َAndisheha-ye Huquq-e Omumi, Volume 13, Issue 2, No 25, Year 2026 , Pages 97-117

    A Comparison of the "Western Coalition's Attack on Syria" and "Iran's Attack on the Iraq Kurdistan Region" from the Perspective of International Law

    Article Type: 
    Research
    Writers:
    ✍️ Seyed Mohammad Hoseini / PhD Graduate in International Law, Mofid University / mh_smh@yahoo.com
    Mohammad Habibi Majandeh / Associate Professor, Department of Law, Mofid University / mhabibiim@gmail.com
    Pages: 97-117 Receive Date: 2026/07/02 Accept Date: 2026/07/02
    dor 20.1001.1.24235725.1403.13.2.5.8
    doi 10.22034/hoghoughi.2024.5000641
    Abstract: 
    Abstract Syria was twice accused, in 2013 and 2017, of using chemical weapons against armed rebel groups. Following the 2013 allegation, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom threatened Syria with the use of force. In 2017, the United States put the threat of using force into action by firing missiles at the Al-Shayrat airbase in Syria. The Islamic Republic of Iran also carried out attacks in 2022 against Kurdish separatist groups in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The main question of the present article is: what similarities and differences exist, both in terms of the justification or justificatory bases for these attacks and in terms of the international community's feedback to these two matters? The Western coalition each justified the Syrian incident from their own perspective. Humanitarian intervention, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and collective self-defense are the reasons cited by officials of these three countries to justify their actions under international law rules. The Islamic Republic of Iran also carried out the missile attack on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, citing the right to self-defense. An analysis of these two incidents and the reactions to them reveals a biased and double-standard approach by Western countries towards the norms of international law.
    Keywords: 
    legal defense
    Syrian chemical attacks
    Iraq Kurdistan
    Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
    humanitarian intervention
    چکیده و کلیدواژه فارسی (Persian)
    Title :مقایسۀ «حملة ائتلاف غربی به سوریه» و «حملة ایران به اقلیم کردستان عراق» از منظر حقوق بین‌الملل
    Abstract: 
    کشور سوریه دو بار در سال‌های 2013 و 2017 متهم به استفاده از سلاح‌های شیمیایی علیه گروه‌های مسلح شورشی گردید. در پی اتهام سال 2013، ایالات متحدۀ امریکا، فرانسه و انگلستان سوریه را به استفاده از زور تهدید نمودند. در سال 2017 ایالات متحدۀ امریکا با شلیک موشک‌هایی به پایگاه الشعیرات در سوریه تهدید به استفاده از زور را جامۀ عمل پوشانید. جمهوری اسلامی ایران نیز در سال 1401 حملاتی را علیه گروه‌های کُردِ تجزیه‌طلب در اقلیم کردستان عراق صورت داده است. مسئلۀ اصلی مقالة پیش‌ رو این است که چه شباهت‌ها و تفاوت‌هایی چه از حیث توجیه یا مبانی توجیهی این حملات و چه از حیث بازخورد جامعۀ بین‌المللی به این دو مسئله وجود دارد؟ ائتلاف غربی هریک از منظر خود به توجیه واقعۀ سوریه پرداخته‌اند. مداخلۀ بشردوستانه، مسئولیت حمایت و دفاع مشروع جمعی، دلائلی است که توسط مقامات این سه کشور برای توجیه اعمال خود ذیل قواعد حقوق بین‌الملل آورده شده است. جمهوری اسلامی ایران نیز حملۀ موشکی به اقلیم کردستان عراق را با استناد به حق دفاع مشروع صورت داده است. تحلیل این دو واقعه و بازخوردهای به آن، نمایانگر برخود سوگیرانه و دوگانۀ کشورهای غربی با موازین حقوق بین‌الملل است.
    Keywords: 
    دفاع مشروع
    حملات شیمیایی سوریه
    کردستان عراق
    مسئولیت حمایت
    مداخله بشردوستانه
    References: 
    • سیفی، سیدجمال (1401). حقوق مسئولیت بین‌المللی، گفتارهایی در مسئولیت بین‌المللی دولت. تهران: پژوهشکدۀ حقوقی شهر دانش.
    • حبیبی مجنده، محمد و آقایان حسینی، محمد (1398). امکان تعقیب به‌کارگیری سلاح شیمیایی در سوریه توسط دیوان بین‌المللی کیفری. مجلۀ حقوقی بین‌المللی، 36(60)، 69ـ104.
    • محمدی، سیدمهران (1397). حملۀ موشکی ایالات متحده به سوریه از منظر حقوق بین‌الملل. پژوهش ملل، 3(31)، 79ـ94.
    • ممتاز، جمشید و نجفی اسفاد، مرتضی (1379). بررسی بحران کوزوو و حقوق بین‌الملل. دیدگاه‌های حقوق قضایی، 17 و 18، 131ـ156.
    References: 
    • Scharf, P., Michael, Milena sterio, and Williams Paul R. (2020). The Syrian Conflict’s Impact on International Law. England: Cambridge University Press.
    • Nahlawi, Yasmine (2020). The Responsibility to Protect in Libya and Syria Mass Atrocities, Human Protection, and International Law. Londen: Routledge.
    • Ruys, Tom, Olivier Corten, and Alexandra Hofer (Eds) (2018). The Use of Force in International Law a Case-based Approach. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
    • Crook, John R. (2013). Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law. The American Journal of International Law, 107(4), 899-951. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5305/amerjintelaw.107.4.0899
    • Ogunnowo, Oluwaseyi Emmanuel, and Felix Chidozie (2020). International Law and Humanitarian Intervention in the Syrian Civil War: The Role of the United States. Sage Journals, 1-11.
