‘We’re not at war right now:’ The United States Bombs an Iranian Warship on International Waters
The United States sank an Iranian warship on March 4. Speaker Mike Johnson insists that the United States is still not at war.
“This Iranian warship thought it was safe in international waters. It wasn’t,” the Department of War tweeted, attaching footage of an American submarine attacking the IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship.
“The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II,” DoW Secretary Pete Hegseth says, viewing the attack as a victory on his end.
Replies beneath the X clip condemn the United States, with many users calling the act a “war crime.”
“This will go down in history as one of the most reckless, most egregious actions committed by the USG. There is no justification for it,” says one X user.
Still not at war?
To juxtapose this tragedy, Speaker Mike Johnson denies that the United States is at war.
“We’re not at war right now,” he says, citing that this is merely a military operation.
“Everybody has explained two points. We had to take care of these ballistic missiles that they were producing at such a rapid pace that our regional allies could keep up with.” In Johnson’s perspective, the operation remains ‘defensive.’
“Secondly, we had to take their navy down,” Johnson added, claiming that it would be done so quickly.
Regardless of terminology, even the Trump administration is not unified on that front. Hegseth has been calling the event a war. On the other hand, Johnson denies the term. The semantics can be argued all day, but it does little to divert from the fact that the United States attacked Iran, and within four days, both countries have been exchanging blows.
It can’t be called a war, but it’s structurally identical to one.
Similarly, if debates were to be had, Trump and his cabinet couldn’t be called ‘war criminals.’ But calling them ‘warmongers’ won’t offend reality.
Is Sinking a Warship a War Crime?
While the United States has not formally declared war, it is in active military operations against Iran. The IRIS Dena, as a warship, is considered a legitimate military target under international law. The ship sank outside of Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, and international waters are not considered neutral under the San Remo Manual on International Law.
However, former Indian Foreign Minister Kanwal Sibal claims that the IRIS Dena was unarmed. He said on X, “The attack by the US submarine was premeditated, as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise to which the US Navy was invited but withdrew from participation at the last minute, presumably with this operation in mind.”
Assuming Sibal’s statement holds truth, then the IRIS Dena had the right of innocent passage and did not pose a threat.
Was the sinking of the IRIS Dena a war crime? That’s for the International Criminal Court to decide. But if Sibal’s claims are found factual, then there may be a case for the allegation.
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