Ep 115 Parsing Tragedy -- The Legal Issues Raised by the January Conflict in Iraq

There has been a lot written and said about the US-Iran conflict in Iraq earlier this month. At INTREPID, we waited for (a little bit) of the dust to settle and dedicated this podcast to walking through the international legal issues. We talk jus ad bellum (right to use force) and jus in bello (the law of armed conflict) in relation to military clashes between 27 December and 8 January, including the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752. We also discuss some of the threats made by US and Iranian leaders and how they resonate (or not) in international law. Sadly, this conflict has a Canadian component, not only because Canadian Armed Forces personnel are in the region. Most of the passengers of flight 752 were en route to Canada when the plane was shot down by an Iranian missile. Like you, we are deeply affected by this tragic event. This is on the long side for one of our podcasts, but we wanted to make space for a full discussion.