Several Irish MEPs have today used a European Parliament debate to raise concerns about the decision by the United States and Israel to launch military action against Iran.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews told the chamber that "the United States is taking a break from political seriousness" and suggested the war was another example in the past 12 months of the US "undermining international law".
"We have three more years of this," he said. "So I call on (European Commission) President (Ursula) von der Leyen to choose the rule of law - to choose the EU, with all of its weaknesses."
Also addressing EU politicians in Strasbourg was fellow Fianna Fáil MEP, Billy Kelleher.
He stressed the need for a "rules‑based order," adding that the assault on Iran was "not within the confines of the UN Charter" - although his comments also fell short of explicitly condemning the operation as illegal.
He later told RTÉ’s European Parliament Report that he had "deep concerns that we now have a situation (of) unilateral decisions by the United States and by Israel".
"Bombing from 30,000 feet in the sky is something that I believe will not achieve the ultimate aim, which was to bring peace and stability to the Middle East. And more importantly, freedom from the Iranians' perspective to the people of Iran," Mr Kelleher said.
He added: "Nobody sheds tears for the corrupt, autocratic dictatorship that is the Iranian regime. But at the same time, we have to ensure and insist that our allies comply with international law."
When asked if those concerns over international law should be raised directly by the leader of his party - an Taoiseach Micheál Martin - with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office next week, he said: "My own view is that we've already said publicly umpteen times that international rules-based order compliance with the UN Charter is what should always happen. I don't see why there will be any deviation from that at any stage."
'It is an illegal war' - Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan was more explicit in her condemnation of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, describing them as "illegal".
Speaking to European Parliament Report, she criticised the Irish Government’s response.
She said: "Helen McEntee, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, has not been able to say it was an illegal war. They say it was outside the UN charter. But why are they not saying categorically that this was illegal?"
She also highlighted the killing of more than 160 Iranian children in a reported US airstrike on a primary school in Minab on the first day of the war, which she said had not received sufficient condemnation.
On the question of the survival of the Iranian regime, which has long been associated with documented human rights abuse, she said: "Iranian people need to decide their own future."
"Absolutely nobody will shed a tear for the regime, which was brutal, but they're also not going to champion and cheerlead being carpet-bombed, which is effectively what's happening to them.
"We need to learn the lessons of history. Going in and bombing a country does not result in regime change. It results in a disaster across the Middle East," she added.
Boylan says von der Leyen 'operating outside her remit'
Ms Boylan also criticised comments made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier in the week, in which she appeared to indicate the bloc’s foreign policy should be more "interest-driven".
Describing the comments as "deeply, deeply dangerous," Ms Boylan suggested Ms von der Leyen was "operating completely outside of her remit".
She added that no one wanted to see a "shift from a rules-based order…we definitely don't need to see the EU now following in a Trump-like manner".
After receiving broad criticism over those comments, Ms von der Leyen addressed MEPs in Strasbourg today, where she reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to the "rules-based international order".
'No international law' once 'Ayatollahs have atomic bomb' - Dutch MEP
Also joining the panel for European Parliament Report was Dutch MEP Bart Groothuis, who defended the strategic rationale behind what he said were efforts to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
"I'm not going to condemn and lecture the US on international law here," he said, adding: "There will be no international law once the Ayatollahs have the atomic bomb."
Mr Groothuis, who is the EP’s Vice-Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Iran, argued that Tehran’s leadership posed a fundamental threat to global security if it were to obtain a nuclear capability.
"I weigh the threat of the ayatollahs having this bomb much higher than the non-intervention principle," he added.
