Macron labels Trump's Iran air strikes 'illegal', pressures Starmer to take a stand

Daily Record

3 hours ago

Emmanuel Macron has hit out at Donald Trump's air strikes on Iran, branding them 'illegal' and deepening the row over whether the US action broke international law
French President Emmanuel Macron has strongly condemned the US air strikes on Iran, deeming them "illegal" and fuelling the debate over whether the American action violated international law.
Macron stated that while targeting nuclear facilities posing a threat may be seen as "legitimate", the recent strikes by the US and Israel lacked a valid legal basis.
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Macron's comments came as UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and senior government officials refrained from explicitly endorsing or condemning US President Donald Trump's decision, despite growing pressure for the Prime Minister to take a clear stance.
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The UK Prime Minister had been cautioned by Attorney General Lord Hermer that participating in a US-led attack could put Britain in violation of international law. Unlike Macron, Starmer has not denounced the bombing, seemingly aligning with the Attorney General's advice.
Starmer appeared to appreciate the outcome of the US bombing, stating it would "alleviate" the Iran nuclear issue, prompting accusations of accepting the consequence of the bombing while not endorsing the method itself, reports the Express.
The US strikes came after European leaders spent a week publicly and privately urging Trump to avoid unilateral action. Instead, the US conducted a surprise stealth attack on three Iranian nuclear sites, which Trump hailed as a mission that left all targets "obliterated."
The decision has sparked serious concerns about the potential influence of Sir Keir and other Western leaders on President Trump's global strategy.
This follows the US president's abrupt departure from the G7 summit in Canada last week, with another confrontation anticipated at the upcoming Nato summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
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Speaking to journalists, Mr Macron remarked: "It may be considered legitimate... to neutralise nuclear facilities in Iran, given our objectives.
"However, there is no legal framework, no. And so we must say it as it is: there is no legality to these strikes.
"Even though France shares the objective of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, we have consistently believed from the outset that this can only be achieved through diplomatic and technical means.
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"I say this because I hear many commentators who basically accuse you of inefficiency when you defend the diplomatic route on these issues. But when you are consistent, you can claim to be effective."
He continued: "We continue to believe that it is through negotiation and re-engagement that we can achieve our goals."
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Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store supported this view, stating: "International law has some clear principles on the use of force. It can be granted by the Security Council or it can be in pure self-defence," thus indicating that the US attacks fall "outside the realm of international law".
Mr Macron's stance contrasted sharply with the views expressed by Germany and NATO chief Mark Rutte, who maintained that the preemptive US intervention was lawful.
When queried about how the scenario equates to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Mr Rutte asserted: "My biggest fear would be for Iran to own and be able to use and deploy a nuclear weapon to be a stranglehold on Israel, on the whole region and other parts of the world.
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"This is a consistent position of Nato: Iran should not have its hands on a nuclear weapon," he added. "I would not agree that this is against international law - what the US did."
Similarly, Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of Germany, supported the actions of the US and Israel stating there was "no reason to criticise" their tactics, arguing that it wasn't feasible to leave Iran's nuclear progress unchallenged.
Back in Westminster, Ministers echoed Mr Macron's prudent approach. Numerous ministers sidestepped giving a direct endorsement of the bombings as either lawful or substantiated, opting instead to convey relief that Iran's development towards a nuclear armament was hindered.
Questioned about the strikes' legal status on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Foreign Secretary David Lammy responded: "Well, we weren't involved, it's for the Americans to discuss those issues."