Following the US-Israel attacks on Iran (which have been called illegal and also an act of aggression), hundreds of civilians are dead, including a dozen members of the civilian family of Iran’s Supreme Leader and schoolgirls. These attacks have led to a widespread discussion in legal parlance regarding the legality or illegality of these attacks and also the counterattacks launched by Iran against the Gulf States (Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait) with US military bases.

In this debate, some scholars are arguing that Iran’s attacks on the Gulf States are illegal because the Gulf states claim that their bases have not been used for the attacks in Iran, and Iran’s attacks against the Gulf states, as well as against Israel, are disproportionate.

There is widespread agreement on how the US-Israel attacks on Iran are inherently illegal, how the UK offering its air base to the US for collective self-defence is illegal, and how targeting civilians by either party is a violation of the principles of international humanitarian law and international law.

However, the core question remains to be answered: Does Iran’s attack on the Gulf States amount to a violation of international law? Let us approach this question from three angles: self-defence, the role of a third state, and state responsibility.

First of all, Iran has been attacked by the US and Israel, which is a flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, prohibiting the use of force against the territorial sovereignty of a state. The conditions that normally justify the use of force do not........

© The Friday Times