    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020919533.
    • ICJ, Western Sahara, Advisory opinion of 16 October 1975.
    • ICJ, Case Concerning Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua. 27 June 1986.
    • UNGA. A/RES/60/1. 16 September 2005 (2005 World Summit Outcome).
    • UNGA. A/68/PV.5. 24 September 2013. (5th plenary meeting, Official Records).
    • UNGA and UNSC. A/67/997–S/2013/553. 16 September 2013. (Report of the United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic on the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Ghouta area of Damascus on 21 August 2013).
    • UNSC. S/RES/2118. 27 September 2013. (Resolution 2118).
    • UNSC. S/PV.7919. 7 April 2017.
    • UNSC. S/RES/1199. 23 September 1998.
    • UNSC. S/RES/1160. 31 March 1998.
    • UNSC. S/PRST/2011/16. 3 August 2011. (Statement by the President of the Security Council).
    • Electronic resources: 
    • Statement by the President Barack Obama on Syria, the White House, Office of the Press Secretary. August 31, 2013. Available at: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/31/statement-president-syria.
    • Last seen: 19 January 2023.
    • UK Parliament, House of Commons, 29 August 2013. Available at:
    • https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130829/debtext/130829-0001.htm. Last seen: 29 September 2023.
    • Discours de François Hollande à XXIe conférence des ambassadeurs de France, 27 AOÛT 2013. Available at: https://www.voltairenet.org/article179941.html.
    • Last seen: 19 January 2023.
    • Speech by François Hollande at 20th French Ambassadors’ Conference, 27 August 2012. Available at: https://www.voltairenet.org/article175673.html.
    • Last seen: 17 January2023.
    • The Senate of the United States, 113th Congress Session, Joint Resolution. September 6, 2013. Available at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/21.
    • Last seen: 19 January 2023.
    • Vladimir Putin in interview with Channel 1 and Associated Press, September 3, 2013. Available at: https://sputnikmediabank.com/media/2276876.html. And: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/19143.
    • Last seen: January 20, 2023.
    • Statement by Bahram Qasemi, 7 April 2017. Available at: https://www.pishkhan.com/news/9629.
    • Last seen: 29 September 2023.
    • Islamic Republic of Iran, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 7 October 2022. Available at: 
    • https://mfa.gov.ir/portal/newsview/695744.
    • Last seen: 2023-03-02.
    • Islamic Republic of Iran, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 30, 2022. Available at:
    • https://mfa.gov.ir/portal/newsview/695123.
    • Last seen: January 20, 2023.
    • John Bolton in an interview with BBC Persian TV channel, November 8, 2022. Available at:
    • https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/11/08/692358/Iran-US-Bolton-riots-BBC-Persian-opposition-weapons-Kurdistan-Basij-
    • Last seen: 2023-03-02.
    • U.S. Department of State. March 19, 1999. Available at:
    • https://1997-2001.state.gov/policy_remarks/1999/990319_clinton_kosovo.html
    • Last seen: October 7, 2023.
    • United States President Speech to the 54th General Assembly, September 21, 1999. Available at:
    • https://www.c-span.org/video/?152242-1/united-states-president-speech#.
    • Last seen: October 7, 2023.
    • GOV. UK. Prime Minister’s phone calls with Presidents Hollande and Obama, Published
    • 23 August 2012. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-ministers-phone-calls-with-presidents-hollande-and-obama. 
    • Last seen: 18 January2023.
    • European Union, 
    • Statement by Ned Price, Spokesperson November 14, 2022. Available at:
    • https://iq.usembassy.gov/statement-on-iran-attacks-the-iraqi-kurdistan-region/. 
    • Last seen: 2023-03-02.
    • Statement by a Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson on attacks by Iran on the Region of Kurdistan-Iraq, 28.09.2022. available at:
    • https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/-/2555178.
    • Last seen: 2023-03-02.
    • Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, UN Special Representative in Iraq, 4 October 2022. Available at:
    • https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129202.
    • Last seen 7 September 2013, A 447/13. Available at:
    • Https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/138691.pdf (EUROPEAN UNION, Vilnius, 7 September 2013 A 447/13)
    • Last seen: 2023, 02, 25.
    • Statement by President Trump on Syria, April 6, 2017. Available at: https://hn.usembassy.gov/statement-president-trump-syria/
    • Last seen: 2023.02.25.
    • January: 20, 2023.
    • 302 reads
    Cite this article: RIS Mendeley BibTeX APA MLA HARVARD VANCOUVER

