New Zealand should speak plainly about the United States and Israel’s “flagrant violation of international law”, Professor Robert Patman says.
"The consensus among legal scholars around the world is that this [assault] is a blatant violation of Article 51, which is you only use force in self-defence or in pre-emptive defensive actions,” Prof Patman says.
A muted response by New Zealand risks being interpreted as conceding international relations can be based on the principle of might is right.
"This situation in which large numbers of people are being killed, demands moral and legal clarity from a country like New Zealand, which depends on an international rules-based order.”
On this episode of Global Insight, Prof Patman also discusses the likelihood of this assault succeeding in bringing about a thriving democracy in Iran, and the risk of the conflict becoming a wider war.
