Iran strikes: Was targeting Iranian leaders lawful?

Professor Michael Schmitt, and Professor Marko Milanovic, experts in international law rules governing warfare at the School of Law, University of Reading, co-author an article examining the legality of US-Israeli strikes on Ayatollah Khamenei and other Iranian leaders.

Read on Just Security: Was Targeting Ayatollah Khamenei and Other Iranian Leaders Lawful? What Precedents Does It Set? 

Highlighting the analysis, Professor Michael Schmitt said: “The legality of these strikes has nothing to do with how senior or politically important the targets were. Under the laws of armed conflict, the question is whether each individual was a military combatant or a civilian directly taking part in hostilities. For most of the Iranian military and IRGC leadership targeted, the answer is that striking them was lawful. For others, including some intelligence officials, the case is harder to make. But where the facts support it, these strikes were legal, and the law is clear on that."

Professor Marko Milanovic said: "Even where a strike may be lawful under the laws of armed conflict, that does not make the overall use of force against Iran legal under the UN Charter. These are separate questions and we should not conflate them. Most troublingly, the attack on the Assembly of Experts, which was meeting to choose a new Supreme Leader, raises very serious legal questions. Those present were civilian religious figures, not military ones, and it is difficult to see how targeting them or that building could be justified under the laws of war."

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