Iran nuclear facilities bombed: Why West's leaders must be as committed to international law as Eisenhower

The debate about the legality of US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities – which may well have been necessary – should not be casually dismissed

The theocratic dictatorship that rules Iran is an evil, criminal regime. It has been responsible for acts of terrorism and murder in countries across the world and also oppresses and kills its own people on a truly horrific scale.

Writing in The Scotsman today, former Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson rightly calls for the West to support efforts by the Iranian opposition to overthrow the regime. As a long-time campaigner for true democracy in Iran, he is putting his life on the line. In 2018, he attended an opposition rally in Paris. An Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was later convicted of being part of a plot to bomb the meeting.

In 2023, a former Spanish MEP, Alejo Vidal Quadras – like Stevenson, a supporter of the Iranian opposition – was shot in an apparent assassination attempt. Thankfully, he survived and was able to accuse the Iranian government of trying to kill him.

READ MORE: How could Iran retaliate after US strikes its nuclear programme?

Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during the Second World War and later US President, understood the value of international law (Picture: Fox Photos) | Getty Images

Might is not right

The thought of such a violent regime possessing a nuclear weapon should, therefore, terrify us all, not just the citizens of Israel. So Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities may well have been the right one.

However, there is currently a debate about whether it was a legal one – under both US and international law – and this is a serious matter, not something to be casually dismissed.

International law and the associated institutions have long helped to keep the peace in much the same way as domestic laws do. Crimes are still committed but the potential sanctions have a deterring effect.

If our planet is turned into a lawless place where ‘might is right’, Vladimir Putin and other dictators will be delighted by the tacit green light for whatever acts of military aggression they think they can get away with.

In 1956, the then US President Dwight Eisenhower refused to support UK-French military action against Egypt over the Suez Crisis because it would have made a mockery of international law and posed a threat to world peace. And as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during the Second World War, he was well aware of the potential consequences. Today’s politicians should be equally wise.