IRAN-ISRAEL WAR EXPLAINED

October 9, 2024

Introduction

Since the very inception of mankind, it has been the general tendency of people to establish their supremacy in the world. To establish their ideologies and philosophies all over the world remains the ultimate aim of every nation. Countries do follow the policy of expansions and annexations to subjugate the other nations, which they consider comparatively weak, to establish their dominance and authority over those. The expansionist policy of China in the South China Sea, Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and the recent Middle East crises wherein Iran aims to establish its hegemony in the Middle East sufficiently explain how powerful nations have been occupying, enslaving, and subjugating the other nations.

Today the Iran-Israel war is making international headlines. With the assassination of Nasrallah (secretary general of Hezbollah) and the recent drone air missile attack by Iran over Israel, relations between Iran and Israel have worsened. With the involvement of the so-called super powers, mainly the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), on the sides of Israel and the involvement of China and Russia at the sides of Iran, hints towards the upcoming World War III. Fortunately, the USA has stated that they won’t be supporting Israel if any aggressive action is taken from their side, and only with a defensive purpose would they stand with Israel. The world can’t afford the other World War.

The present law note aims towards highlighting the dispute between Iran and Israel, the Iran-Israel war reason, the major cause of dispute, an analysis of the relations between the two, and also aims to build an understanding between the readers towards the functioning of international law in managing and solving these disputes and promoting peace.

Iran-Israel relations (Iran-Israel war reason)

Israel and Iran used to have decent trade relations until 1975. It was only in 1979, after a revolution in Iran and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, that things started to change. With the emergence of the new leader of Iran in 1979 after the revolution and the emergence of Ayatollah Rulloah Khomeini (Iran’s new leader after the revolution), relations between Iran and Israel started to become hostile.

Brief History of Relations (Iran and Israel)

Why did Iran attack Israel?

From 1925 to 1975, Iran was ruled by the Pahlavi Dynasty. The rulers of this dynasty used to supply oil to the USA and UK in return for huge amounts of money. Iran has the greatest resources of oil in the whole world. USA and UK were able to establish the greatest oil refineries in the world due to that sum of money and were largely satisfied with the deal.

In 1951, Iran had a nationalist movement. It was mooted that the Pahlavi dynasty is acting unfairly towards Iran because the country’s greatest resources are used by the outside world and the money is not invested for the benefit of people. Therefore, instead of supplying to the USA and UK, Iran must establish its own oil refineries, and the country’s oil refineries must be nationalized.

After that, due to this nationalist movement, the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown, and Mohd. Mosaddegh became the Prime Minister of Iran. However, the USA and UK were highly dissatisfied with that, and with the help of their own intelligence services, they overthrew the Mohd. Mosaddegh government and again established the rule of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

Till this time, Iran and Israel were sharing good relations, especially in trade. Because Israel wanted oil supply from Iran, and Iran was doing that as a bilateral relation.

Things changed only after the revolution of 1979, when Ayatollah Rulloah Khomeini, the new leader of Iran, came into power.

Now Iran wanted to dominate the whole Middle East. It wished to have the same power and status that the Persian World used to have at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Iran now also wants to occupy Jerusalem (the capital of Israel) because it is considered a holy place by Muslims. Israel is also a non-Muslim population country. It has been remarked by the political scientist that wherever any Muslim nation touches the border with other non-Muslim nations, the war is bound to come.

Therefore, in its urge to rule the whole Middle East and to dominate and control all the neighboring nations and to establish Muslim ideologies in that area, animosities developed between Iran and Israel, as Israel mostly has the Jewish people by religion.

Idea of Iran to Dominate the Muslim World and the Middle East

Iran now wants to dominate the Muslim world, and for that, he established his links to mark his presence in the neighboring nations. It is to be noted that Iran doesn’t share a border with Israel; therefore, Iran established his presence in the nations with which Israel shares its borders to launch a proxy war against Israel.

Iran’s neighbors include Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. It (Iran) supplies support in terms of weapons and money to the neighboring nations and has deployed some terrorist organizations or military groups in those nations. For example, Iraq was provided with destructive weapons; in Lebanon, the Hezbollah military group was established; and in Yemen, Houthis were deployed; and Hamas were deployed in Gaza.

Israel, on the other hand, has the support of the USA. Both the nations, Iran and Israel, have been involved in a shadow war wherein no direct attack is launched but a proxy war is undertaken. These casualties have been witnessed by both nations since 1979.

However, recently, especially since last year (2023), these casualties have increased, and the shadow has become the direct confrontation between the two nations.

How did the did the conflict start between Iran and Iraq? (Why Iran attacked Israel)

Iran and Israel have been involved in a series of attacks and counterattacks that have given rise to the present situation of war.

