Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Should we really be condemning the strikes on Iran?

Okay, let's talk about the debate Helen Clark has sparked on whether New Zealand should be condemning the US air strikes on Iran.

As you’ll have noticed, New Zealand hasn’t condemned the strikes. In fact, in a radio interview this morning, the Prime Minister said that our position aligns with Australia’s - and Australia has openly supported the strikes.

The logical conclusion, then, is that we support the strikes too, even if we’re not saying so explicitly.

That lack of condemnation has upset Helen Clark because, as she points out, the air strikes are illegal under international law. And she is right about that. But can anyone seriously argue that the strikes shouldn’t have happened?

Consider the counterfactual - the strikes didn’t happen at the weekend. Ayatollah Khamenei is still alive. He continues to kill tens of thousands of Iranians for protesting, continues to fund Hamas to attack Israel, continues to fund and support the Houthis as they cause turmoil in the Middle East, continues backing Hezbollah to create further instability, and continues causing trouble as far away as Australia, where Iran allegedly directed the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne just a few months ago.

This is exactly the same dilemma the world faced in Venezuela with the capture of Maduro. It shouldn’t have happened, it broke the rules - but no one is sad that someone broke the rules to do what many believed needed to be done.

Now, obviously, this doesn’t guarantee success. Bombing a country to force regime change almost never works.

What comes next could be worse. The disruption to the Middle East could be greater than any benefit gained. But all of those are unknowns right now.

What is known is this: the Iranian regime was murdering its own people, destabilising the region and attempting to cause disruption even further afield.

So yes, what happened at the weekend broke the rules. But tell me - are you upset that it did?

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