Opinion | Australia needs to make its stance on the Iran attacks known

By refusing to condemn these legally baseless strikes, the Albanese government risks choosing ‘might is right’ over the UN Charter

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Listen

Members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia celebrate US and Israeli military strikes on Iran outside Iranian embassy in Canberra on March 1. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:00pm, 7 Mar 2026

The Iranian diaspora has been celebrating and governments around the world have generally not mourned the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in last weekend’s US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.

While there has been much political justification for these attacks from Washington and Israel, neither has sought to legally justify their conduct. No real effort has been made to reference the acknowledged right of self-defence, most likely because the evidence did not exist. In other words, there was no prospect of Iran launching an imminent attack.

Inevitably, the legal basis for the original missile attack on Iran will become a minor detail as the conflict develops. Nevertheless, what occurred on February 28 will remain important.

Lawyers place great emphasis on precedent, and international lawyers particularly look to state practice in interpreting how international law actually operates, which can evolve over time. This allows the interpretation of international law to account for new developments, such as military force and cyberattacks.

Protesters rally outside the White House against US strikes on Iran on February 28. Photo: TNS

This evolution is particularly important because international law is principally contained in, and associated with, the 1945 United Nations Charter. This means it is more than 80 years old.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}By refusing to condemn these legally baseless strikes, the Albanese government risks choosing ‘might is right’ over the UN Charter

By refusing to condemn these legally baseless strikes, the Albanese government risks choosing ‘might is right’ over the UN Charter