Fawaz Gerges writes:

Like the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, Israel’s war on Iran is neither legal nor just. It is a war of choice, not of necessity – and should the US or its European allies, particularly Britain, join in, they risk being dragged into another disastrous and unlawful conflict in the Middle East.

A US military intervention would be in direct contravention of international law. Already, the US, once the architect and guardian of the international order, is now among its chief violators. Instead of pressuring Benjamin Netanyahu to end his siege and destruction of Gaza, Donald Trump has fully sided with Netanyahu and called Israel’s attacks on Iran “excellent”. He has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”. Trump is considering military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Doing so is explicitly prohibited under article 56 of the additional protocol to the Geneva conventions because of the danger of nuclear contamination.

Britain, meanwhile, must tread carefully. The attorney general has reportedly warned that any UK military involvement beyond defensive support would be illegal. Richard Hermer, the government’s top legal adviser, is said to have raised internal concerns about the legality of joining a bombing campaign.

The foundation of Israel’s justification for launching pre-emptive strikes and of Washington’s quiet complicity is alarming. The core claim is that Iran was rapidly taking steps to “weaponise its uranium”, with Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, repeatedly warning that Tehran was approaching a point of no return in developing a nuclear bomb.

But Netanyahu’s narrative flatly contradicts the US intelligence assessment, which found that not only is Iran not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, it remains at least three years away from having the capability to do so. The CIA disputes the Israeli claim that Iran is close to crossing a nuclear threshold. [Continue reading…]