Attacks on Iran a breach of international law, Swiss defence minister says

ZURICH/FRANKFURT - The United States and Israel have broken international law with their attacks on Iran, said Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister in an interview published on March 8.

He is the latest European leader to raise concerns about the conflict.

Legal experts have said many countries will consider the attacks unjustified under the United Nations Charter, under which member countries must refrain from using force or the threat of force without UN authorisation or unless acting in self-defence.

Mr Pfister, speaking to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, said: “The Federal Council is of the opinion that the attack on Iran constitutes a violation of international law.

“In our view, it constitutes a violation on the prohibition of violence.” He also called on all sides to halt the fighting to protect the civilian population. The Federal Council is the Swiss Cabinet.

Mr Pfister said he was referring to all the countries not complying with the prohibition on violence, including the US and Israel.

“The Americans and Israel have attacked Iran from the air. In doing so, they, like Iran, violated international law,” he added.

The comments chime with those of German Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, who told the RND newspaper network that he had “serious doubts that this war is legitimate under international law”.

Mr Klingbeil also came out strongly against the idea of any potential German participation in the war: “I say clearly: This is not our war. We will not participate in this war.”

He added that there was a “great danger that we are sliding ever deeper into a world where there are no longer any rules”.

“We do not want to live in a world where only the law of the strongest applies,” he said.

Spain has also denounced the US and Israeli bombings of Iran as reckless and illegal. REUTERS