US-Israel Conflict with Iran: Who decides legality?

美以伊朗冲突:谁决定合法性?

The Point with Liu Xin

2026-03-23

26 分钟
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As the US-Israel war against Iran intensifies with no clear end in sight, a critical question remains: Is this war legal? On March 10, the United States submitted a letter to the United Nations Security Council, justifying its strikes - carried out alongside Israel - as "necessary and proportionate" self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. But does this argument truly meet the legal threshold for self-defense? What rules of international law apply as this conflict escalates?
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  • through an overload of information to get to the heart of the story this is the point welcome

  • to this edition of the point an opinion show coming to you from beijing i'm li xin as the u.s israeli war against iran

  • drags on with no clear end in sight one basic question should never be forgotten is this war legal On March the 10th,

  • the United States submitted a letter to the United Nations Security Council describing its strikes on Iran

  • as necessary and proportionate.

  • Acts of self-defense on Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

  • The US emphasized that the operations are carried out alongside Israel in collective self-defense.

  • But does this case truly meet the relevant legal threshold?

  • Meanwhile, as the war continues to escalate, what international rules

  • must be respected in a conflict that risks spiraling out of control?

  • What must be done to safeguard civilians and civilian targets?

  • Please to be joined here in the studio by retired Navy Captain Dr. Tian Shichen,

  • a former policy practitioner and legal advisor at the then Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry

  • of National Defense of China, now Founder and President of the Global Government Institution,

  • a non-government independent think tank based here in Beijing.

  • Dr. Tian, thank you very much and welcome to the point.

  • So, two very important concepts we're talking about here, or two very important laws we're talking about.

  • First is jus ad bellum, excuse my bad Latin, and the second is jus in bellum.

  • Respectively, they mean law before war and law during war.

  • Let's talk about this.