War in Middle East 'deliberate assault on international law', says President Connolly
Missiles launched from Iran are seen in the sky over central Israel (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
President Catherine Connolly has said events in the Middle East are “deliberate assaults on international law” and must be called out “without euphemism and without equivocation”.
It comes as US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the nine-day-old campaign, which has rippled across the region and appears to have no end in sight.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Sunday that Tehran is prepared to escalate attacks on US targets across the Middle East. His remarks marked a departure from more conciliatory comments he made a day earlier towards Iran’s Gulf neighbours — comments that included an apology for strikes on their territory — which were swiftly countered by hardline figures within the regime.
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Citing the Irish Constitution, President Connolly highlighted “solemn commitments” including that “Ireland accepts the generally recognised principles of international law as its rule of conduct in its relations with other States”.
Her comments followed repeated opposition criticism of the Government for failing to criticise the US actions in Iran.
Last week, foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee repeatedly refused to say whether the US-Israeli strike was illegal.
In a statement to mark International Women’s Day, President Connolly argued that the “catastrophic consequences of violating the UN Charter cannot be ignored.
"The violations of international law we are witnessing are shocking and numbing, but we cannot afford inaction,” she said.
“What we have witnessed in recent days in the Middle East, and beyond, are not political disputes.
“They are deliberate assaults on international law, the international laws that have underpinned global peace for eighty years.
“We must name them as such, without euphemism and without equivocation.
“Ireland is uniquely positioned to do precisely that. Our unbroken record of international peacekeeping since 1958, and our decades of commitment to disarmament and non-proliferation, stand as testament to the disproportionate influence a small, neutral state can wield when it acts with integrity and purpose.
“And our history of colonisation, famine, and the hard-won, peaceful resolution of conflict in the North oblige us to speak plainly.
“The horror of war can never be normalised or accepted.
“Article 29 of the Constitution of Ireland is clear:
“Ireland affirms its devotion to the ideal of peace and friendly co-operation amongst nations founded on international justice and morality.
“Ireland affirms its adherence to the principle of the pacific settlement of international disputes by international arbitration or judicial determination.
“Ireland accepts the generally recognised principles of international law as its rule of conduct in its relations with other States.
“On International Women’s Day, let us reflect on these solemn commitments which we have made in our nation’s Constitution and take every action we can to support the United Nations and all those working to build peace in a time when so many distort language to justify and normalise war."
Last week, Ms McEntee refused to say whether she believes the US has breached international law with the attacks on Iran, but said it was “clear” there is no UN mandate for war.
Ms McEntee repeatedly declined to answer whether she believed the US and Israeli attacks on Iran had breached international law.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to the US this week ahead of his meeting with Mr Trump at the White House on St Patrick’s Day
Iran has launched at least 16 ballistic missiles and 117 drones in new barrages, according to the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE’s defence ministry said it had intercepted 16 missiles on Sunday, while a 17th fell into the sea.
It added that it intercepted most of the drones, but four fell in UAE territory. The ministry said it is ready to “firmly confront” the threats.
The Emirati statement did not specify the locations of the attacks.
Bahrain earlier accused Iran of striking a desalination plant, raising fears that civilian infrastructure may become targets in the war, as Iran’s president vowed to expand the country’s attacks on American targets across the region in the face of intense US and Israeli air strikes.
A late-night Israeli strike on an oil facility engulfed parts of Iran’s capital, Tehran, in smoke on Sunday, while Israel renewed attacks in Lebanon.
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes pushed the death toll above 300 after Israel ordered tens of thousands to evacuate ahead of an offensive aimed at stamping out the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The war, which Israel and the US launched with air strikes on February 28, has also killed at least 1,230 people in Iran and about a dozen in Israel, according to officials. Six US troops have also been killed.
The conflict has rattled global markets, disrupted air travel and left Iran’s leadership weakened by hundreds of Israeli and American air strikes.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said on Sunday that the war’s effect on the oil industry will continue to spiral, warning it could become harder to produce and sell oil.
Some regional producers, including those in Iraq, have already curbed output amid dangers in the Strait of Hormuz.
“When we are attacked, we have no choice but to respond. The more pressure they impose on us, the stronger our response will naturally be,” Mr Pezeshkian said on Sunday.
“Our Iran, our country, will not bow easily in the face of bullying, oppression or aggression — and it never has.” While multiple Gulf states reported intercepting more missiles and drones from Iran, Mr Pezeshkian said the country was not looking to battle them and accused the US of trying to pit countries against one another.
Iranian hardliners quickly contradicted those remarks. Judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei wrote on X: “The geography of some countries in the region — both overtly and covertly — is in the hands of the enemy, and those points are used against our country in acts of aggression. Intense attacks on these targets will continue.” The two men are part of a three-member leadership council that has overseen Iran since an earlier strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“We’re not looking to settle,” Mr Trump told reporters on Saturday on Air Force One. “They’d like to settle. We’re not looking to settle.” The Gulf nations of Bahrain and Kuwait also reported additional Iranian missiles launched towards them on Sunday, including several that hit new categories of civilian infrastructure.
Bahrain accused Iran of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and damaging one of its desalination plants, though its electricity and water authority said supplies remained online.
The island nation, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been among the countries targeted by Iranian drones and missiles. Attacks have hit hotels, ports and residential towers and killed at least one person.
The desalination plant strike came after Iran said a US air strike had damaged an Iranian desalination plant. Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, said the strike on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz had cut into the water supply for 30 villages. He warned that in doing so “the US set this precedent, not Iran”.
Desalination plants supply water to millions of residents in the region, raising new fears of risks in multiple parched desert nations.
Iran also said on Sunday that overnight strikes from Israel hit four oil storage tankers and a petroleum transfer terminal, killing four people.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said on Sunday that about 10,000 civilian structures across the country had been damaged, including homes, schools and medical facilities. It warned Tehran residents to take precautions against toxic air pollution and the risk of acid rain after Israeli strikes set fires at oil depots in the area.
Israel renewed its assault on parts of Lebanon early on Sunday, and health officials reported 12 more people killed.
The Israeli military has ordered tens of thousands of people in large areas of the country, including parts of the Beirut area, to evacuate during an offensive that its military said was aimed at stamping out Iran-supported forces there. It warned residents of southern Lebanon to move north on Sunday morning.
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