The war against Iran is not a “preventive war”, it’s an unprovoked war of aggression

by Alfred de Zayas,* Geneva

(6 March 2026) We are complicit in the US/Israel aggression against Iran if we accept the pretext that this was a “pre-emptive war”. This time the pretext is even weaker than in 2003 with Hussein's alleged “weapons of mass destruction”.

We are complicit if we go along with the obviously false narratives coming out from Washington, Tel Aviv and Brussels. We let ourselves be lied to, and even when knowing our intelligence is being insulted, we let it happen.

Since 1991 the collective West has been sabotaging international law – and with it its own credibility. Iraq was a test run for everything else that followed: undemocratic regime change in Iraq, then in Libya, then in Syria, now in Iran.

The G-7 is as complicit in the US/Israeli crimes as it was back in 2003 when it also met in the Royal Hotel in Evian and rolled out the red carpet for the arch-criminal George W. Bush, barely weeks after the aggression on the people of Iraq.

“Business as usual” is the mantra of criminal capitalism. The G-7 will be meeting in Evian 15-17 June. If they had any sense of morals and commitment to peace and international law, they would cancel the meeting.

The logical response to the illegal US/Israel assault on the Iranian people is to BDS the US and Israel. Boycott, divest, Sanction – no more purchases of F-16, F-35, Boeing. Divest from US Treasury bonds and US stocks. Stop selling rare earths to the US/Israel.

* Alfred de Zayas is Professor of International Law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and was the United Nations Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order from 2012 to 2018. He is a board member of the Geneva International Peace Research Institute (GIPRI).