In October 2023, Israel was attacked by Hamas (a military organization in Gaza, backed by Iran), and in retaliation or reprisal, Israel attacked Gaza, followed by their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel attacked Syria, and in retaliation to that, the recent air drones were launched against Israel by Iran. It was said that Israel’s air defense was sufficiently backed by the US’s finest defense system that no heavy casualties were caused in Israel.

Whether the present circumstances may lead to World War III

Anticipations have been made that, due to the involvement of various nations, a world war situation may arise in the near future. Fortunately, the major leaders of the world, namely the USA and UK, have ruled against such an action and have backed out of supporting Israel if any aggressive attack is launched from its side.

Because another world war has the potential to decimate, destroy, and devastate the whole world. Therefore, peace at any cost must be secured in the Middle East.

The Effect on India of the Iran-Israel War

Today the world is a global village. And everything that happens in a distant place directly affects every nation. The same is the case with India. Iran has huge oil reserves. Tough India doesn’t get direct oil supply from Iran; however, it may disrupt the oil supplies around the world, which may increase the oil prices, and it will have an impact all over the world, including India.

Also, due to the war, India would be required to take some steps that would shape its diplomatic policies.

The role of international law

International law aims towards securing peace and maintaining harmony between the nations. After Russia’s annexation of Ukraine, the efficacy of international law has been challenged to maintain peace and secure public order at the international level.

How does international law function?

The world has already faced two world wars, especially for the similar reasons of annexations and seeking dominance all over the world. At the end of the Second World War, it was realized that the world can’t afford to have another world war because today countries are already equipped with nuclear powers, which may destroy the whole world.

Therefore, to prevent any other attack, the United Nations and other organs were established to regulate worldly affairs. It was established in 1945. Its objectives include:

  • Maintain international peace and security.
  • Develop friendly relations with other nations.
  • Promote social progress.
  • Promote better living
  • Promote better living standards and protect human rights of people.

Apart from the above-outlined goals, the United Nations is also committed to promoting trade among the nations, assisting the nations in times of financial emergency, framing guidelines to promote sustainable development, taking and urging nations to take effective steps to improve the environment, in supporting refugees, effective steps to curb terrorism, promoting gender equality, urging nations to take steps in promoting the rights of women, taking steps to secure enough food for all, and championing the rights of civilians at times of war with the aid of humanitarian law.

With these aims, the United Nations was formed initially with 51 countries.

How does the United Nations function?

  • The United Nations functions mainly with six principal organs, which are:
  • United Nations General Assembly
  • The United Nations Security Council
  • The Economic and Social Council
  • The International Court of Justice and the
  • Secretariat

The General Assembly is the main decision-making or policy formulation body of the United Nations. All the members of the UN are also members of the General Assembly. Here, debates are done, international issues are discussed, and decisions are taken on the basis of majority. Questions on important things like admission of a new member or expelling any member nation require a two-thirds majority, and other simpler questions are decided on simple majority. Each year, a president is also appointed to the General Assembly for a one-year term.

Security Counsel: The primary responsibility of maintaining peace has been bestowed upon the Security Council. Total, it has 15 members, out of which 5 are permanent and 10 are non-permanent. 5 permanent members are USA, UK, France, Russia, and China. On procedural matters, a majority has to be formed; however, on  substantive matters, the accent of permanent members is a must as they have the veto power. Each and every permanent member is required to conquer substantive issues to have a binding effect.

The UNSC is said to be the most important organ of the UN. It has been given power to impose sanctions and use force against the other nation as and when required according to international principles.

The Economic and Social Council: The Economic and Social Council aims towards framing and recommending policies for economic cooperation and other social and environmental issues.

International Court of Justice: It is the judicial organ of the United Nations. According to the legal principals of international law, the disputes are settled at the ICJ. The Court functions as per the statute.

The Secretariat carries out the different day-to-day work of the United Nations. It also serves and manages the other principal organs of the United Nations. It is headed by a Secretary-General for a five-year term.

Analysis of the workings of the United Nations

The analysis of the working of the UNSC shows that a veto power is given to the permanent members, according to which even if a single member doesn’t confirm any motion, he has the power to oppose it. This somewhere creates a disruption in the system.

In the Ukraine case, Russia was only the wrong doer, and no action could be taken against him, being a permanent member. Due to this, the United Nations was strongly criticized. The concept of permanent members and the exercise of veto power, therefore, requires a relook in the system.

Conclusion Today, the world is in a crisis of war. Some effective international solutions must be taken immediately to control the situation and save mankind. International law and the United Nations must be strengthened. The above-mentioned solutions relating to the empowering and reforming of the United Nations must also be taken.

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