Tehran, May 22 (ANI) — Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei pushed back Friday against German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s description of the West Asia fighting as an ‘unnecessary war’, arguing the United Nations Charter contains no concept of a ‘necessary war’.
In a post on X, Baqaei said the present regional crisis flows directly from the United States’ withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018. He described that 2018 move as ‘unlawful and capricious’ and said the escalation that followed could and should have been avoided.
Baqaei rejected efforts to downplay the confrontation by calling it merely unnecessary, saying such characterizations diminish the seriousness of the events. He insisted the UN Charter does not permit states to justify the use of force against another sovereign state on the basis of ‘arbitrary and whimsical decisions of aggressors.’
He further labeled the recent American-Israeli strike on Iran a ‘blatant act of aggression’ and a ‘flagrant violation’ of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
‘Any nation that values the rule of law and the UN Charter must unequivocally condemn this act of aggression and call for accountability,’ Baqaei wrote, urging countries to hold the attackers to account under international law.
The comments followed a news article in which President Steinmeier characterized the conflict as unnecessary; Baqaei shared that article with his response on social media. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson framed the crisis as avoidable and rooted in the breakdown of the JCPOA, rather than a conflict that can be justified as ‘necessary.’
(This report draws on a syndicated feed and was published as received.)
