The West must act against Tehran aggression

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari poses next to an Iranian missile downed at the Julis military base near the southern city of Kiryat Malachi. Picture: AFP

The massive and direct aggression against Israel by Iran should wake up the democratic world to the true nature of the geopolitical and terror threat at the heart of the Israel-Hamas conflict. We’re all facing the same rectangle of rogues: Iran, Russia, China and North Korea. Matching the Axis of World War II, they share the characteristics of authoritarianism centred on narcissistic dictators, an expansionist ideology, and a focus on militarism.

Iran has supplied impact drones in the hundreds to Russia in its war against Ukraine. It’s contracted to establish a factory to produce them in Russia. Iran facilitates Russian operations in Syria which includes ownership of the port of Tartus, several air bases and the presence of Russian “Wagner” mercenary forces. Russia has launched cyber-attacks against Israel in support of the Iranian-backed Hamas attack. It assisted Iran with nuclear technology and anti-aircraft weapons.

In 2020 China entered a $400bn, 25-year contract with Iran, mainly focused on energy security. It has about 5000 security personnel in Iran and, along with North Korea, assists them with ballistic missile technology. China has provided military-related supplies and economic support to Russia in the war against Ukraine. North Korea provides material and weapons to Russia, Hamas and Hezbollah. All four states of this malign alignment collaborate in and compare notes on grey zone information warfare and offensive cyber capabilities. And on it all goes.

We’ve heard the rote chants from the pro-Hamas band of camp followers that Israel is a colonial and imperialist country. But it’s Iran that is bent on regional hegemony and being the ascendant leader in the Muslim world. Lebanon and Syria are now effectively provinces and military command and staging bases for Iran. Iraq is a self-governing protectorate on the way to becoming a province. Houthi-controlled Yemen is a fully owned Iranian military base that adds the Red Sea trade route to Iran’s threat to the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a flanking threat to the Sunni states, particularly Saudi Arabia, and Israel. Added to this is the Shia fomentation operations it conducts within states such as Bahrain. The range of territorial controls it exercises is reminiscent of the administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire.

All this is well understood in the Sunni Arab countries of the region. Nearly two years ago Israel took part in secret meetings with top military officials in the Middle East to discuss combating the shared threat of Iran’s missile and drone capabilities. It included officers from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The barrage against Israel was delivered not only from Iran but also from the territory of Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Israel was assisted in repelling Iran’s assault by the US and UK. It had active operational help from Jordan and airspace co-operation from Saudi Arabia. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia provided intelligence assistance.

An Israeli fighter jet returns after a mission to intercept the barrage of drones and missiles dispatched by Iran and its proxies on Saturday night. Picture: AFP

Instead of wasting time on the certain-to-fail genocide case against Israel, South Africa and other members of the international community would be better served initiating a case against Iran at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court. This would be based on a solid legal case that Iran is in “effective control” of Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis through training, arming, equipping, financing, supplying or otherwise encouraging, supporting, aiding and directing their actions. This is the test the ICJ has laid out in the Nicaragua and Bosnia genocide cases for establishing state responsibility.

This network has been underlined by Iran itself. Iranian military chief Mohammad Bagheri threatened Israel not to respond to the missile barrage by striking Iran “or anyone linked to us”. Iran, through the actions of Hezbollah and Hamas, should be held fully legally responsible for this current war. This includes the crime of initiating a war of aggression, the litany of atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel, the ongoing war crime of indiscriminate rocket fire against civilian populations in Israel and the attacks on international shipping.

The West should take meaningful united action against Iran. This should include, but wouldn’t be limited to, heightened sanctions establishing an international boycott of the Iranian oil industry, ensuring it does not develop nuclear weapons and investing in a major effort to develop and produce the capabilities to completely neutralise the stand-off threat from Iran, its proxies and other members of this new Axis. Above all, it means ensuring Israel is fully supported in finishing the mission of neutralising Hamas capabilities in Gaza.

Mike Kelly is co-convener of Labor Friends of Israel. Anthony Bergin is a senior fellow at Strategic Analysis Australia