Oil Platforms (Iran v United States)
United States attacks on Iranian oil platforms could not be justified as self defence, because the United States had not shown that it had been the victim of an armed attack by Iran or that the attacks were necessary and proportionate.
Facts
During the war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s, the United States attacked and destroyed several Iranian offshore oil platforms in the Persian Gulf, in response to a missile attack on a tanker flying the United States flag and the mining of a United States warship, which it attributed to Iran. Iran brought proceedings against the United States, claiming that the attacks breached a treaty of amity between the two countries. The United States argued that the attacks were justified as self defence.
Legal principle
The International Court of Justice held that the attacks could not be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States under the treaty, because they could not be justified as self defence. The court said that the United States had to show that it had been the victim of an armed attack by Iran, and it had not proved that the attacks on its ships were attributable to Iran, or that they amounted to an armed attack. In any event, the attacks on the platforms were not necessary and proportionate responses. However, the court rejected Iran's claim that the United States had breached the treaty's provisions on freedom of commerce.
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