    APA | MLA | HARVARD | VANCOUVER

    Hoseini, Seyed Mohammad, Habibi Majandeh, Mohammad. (2026) A Comparison of the "Western Coalition's Attack on Syria" and "Iran's Attack on the Iraq Kurdistan Region" from the Perspective of International Law. َAndisheha-ye Huquq-e Omumi, 13(2), 97-117 https://doi.org/10.22034/hoghoughi.2024.5000641.

    APA | MLA | HARVARD | VANCOUVER

    Seyed Mohammad Hoseini; Mohammad Habibi Majandeh."A Comparison of the "Western Coalition's Attack on Syria" and "Iran's Attack on the Iraq Kurdistan Region" from the Perspective of International Law". َAndisheha-ye Huquq-e Omumi, 13, 2, 2026, 97-117

    APA | MLA | HARVARD | VANCOUVER

    Hoseini, S, Habibi Majandeh, M.(2026) 'A Comparison of the "Western Coalition's Attack on Syria" and "Iran's Attack on the Iraq Kurdistan Region" from the Perspective of International Law', َAndisheha-ye Huquq-e Omumi, 13(2), pp. 97-117

    APA | MLA | HARVARD | VANCOUVER

    Hoseini, S, Habibi Majandeh, M. A Comparison of the "Western Coalition's Attack on Syria" and "Iran's Attack on the Iraq Kurdistan Region" from the Perspective of International Law. َAndisheha-ye Huquq-e Omumi, 2026; 13(2): 97-117