TEHRAN<\/strong> \u2013 While Western powers vociferously condemn Iran\u2019s measured actions in the Strait of Hormuz, a prominent legal scholar has exposed the glaring double standards, asserting that it is the United States and Israel, not Iran, who are flagrantly violating international law through their aggressive war against the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n Dr. Maryam Jamshidi, an Iranian American associate professor of law at the University of Colorado Law School and a nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute, meticulously dismantles the Western narrative. She highlights the \u201cclearly unlawful\u201d war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, a grave breach that has been met with a muted response from the very nations quick to denounce Iran’s legitimate regulatory efforts in a vital waterway.<\/p>\n \u201cThis says a lot about the ways in which international law is being deployed in this moment as a way of restraining and regulating Iranian behavior, while effectively allowing the United States and Israel a free hand to do what they want,\u201d Dr. Jamshidi powerfully articulated. Her analysis underscores a disturbing trend where international legal principles are selectively applied to target nations like Iran, while aggressors enjoy impunity.<\/p>\n Dr. Jamshidi’s recent article, \u201cOnly One Side Has Clearly Broken the Law In the Strait of Hormuz: And it isn\u2019t Iran,\u201d published in The Nation magazine, provides a compelling argument. She explains that Iran’s efforts to regulate ship passage and levy fees in the Strait of Hormuz possess a \u201creasonable legal argument,\u201d contrary to the \u201ccompletely and clearly illegal\u201d rhetoric propagated by certain international circles. This is far from a \u201cblack-and-white issue,\u201d she emphasizes.<\/p>\n In stark contrast, the \u201caggressive and illegal war\u201d waged by the United States and Israel against Iran has received remarkably subdued criticism, particularly from Western and some regional Arab states. This disparity, Dr. Jamshidi notes, is \u201cvery telling,\u201d revealing a deliberate attempt to demonize Iran on legally ambiguous grounds while overlooking clear violations by its adversaries.<\/p>\n The scholar further elaborated on the devastating impact of this \u201cunprovoked war\u201d on international law itself. \u201cOver the last few years, we\u2019ve seen the ways in which Israel, in particular, with support from the United States, as well as with support from much of the rest of the West, Western governments, has eroded and violated and scoffed at international law,\u201d she stated, citing Israel’s actions against Palestinians, in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and other regions, including Iran.<\/p>\n These actions, she warns, have understandably led many globally to question the very \u201cutility and importance of international law.\u201d The ongoing war against Iran only exacerbates these fears, making international law appear \u201cmeaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Dr. Jamshidi points out a crucial counter-narrative: \u201cstates like Iran are also at the same time saying, ‘No, international law matters very much, and we expect to be treated as equals under international law.’\u201d Iran, along with other nations of the Global South, actively frames its actions within international legal terms, understanding that the abandonment of international law would render it \u201cfar more vulnerable on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n This creates a \u201cbattle\u201d between Western states like Israel and the United States, who effectively declare, \u201cInternational law doesn\u2019t apply to us. We can do what we want,\u201d and nations like Iran and the Global South, who firmly assert, \u201cNo, we want international law. We value international law. International law is necessary to ensuring that we are sovereign and equal to other states on the international scale.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Jamshidi also shed light on the biased nature of resolutions introduced in the UN Security Council. She noted that multiple resolutions, largely driven by Arab Gulf states like Bahrain and the UAE, have \u201cvery clearly and absolutely condemned Iran for its regulatory actions within the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d despite their legal basis. One particularly \u201cradical proposition,\u201d thankfully vetoed by China and Russia, would have authorized over 190 UN member states to wage war against Iran merely to open a waterway \u2013 a stark contrast to the complete absence of resolutions condemning US and Israeli aggression.<\/p>\n Regarding domestic legislation, the Iranian parliament is reportedly considering formalizing its regulatory and fee system within the Strait of Hormuz, institutionalizing a scheme developed in response to ongoing challenges.<\/p>\n Finally, Dr. Jamshidi vehemently condemned former President Trump\u2019s alarming threats against Iran, including his statement, \u201cIf Iran doesn\u2019t sign this deal, the whole country is getting blown up,\u201d and his earlier warning, \u201cA whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.\u201d She described these comments as \u201cabsolutely unacceptable,\u201d \u201cborderline genocidal in their intent and in their implications,\u201d and \u201cbeyond the pale\u201d from both legal and moral perspectives. Such rhetoric, she concluded, clearly demonstrates a desire to destroy an entire people.<\/p>\n Dr. Maryam Jamshidi’s insights provide a critical lens through which to view the current geopolitical landscape, exposing the hypocrisy and selective application of international law by certain powers, while affirming Iran’s commitment to legal principles and its sovereign rights.<\/p>\n #Iran #StraitOfHormuz #InternationalLaw #USIsraelAggression #WesternHypocrisy #MaryamJamshidi #GlobalSouth #UNSecurityCouncil #WarCrimes #Sovereignty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Western Hypocrisy Unmasked: Iran’s Legitimate Actions in Hormuz Strait Contrasted with US-Israeli Lawlessness TEHRAN \u2013 While Western powers vociferously condemn Iran\u2019s measured actions in the Strait of Hormuz, a prominent legal scholar has exposed the glaring double standards, asserting that it is the United States and Israel, not Iran, who are flagrantly violating international law […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}International Law Weaponized Against Iran<\/h2>\n
Erosion of International Law by Western Powers<\/h2>\n
Biased UN Security Council Resolutions and Genocidal Threats<\/h2>\n