EXPLAINED: Why Iran Attacked Israel By Invoking Article 51 Of UN Charter

New Delhi: Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at specific Israeli targets on Sunday, nearly two weeks after it accused Tel Aviv of carrying out an airstrike on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, that killed seven of its top military officials. 

Among those killed at the consulate on 1 April were two senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the most powerful wing of the Iranian military. 

While Israel has not yet accepted responsibility for the April 1 strike, it had been known to be preparing for a major retaliatory action from Iran.
Since the attack, Iran had left no stone unturned in its bid to mobilise the international community to take action against Israel. Earlier this week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to retaliate against Israel.

The IRGC has made it clear that it can launch more such deadly attacks on Israel, not only because its diplomatic mission was targeted but also to support the Palestinians against the ongoing Israeli onslaught. 

Ever since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have killed an estimated 33,634 Palestinians and injured 76,214. The war began after Hamas launched a violent attack in southern Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking 200 hostage. 

Iran and Israel are historical adversaries and have for decades been locked in a shadow war over what is seen by Tehran as Tel Aviv’s “occupation” of sacred Islamic lands.

Justifying its action, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN said it launched the offensive by invoking Article 51 of the UN Charter “after a 13-day period marked by the Security Council’s silence and failure to condemn Israeli aggressions”. 

“During this time, certain countries’ swift condemnation of Iran’s exercise of its legitimate right suggests a reversal of roles, equating the victim with the criminal.”

Article 51 of the UN Charter stipulates “inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations”.

After Iran launched a direct attack on Israel, the US jumped onto the scene, reiterating its “ironclad” support for Tel Aviv. 

US President Joe Biden said, “Iran — and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq — launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”

“I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.  I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” said Biden.

The US President, who is facing elections later this year in November, also called on the G7 countries for a “united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack”. 

“While we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people,” Biden said.

Meanwhile, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Mohammad Baqeri has said the country does not plan to continue the offensive, adding that its operation against Israel has been successfully completed.

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Role Of Hezbollah In Israel-Iran War

Israel’s attacks on Syria are nothing new and it has been consistently launching military operations there, attacking specific Hezbollah hideouts as part of its stated aim to disrupt the weaponry supply chain between Iran and Lebanon. 

It is not unknown to the world that Iran supports Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war has also seen Hezbollah joining the offensive in solidarity with the Palestinian group, marking another front for the seven-month-old war.

The dreaded Hezbollah, which is also a Shiite Muslim political party, is a militant group that emerged from the 15-year civil war that began in Lebanon in 1975. The group received substantial support from Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which led to the ouster of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

From 1982 to 2015, Hezbollah emerged as the most powerful political party of Lebanon. 

Hezbollah, like Iran, also subscribes to the doctrine of the ‘velayat-e faqih’ or the ‘wali al-faqih’, which is Khomeini’s theory of Islamic governance, that bestows guardianship of government on a senior religious scholar. Iran remains Hezbollah’s chief ideological, financial, and military supporter. Syria is also a close ally.

However, the group has witnessed considerable downfall in recent times, with the deep political instability in Lebanon adding to the chaos.

According to a research paper by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), “The Arab Spring presented another set of difficulties for Hezbollah. It supported uprisings that toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, but it was caught off guard by the nationwide Syrian protests. Its belated intervention in Syria to aid the Assad regime eroded the party’s popularity among Sunnis, who make up the bulk of the Syrian opposition, and in the Arab world as the regional tensions increased between Shiite Iran and the Sunni Arab states led by Saudi Arabia.”

The paper added, “For now, however, Hezbollah will remain a powerful political player on the Lebanese scene for the foreseeable future regardless of developments in Syria. But the challenge for Hezbollah of balancing its ideological and logistical obligations to Iran and its political and social duties to Lebanon’s Shiite community is a paradox that will only grow more difficult in the years ahead.”

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When Israel and Iran Were Friends

Israel and Iran were once close allies, and shared cordial bilateral ties during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty that ruled Iran from 1929 to 1979. 

The bilateral relationship between Iran and Israel reached its peak during the Shah’s time when Tehran became the second Muslim-majority country to officially recognise the state of Israel after it was founded in 1948. Turkey was the first.

After the 1953 coup in Iran, the Pahlavi aligned majorly with the Western powers, and the Shah continued to rule that country for 26 years. 

As a result, for almost three decades, Iran and Israel remained friends. Even as tensions between the Arab world and Israel continued to remain high, the economic, political and military ties between Iran and Israel thrived.

However, the relationship between Iran and Israel reached its nadir when the Shah was ousted. The ties underwent a complete transformation as the Khomeini regime established staunch Islamic rule. Both countries became enemies post the signing of the Oslo Accords when the Ayatollahs gave the clarion call, “Israel should be demolished.”