three nuclear sites inside Iran.
Questions have been raised about the legality of these strikes, and whether they breached international law.
Available to comment:
Dr Monique Cormier, Senior Lecturer in the Monash University Faculty of Law.
Contact details for written comments: [email protected]
Read more of Dr Cormier’s commentary on Monash Lens.
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International law and the right for a state to use force
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Israel’s claim on Iran’s nuclear program
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Legal case for US involvement in Iran
The following can be attributed to Dr Cormier:
“Under international law, a state traditionally has the right to use force in self-defence where it has been the subject of an armed attack. There is a limited extension of this right to situations in which the state using force in self-defence has not yet been attacked, but anticipates that a foreign attack is ‘instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation’. Any use of force in self-defence must be both necessary and proportionate.
“Israel is claiming that Iran’s nuclear program represents an existential threat and so the Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure was necessary as a self-defence measure. Reports vary as to how close Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon, but it appears that any threat to Israel was not so imminent as to leave no choice of alternative methods to deal with the situation.
“This means that it is difficult to argue that Israel's strikes against Iran were necessary under the legal definition of self-defence.
“It is also very difficult to make a legal case for the US's actions in Iran. International law recognises a right of collective self-defence, allowing other states to assist the state that is under attack, if requested.
“However, because Israel's own legal claim to self-defence is highly dubious, there is no real foundation on which the US can base a claim of collective self-defence.”
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