Sameen Rao
On 28th February, 2026, Israel and United States launched combined airstrikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear facilities and the country’s leadership. Iran responded back with counter attacks.
After a 40 days chaos, a ceasefire took place on April 7, 2026, over the course of 40 days combat. Israel conducted more than 10,800 strikes on over 4000 targets.
https://www.ajc.org/news/the-iran-strikes-explained-how-we-got-here-and-what-it-means
United States’ unreasonable demand of regime change in Iran was creating hatred between the two states. No country appreciates any kind of external interference in their internal issues and this principle is widely recognized under international law. This has been making the whole situation even worse leading to increased stubbornness on both sides.
The major turning point in the whole scenario was the Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was the sole leader of the country since 1989 was killed during the first wave of strikes. Many more significant leaders in Iran were also killed in these attacks that deeply affected the whole population.
From April 7 – April 21, an initial two week ceasefire took place mediated by Pakistan. It provided a safe place for negotiations in Pakistan. Later U.S President Trump extended this ceasefire at Pakistan’s request to get more time for negotiations. But this did not work longer as U.S President Donald Trump violated this ceasefire on 13th April 2026, following the failure of peace talks. This blockade does not let any ship pass the Hormuz or leave the Iranian port, in retaliation to this Iran went back to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz completely.
U.S forced have directed approximately 27 vessels to turn around or return to the Irani port . U.S also seized an Iranian flagged cargo after it tried to escape the blockade on 19th April. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxd88r2wjzo
Tehran considered this as an Act of Piracy. U.S President says that he will not lift the blockade on Iranian ports until a deal has been reached with Tehran. Trump’s sarcastic remarks on social media demeaning Tehran, changing decision every day and not respecting the ceasefire makes the situation very difficult. Following the first round of talks between Iran and U.S, it could not come to a conclusion as Iran accused them of having unlawful demands. The second round of peace talks in Islamabad are yet to take place but Iran is showing no signs of interest.
Studying this whole situation through the international law lens, both have violated laws in their own ways. While Iran can claim a right to self-defense under international law, this right is not unlimited. It applies only to targeted responses against concrete military threats and must meet the requirements of necessity and proportionality. Extending this justification to actions such as restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz is far more difficult to defend legally; as such measures affect not only adversaries but also neutral states and global commerce. Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian gulf to the gulf of Oman and border to the north by Iran and the south by Oman and the UAE. The strait is 39 km narrow, and given that both Iran and Oman claim a 12nm territorial sea. Under international law, state do not have the right to close their territorial sea as permitted under the 1982 United Nations convention on the law of Sea. The UN Convention makes it clear that “all ships and aircrafts enjoy the right to transit passage” this is not being followed by the US that has a blockade right now at Hormuz.
Iran also signed the 1958 convention where the ships have the right to pass, it cannot be suspended because the route is vital for global trade. However Iran allowed selected ships to pass, requiring some to pay fees to passage. This closure is mainly for U.S and Israel. The blockade by the U.S is an act of war. They are not letting any vessel pass through the Strait of Hormuz indirectly targeting the economy of Iran. Trump’s initial announcement was directed against the new Iranian practice to sell passage through the strait for a fee of $2 Million. The key point remains that neither the US nor Iran can impose the extent and modalities of a right of passage through the Strait of Hormuz. This is a matter of global regulation affecting the rights of all states. These rights cannot be diminished or negotiated away by two states.
The world is suffering because of these three states, the only right way to peace is to have a successful second round of peace talks where both the parties compromise, it needs to be a win win situation for both in order to attain peace. Ceasefire must be implemented. These events unfold the harsh truth that modern conflicts are no longer clearly fought or ended, they are left in a blurry line.
(Sameen Rao is Student of Peace and Conflict Studies).
