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Australia’s expression of support for the patently unlawful use of force by the US and Israel against Iran sets Australia apart among the US’ closest allies and carries significant risks for Australia.
The submission argues that the US capture of Venezuela’s sitting president cannot be legally justified under Article 51, as drug trafficking and alleged narco-terrorism do not meet the threshold of an “armed attack,” nor were the requirements of necessity, proportionality, or Security Council reporting satisfied. It further contends that the operation violated the prohibition on the use of force, the principle of non-intervention, and Venezuela’s sovereignty, amounting in effect to unlawful regime change. The arrest of Nicolás Maduro is also said to breach customary international law on head-of-state immunity, which applies irrespective of political recognition so long as effective control exists. Overall, the episode is framed as a dangerous precedent that stretches self-defence doctrine and undermines the credibility of the international legal order by privileging power over law.
‘Fordow’ is the name of a village located in the mountainous Qom province in North-West Iran. It is also the site of a former nuclear enrichment plant which is likely to become familiar among students of international law. On the 22nd of June this year the US military targeted Fordow and other facilities at Natanz and Isfahan. These American operations were the latest example in an accelerating erosion of international legal constraints on states’ use of force. This decline carries implications for all states and one which should be of particular concern to the Australian Government. * Compliance with conditions which justify a modern ‘right to war’ or jus ad bellum is a familiar concept...