Norway: International law is worth defending, even when allies break it
International law should be defended even when the country's closest allies are the ones breaking it, said Norway's deputy foreign minister as Oslo reiterated its condemnation of the US-Israeli war on Iran as illegal.
In an interview with Middle East Eye's Expert Witness podcast in Oslo, four months into the devastating war, Andreas Kravik said the war on Iran, launched on 28 February, had no basis in law.
"In our interpretation of the law, it is not a legal operation," Kravik said. "We think that is a violation of the UN Charter, and we have said so in no unclear terms."
Kravik, a public international lawyer and the foreign ministry's former chief of legal affairs, said a state could lawfully use force against another only with authorisation from the UN Security Council, in self-defence against an immediate threat, or with the consent of the state concerned. None applied in Iran's case.
"There is no authorisation here from the UN Security Council… and there was no consent from Iranian authorities," he said. Norway had carried out its own legal assessment, he added.
Kravik said Iran also held a right to self-defence under the Charter but had itself breached international law in its response.
: Norway: International law is worth defending, even when allies break it
Norway's deputy foreign minister Andreas Kravik speaks to Middle East Eye in Oslo (MEE/Hossam Sarhan)
