A right to wage wars of aggression?

Nuclear deal sabotaged

Israel justified the sudden attack on Iran on Friday night by claiming that Tehran was on the verge of completing the construction of a nuclear bomb. If it was not stopped now, claimed Netanyahu, it would be too late. However, there is no known evidence to support this claim. What is known is that the United States was still in the midst of negotiations with Iran on a peaceful resolution to the nuclear conflict. Indeed, the next round of talks – led on the US side by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff – was scheduled for yesterday, Sunday, in Oman. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump had reiterated, “We remain committed to a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue! My entire administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran.”[1] The assessment that Israel’s aim was not to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb but rather to derail the negotiation process is “shared” by a number of Western analysts, according to yesterday’s New York Times.[2] This assessment is borne out by the fact that Israel killed Ali Shamkhani in the first wave of attacks, a figure who did not hold any military position but was considered the lead negotiator on the Iranian side in the nuclear talks.[3]

Clearly ‘a prohibited preventative strike’

International law experts broadly classify Israel’s attack on Iran as a violation of international law. Tom Dannenbaum, professor of International Law at Tuft University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, for example, refers to the fact that a pre-emptive strike can only be permissible in the event of an imminent and overwhelming attack. He points out that the Israeli side does not even claim its military aggression meets these criteria.[4] Matthias Goldmann, professor of international law at EBS University in Wiesbaden, states, “even if Iran had nuclear weapons that fact would not, on its own, legally justify an attack”. He concludes, “The Israeli attack on Iran is a classic case of a prohibited preventive strike.”[5] Kai Ambos, professor at Georg August University in Göttingen, warns that if the Israeli attack were really considered a legally permissible preventive strike it would further lower the threshold for legitimate self-defence: “The prohibition of violence – a fundamental norm of international law – becomes practically meaningless.” Then, as another expert writes, “any state could, based on a mere feeling of threat, decide for itself when it may use military force.”[6]

‘Stand in solidarity’

Yet this is the approach chosen by German government. Chancellor Friedrich Merz officially declared on Friday, “We reaffirm that Israel has the right to defend its existence and the safety of its citizens.”[7] Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul made a largely identical statement on Friday, adding that Berlin would “stand in solidarity” with Israel.[8] The German government’s position carries all the more weight given that Israel, in its first wave of attacks, not only deliberately killed several generals at the top of the Iranian armed forces and the Revolutionary Guard without any prior declaration of war, but also lead negotiator Shamkhani and at least two scientists whom it merely accuses of having worked on the Iranian nuclear programme. US international law expert Tom Dannenbaum points out on X that nuclear scientists, as long as they are not regular members of the armed forces, are considered civilians under international law and may not be attacked, which obviously applies to strikes on their homes and families. In other words, their killings are not a regular act of war but murder and terrorism. The German government has no word of criticism here either.

Torture abductions and drone killings

Germany’s approval of Israel’s war of aggression against Iran and its murders of Iranian civilians is not the result of some ominous ‘Staatsräson’ (raison d’état, supposed national ethos) as is so often invoked in relation to Israel. Rather, Berlin’s tolerance of the most serious crimes is by no means unprecedented. German governments of all political stripes have frequently had little problem with ignoring war crimes, above all when committed by the United States. For example, from autumn 2001 onwards, the then SPD-Greens coalition government tolerated the abduction of Muslim terror suspects to torture dungeons. The secretive international roll-out of renditions by the CIA in the name of a so-called ‘war on terror’ included proven innocents among its victims. In a number of cases, Berlin was even actively involved. Among those responsible was the then head of the Federal Chancellery – a role which always involves foreign intelligence duties – Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[9] A few years later, the ‘grand coalition’ (CDU/CSU-SPD) and the subsequent CDU/CSU-FDP coalition tolerated the widespread drone killings of terror suspects abroad, a policy taken to new heights by the US administration, especially under Barack Obama. They were clearly contrary to international law and cost the lives of countless civilians. German agencies were also partially involved in these acts (as german-foreign-policy.com reported [10]).

Ultra-right politics

In the case of Israel’s attack on Iran, in violation of international law, and its targeted killing of civilians, it should be added that Israel’s current government is an extremist coalition. It includes a number of extreme right-wing ministers in alliance with the driving force, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party. This government has begun to cooperate openly with far-right parties across Europe. Organised at European level in the Patriots for Europe (PfE) bloc, they include the French Rassemblement National (RN), the Austrian FPÖ and many more. Likud has enjoyed observer status in the PfE since February.[11] In March, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli invited a number of representatives from PfE parties to a conference against anti-Semitism. Cooperation with the AfD is no longer taboo for Chikli.[12] The far-right government in Tel Aviv has conducted military assaults on five states in the region – Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Yemen – not to mention the violence visited upon Palestinian territories recognised as the State of Palestine by the vast majority of UN members. In the case of Gaza the charges include genocide, of course. Germany is now actually on trial at the International Court of Justice in The Hague for aiding and abetting genocide.[13] Yet this does not seem to bother Berlin.

[1] How Israel’s Strike on Iran Is Affecting Global Markets. newsweek.com 13.06.2025.

[2] Farnaz Fassihi, Ronen Bergman, Aaron Boxerman: Israel Killed Iran’s Top Chain of Command in One Night. nytimes.com 12.06.2025.

[3] Diplomacy with Iran is damaged, not dead. nytimes.com 15.06.2025.

[4], [5] Franziska Kring: Wie Israel und Iran das Völkerrecht angreifen. lto.de 14.06.2025.

[6] Alexander Haneke: Wann ist ein Präventivschlag erlaubt? Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 14.06.2025.

[7] Bundeskanzler Merz zu den israelischen Angriffen auf Einrichtungen im Iran. bundesregierung.de 13.06.2025.

[8] Matthias Wyssuwa: Schwierige Tage für Diplomatie. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 14.06.2025.

[9] See also: Präsidiable Politik.

[10] See also: Zur Tötung vorgeschlagen and Drohnenmorde vor Gericht.

[11] See also: Das Zeitalter der Patrioten.

[12] See also: Guests in Israel.

[13] See also: Germany on trial.