WIREDGOV

EXPERT COMMENT

The attacks – and the assassination of Supreme Leader Khamenei – create precedents for other countries seeking to resort to force without consideration for the rule of law.

The United States has taken a further, major step in unhinging the global order. The core principle of that order is that no state can go to war in pursuit of its own national policy. Where use of force is claimed as necessary in the global interest, this can only be done through a mandate from the UN Security Council. 

After last year’s Israeli-US strikes against Iran, President Donald Trump’s threats of force against Greenland, the conflict in Gaza, Israel’s attack on Qatar and other cases, including most notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it seems as if we are now moving to a world where deference to international law is no longer seen as decisive and the use of force is becoming the new normal. 

The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei, at the outset of the conflict has put this into even sharper focus.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.