The Trump administration is waging an illegal war on Iran. It defies the US Constitution and international law. Oil and gas prices have jumped again. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz came to a standstill.Trump announced that the US had seized an Iranian cargo ship. Tehran has accused Washington of violating the fragile ceasefire agreement. Trump’s erratic diplomacy worsens the crisis. Below, we will examine more details about the illegal war against Iran.
Unclear objectives, widespread destruction
An NBC poll on Sunday of more than 32,000 adults found that 68% of the public disapproved of the way Trump was handling the war in Iran, as well as “inflation and the cost of living” domestically.
Wright’s comments on Sunday shifted from positions he had taken in earlier interviews. During a 15 March conversation with NBC’s Meet the Press, Wright was asked if gasoline prices in the US would drop under $3 a gallon by the summer. He replied there was “a very good chance that’ll be true”.
On April 7, 2026, in what was possibly a threat of genocide, President Donald Trump posted on his social media that “a whole civilization will die” if Iran does not reach a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz. This is an obvious Illegal war against Iran.
American and Israeli objectives remain unclear. Trump’s justifications change by the day. They range from dismantling the Islamic Republic to liberating Iranians. They also include destroying alleged nuclear capabilities. Yet the result is the same: widespread destruction. Therefore, this illegal war against Iran pushes a vulnerable region toward catastrophe.
Contemporary international law prohibits resort to force to threaten or attack other countries (UN Charter, Article 2, para. 4: ‘All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.’.
The prohibition on the use of force is itself a reflection of the primacy of the two primary incidents of statehood: state sovereignty and territorial integrity. So long as a national government has effective control over its land and sea territory, it has the legal protection of the Charter against other states trying to dislodge.
International law prohibits wars of aggression for good reason. This is the main idea about the illegal war against Iran. The power and importance of these laws come from previous, bitter experience.
The UN Charter was created by leaders who had lived through the Second World War. They wanted to prevent future conflicts from escalating into all-out, uncontrollable violence. They therefore agreed to strict limits on the use of force, permitting it only in circumstances of necessary self-defense against an imminent threat.
Illegal war against Iran: Beyond the nuclear issue
It is evident that the reasons for war go beyond the nuclear issue. The US and Israel have wider aims to either decapitate or collapse the Iranian political system.
For their part, the UK and some of its international partners have been reluctant to condemn the attacks, including the assassination of Iran’s head of state, the Ayatollah Khamenei. They are concerned about openly criticizing the US.
The UK accuses Iran of destabilizing and dangerous behavior, including repression at home, state threats against dissidents abroad, and sponsorship of non-state armed groups in conflict with Israel. However, international law is clear on the prohibition of violent regime change.
The United States claims that it is engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the US’ own inherent right of self-defense. Regarding the illegal war against Iran, the US claims that it has acted well within its international law obligations with respect to its use of force.
US responsible but unaccountable
The US-Israeli attack on Minab school in Iran on February 28 killed 168 Children. Most of the casualties in the deadly strike on the school were children between 7 and 12. Neither the US nor Israel has taken formal responsibility.
On March 4, Secretary Hegseth acknowledged the US was “investigating” the strikes. He said, “All I know, all I can say, is that we’re investigating that.” He shared no timeline or accountability commitment. The New York Times reports the US is responsible for the deadly Tomahawk strike.
The Washington Post reports the school was on a US target list. It may have been mistaken for a military site. This is a clear sign of an illegal war against Iran. US forces used outdated data from the Defense Intelligence Agency. Satellite imagery showed the building had been walled off since at least 2016, and had been a school since then.
The Security Council did not authorize the use of force against Iran. The United States did not request such authorization. Iran was not attacking the United States or Israel at the time of the strikes.
Whatever residual concern might be derived from earlier Iranian actions had long ceased to generate an ongoing armed attack capable of activating the self-defense exception. The U.S. Director of National Intelligence had testified as recently as March 2025 that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the program suspended in 2003. The IAEA affirmed it had found no proof of a systematic weapons effort.
Trump’s erratic diplomacy
There was hope for diplomacy and negotiations after several weeks of the illegal war and aggression against Iran. However, President Donald Trump’s erratic diplomacy, along with his exaggerated remarks, have caused chaos and ambiguity in the diplomatic process. World leaders must force the US to end this illegal aggression. They must refuse to provide logistical assistance to Washington, and support diplomatic solutions.
