17 March 2026
Stellungnahme zur deutschen Außenpolitik im Zuge der Angriffe der USA und Israels auf den Iran
Als Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler, die sich mit Völkerrecht und den internationalen Beziehungen befassen, sind wir besorgt über die Reaktionen der deutschen Politik auf den am 28. Februar 2026 gestarteten Angriff der USA und Israels auf die Islamische Republik Iran. Die bisherigen Stellungnahmen der deutschen Bundesregierung lassen keine klare Verurteilung des völkerrechtswidrigen Vorgehens erkennen und tragen damit zur weiteren Aushöhlung der regelbasierten und institutionellen Ordnung in Europa und der Welt bei. Continue reading >>
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17 March 2026
Condemning the Counterstrike Without the Cause
On 12 March 2026, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution condemning Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Gulf states and Jordan, declaring them a “breach of international law and a serious threat to international peace and security.” While the resolution is silent on the ongoing US-Israeli bombing campaign, the larger problem is structural. Under the ius ad bellum framework the resolution purports to apply, the lawfulness of a use of force cannot be assessed in isolation from the use of force that preceded it. Continue reading >>
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14 March 2026
The Enduring Delusion of a War of Civilizations
The United States administration has offered various mutually inconsistent justifications for its war against Iran, from regime change to pressure from Israel to self-defence for the homeland. If the people of Iran are seen by the Trump administration as adversaries in a global battle of civilizations and as enduring enemies of our “way of life”, then international law will be a fallacy and war inevitable, if not desirable. Peaceful co-existence will be just a temporary modus vivendi. Continue reading >>
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09 March 2026
Killing Khamenei
In a recent post on this blog, Sophie Duroy and Luca Trenta have offered an important and timely analysis of the normalisation of assassination as a tool of Statecraft, arguing that the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 28 February 2026 represents “a new stage in the erosion of the international norm against assassination”. The concerns they voice are well-founded. The deliberate targeting and killing of a sitting head of State is a worrying precedent. In this post, I want to focus on one seemingly minor claim that runs through the Duroy and Trenta analysis: the assertion that Khamenei was killed “outside an armed conflict”. Continue reading >>
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04 March 2026
The Iran War and the Dutch Retreat from International Law
On 2 March, the Netherlands’ new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tom Berendsen, stated that he could have “understanding” for the American and Israeli attacks on Iran. According to the minister, we must thus pursue a more realistic course in which there is only limited room for international law. Such a relativization of international law, and its selective application, is troubling, not only from a moral perspective, but above all from a constitutional one. Continue reading >>
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02 March 2026
Is the International Norm Against Assassination Dead?
On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel assassinated the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei. The joint operation marked the first time either state has directly killed a sitting head of state. As with the US’s January 2026 operation against Nicolás Maduro, what stands out is not only the gravity of the act but the manner in which it was justified. While the international norm against assassination may not yet be fully dead, its recent trajectory offers little hope for its restoration. Continue reading >>28 February 2026