Statement on German Foreign Policy in Light of the U.S. and Israeli Attacks on Iran
As scholars specializing in International Law and International Relations, we are concerned about the German government’s response to the attack launched by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28, 2026. The German federal government’s statements to date do not clearly condemn this action. This violates international law and thus contributes to the further erosion of the rules-based and institutional order in Europe and in the world.
The use of military force against Iran by Israel and the United States constitutes a violation of the prohibition on the use of force under international law.
Since no armed attack by Iran on Israel, the United States, or any other state was imminent, the use of force is not justified by the right to self-defense. At the time of the attack, the U.S. and Iranian governments were still in negotiations regarding the Iranian nuclear program, and there is no evidence that the production and use of a nuclear bomb or other weapons were imminent.
Nor do the Iranian government’s unprecedented atrocities against its own population justify the missile and bombing strikes by the US and Israel on targets in Iran. The use of armed force by states in response to serious human rights violations and humanitarian emergencies can only be authorized by resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. Invoking the controversial instrument of humanitarian intervention in fulfillment of the responsibility to protect, even without a UN mandate, is out of the question because the form in which the attacks are carried out and the selection of targets clearly do not serve to improve the humanitarian situation of the Iranian population. Neither the U.S. nor Israel has sought a multilateral approach by appealing to the Security Council or the General Assembly.
The Federal Government must take the illegality of this attack into consideration when taking decisions about the use of military bases on German territory, unless it wants to violate both international law and the German Basic Law.
Germany’s historical responsibility, as well as the Basic Law’s inherent alignment with international law, oblige the Federal Government to respect and strengthen fundamental norms of international law as the foundation of German foreign policy. The prohibition of the use of force is a necessary condition for a peaceful world order and is therefore non-negotiable. International cooperation, global governance, and transnational economic transactions are based on mutual trust that these rules will be respected.
Only a principled foreign policy can provide the background for ensuring that international law can also be demanded of other states in the future (e.g., in the demand for the security and sovereignty of Ukraine and Greenland). If third countries perceive the German federal government’s enforcement of international legal norms as selective, this impression of double standards may undermine future agreements and trust-based cooperation.
In the long term, therefore, it is not only morally and legally imperative, but also in Germany’s own interest, to insist on a rules-based order and to act accordingly. We therefore call for a return to the foundations of German foreign policy, which are based on the UN Charter and the Basic Law and which are mindful of embedding international relations in broadly agreed principles, norms and rules.
- Prof. Dr. Anne van Aaken, University of Hamburg
- Prof. Dr. Andreas von Arnauld, Kiel University (CAU Kiel)
- Prof. Dr. Felix Anderl, University of Marburg
- Prof. Dr. Grażyna Baranowska, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nuremberg (FAU)
- Prof. Dr. Jochen von Bernstorff, University of Tübingen
- Prof. Dr. Christina Binder, Bundeswehr University Munich
- Prof. Dr. Christine Binzel, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nuremberg (FAU)
- Prof. Dr. Hannah Birkenkötter, ITAM (Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico)
- Prof. Dr. Sigrid Boysen, Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
- Prof. Dr. Marten Breuer, University of Konstanz
- Prof. Dr. Susanne Buckley-Zistel, University of Marburg
- Prof. Dr. Philipp Dann, Humboldt University of Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Tobias Debiel, University of Duisburg–Essen
- Prof. Dr. Janina Dill, University of Oxford
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Diez, University of Tübingen
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Fischer-Lescano, University of Kassel
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Giegerich, Saarland University
- Prof. Dr. Matthias Goldmann, EBS University of Business and Law
