Self-Defense against Attacks on Diplomatic Premises? Interpretation or Expansion of the United Nations Charter

Abdollahi, Mohsen; Rashidi, Mahnaz

doi:10.22034/iruns.2024.213203

Self-Defense against Attacks on Diplomatic Premises? Interpretation or Expansion of the United Nations Charter

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mohsen Abdollahi ¹

Mahnaz Rashidi ²

¹ Faculty of Law - SBU

² Shahed University

10.22034/iruns.2024.213203

Abstract

In response to the previous Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, which resulted in the martyrdom of a number of high-ranking military commanders, the Islamic Republic of Iran targeted several military sites in the occupied territories on April 16 in a combined missile-drone attack. Given that international law prohibits the threat or use of military force, the actions taken will only be legal if they are in the form of self-defense. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the applicability of the conditions of self-defense to Iran's retaliatory attack on Israel. The results of the authors' descriptive-analytical studies confirm that Israel's initial attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria was an example of an armed attack that entitled Iran to self-defense, and as a result, Iran exercised this right by observing the other conditions set forth in Article 51 of the Charter.

Keywords

Armed attack

self-defense

attack on diplomatic premises

right to use force