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http://dx.doi.org/10.17176/20260327-163449-0 https://verfassungsblog.de/tyrannys-useful-idiot/ Tyranny’s Useful Idiot - The Narrative of International Law as an Obstacle to “Just Wars” Against Dictators Janz, Christopher eng 2026-03-27 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 International Law Iran Iran Israel Israel USA USA just war self-defence Iran Israel USA Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 In the aftermath of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, the US and Israel attempted to portray the attack as the continuation of an ongoing conflict, self-defence, as well as a humanitarian effort. However, most international lawyers condemned the attack as “manifestly illegal”. In response, they argued that the illegality “must be weighed against the principle of reality”, “given the murderous nature of the Iranian regime”. This narrative characterises international law as tyranny’s useful idiot. In reality, it serves as a justification to abandon the law as a practice to legitimise political actions.