- Prof. Dr. Michaela Hailbronner, University of Münster (WWU)
- Prof. Dr. Felix Hanschmann, Bucerius Law School
- Prof. Dr. Gisela Hirschmann, Leiden University
- Prof. Dr. Anna Holzscheiter, TU Dresden (Technical University of Dresden)
- Prof. Dr. Till Patrik Holterhus, Saarland University
- Prof. Macartan Humphreys, Ph.D., WZB Berlin Social Science Center
- Prof. Dr. Florian Jeßberger, Humboldt University of Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Oliver Kessler, University of Erfurt
- Prof. Dr. Daniel-Erasmus Khan, Bundeswehr University Munich
- Prof. Dr. Simon Koschut, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen
- Prof. Dr. Markus Kotzur, University of Hamburg
- Prof. Dr. Markus Krajewski, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nuremberg (FAU)
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Kulick, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)
- Prof. Dr. Heike Krieger, Free University of Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Nico Krisch, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
- Prof. Dr. Felix Lange, University of Cologne
- Prof. Dr. Andrea Liese, University of Potsdam
- Prof. Dr. Philip Liste, Fulda University of Applied Sciences (HS Fulda)
- Prof. Dr. Matthias Mahlmann, University of Zurich
- Prof. Dr. Christian Marxsen, Humboldt University of Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Franz Mayer, Bielefeld University
- Prof. Dr. Nele Matz-Lück, Kiel University (CAU Kiel)
- Prof. Dr. Stefan Oeter, University of Hamburg
- Prof. Dr. Mehrdad Payandeh, Bucerius Law School
- Prof. Dr. Birgit Peters, University of Trier
- Dr. Hanna Pfeifer, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH)
- Prof. Dr. Eva Pils, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nuremberg (FAU)
- Prof. Dr. Alexander Proelß, University of Hamburg
- Prof. Dr. Nina Reiners, University of Oslo
- Prof. Dr. Dagmar Richter, Saarland University
- Prof. Dr. Solveig Richter, University of Leipzig
- Prof. Dr. Conrad Schetter, University of Bonn & Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC)
- Prof. Dr. Klaus Schlichte, University of Bremen
- Prof. Dr. Bernhard Stahl, University of Passau
- Prof. Dr. Dominik Steiger, TU Dresden (Technical University of Dresden)
- Prof. Dr. Christian Walter, LMU Munich (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
- Prof. Dr. Antje Wiener, University of Hamburg
- Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
- Prof. Dr. Aziz Epik, University of Hamburg
- Dr. Michel Erpelding, Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory
- Dr. Sassan Gholiagha, Leibniz University Hannover
- Prof. Dr. Tobias Ide, TU Darmstadt (Technical University of Darmstadt)
- Prof. Dr. Henning Lahmann, Leiden University
- Jun.-Prof. Dr. Maximilian Mayer, University of Bonn
- Prof. Dr. Henning Melber, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala
- Prof. Dr. Daniel Naujoks, Columbia University
- Prof. Dr. Norman Weiß, University of Potsdam
- Prof. Dr. Markus W. Gehring, University of Cambridge
- Prof. Dr. Michael Brzoska, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH)
- Prof. Dr. Manuel Brunner, University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration North Rhine-Westphalia (HSPV NRW)
- Prof. Dr. Julia Eckert, University of Bern
- Prof. a.D. Dr. Bernhard Frevel, University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration North Rhine-Westphalia (HSPV NRW)
- Prof. Dr. Robert Frau, TU Freiberg (Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg)
- Dr. Alke Jenss, University of Freiburg (ALU Freiburg)
- Prof. Dr. Nicolas Lamp, Queen’s University, Ontario
- Dr. Wolfgang Minatti, Leuphana University Lüneburg
- Dr. Christian Scheper, University of Duisburg–Essen
- Prof. Dr. Werner Schroeder, University of Innsbruck
- Dr. Hendrik Simon, Goethe University Frankfurt / Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF)
- Prof. Dr. Carsten Stahn, Leiden Law School & Queen’s University Belfast
- Prof. Dr. Patrick C. R. Terry, University of Public Administration Kehl (HÖV Kehl)
- Prof. Dr. Silja Vöneky, University of Freiburg (ALU Freiburg)
- Dr. Irene Weipert-Fenner, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF)
- Dr. Carmen Wunderlich, University of Duisburg–Essen
- Prof. Dr. Christiane Ahlborn, Trinity College Dublin
- Dr. Patrick Flamm, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF)
- Prof. Dr. Dr. Valentin Jeutner, Lund University
- Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Rossa, Bundeswehr University Munich
- Prof. Dr. Wolfram Schaffar, University of Passau
- Prof. Dr. Angelika Siehr, Bielefeld University
- Prof. Dr. Christian Thies, University of Passau
- Dr. Nella Sayatz, Humboldt University of Berlin