On February 16, 2026, one of the authors (Jeffrey Sachs) addressed a letter to the UN Security Council, cautioning that the United States was on the brink of undermining the United Nations Charter. That dire warning has now materialized.
The United States together with Israel has initiated an unprovoked conflict against Iran, openly breaching Article 2(4) of the Charter without Security Council consent or any valid claim of self-defense under Article 51. Their effort to dismantle the UN Charter and the international rule of law will, however, ultimately fail.
During the Security Council session on February 28, 2026, the US and its partners directed their accusations at Iran rather than condemning the aggressions by America and Israel. One ally after another denounced Iran’s retaliatory moves while conspicuously ignoring the illegal, unprovoked assaults by the US-Israeli alliance. This distortion of reality was both shameful and misleading.
Trump justified the joint US-Israeli strikes by claiming that Iran “rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore.” This assertion is categorically false. As detailed in the February 16 letter, Iran consented a decade ago to the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2231.
Rather, it was Trump who abandoned the agreement in 2018. In June 2025, Israel attacked Iran amid ongoing US-Iran talks. The plan for a US-Israeli war was apparently set weeks earlier when Netanyahu met with Trump, revealing the negotiations as a charade. This seems to be the US’s emerging pattern: initiate talks only to pursue deadly outcomes against their opponents.
The conduct of the US allies at the Security Council can be understood in part because eight of the fourteen other members, alongside the US, host US military bases or permit US forces access to theirs: Bahrain, Colombia, Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Panama, and the United Kingdom.
These nations are not fully autonomous, as the US exerts considerable influence through its military presence. The bases often house CIA operations, and the hosts constantly remain vigilant to avoid subversion orchestrated by the US within their borders.
Henry Kissinger famously remarked, “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be its friend is fatal.” Hosting US military and intelligence operations effectively reduces a country to vassal status.
As a stark illustration, the Danish ambassador repeated every US talking point, accusing Iran of aggression as if the US and Israel had not initiated the attacks. Such humiliating subservience is unlikely to sit well with Denmark, especially if the US proceeds to occupy Greenland.
The nations voicing truth at the Security Council were those free from US occupation. Russia aptly criticized the Western countries (i.e., US-occupied states) for victim-blaming Iran unjustly.
China reminded the body that the crisis originated with US and Israeli assaults on Iran, rather than Iran’s responsive actions. Somalia’s ambassador, representing several African states, accurately depicted the root of the recent tensions.
The League of Arab States’ UN Representative spoke cogently about the fundamental cause of Israel’s reckless aggression: the ongoing denial of Palestinian rights and Israel’s use of mass violence and regional conflict to block the formation of a Palestinian State (Palestine).
When Iran strikes US military installations in the Gulf, it is exercising its legitimate right of self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. It is important to remember that the US and Israel are continuously assassinating Iran’s leaders in an overt effort to overthrow its government.
Under international law, a state targeted by attempts to kill its head of state and dismantle its government has the right to defend itself.
The US-Israeli bombings killed not only Iran’s Supreme Leader and several senior officials but also tragically claimed the lives of over 140 young girls in a school in Minab. These children represent innocent victims of a grave war crime.
Countries that have excused these killings—most notably Denmark, France, Latvia, the United Kingdom, and the US itself—bear complicity in these war crimes.
This emergency UN Security Council session may go down as the day the United Nations effectively ceased to have credibility from its American headquarters. An international organization committed to peaceful conflict resolution cannot credibly operate from a nation engaging in illegal wars, threatening fellow members with destruction, and disregarding Security Council directives when convenient.
For the UN to endure—which is crucial—it must establish multiple centers globally, including in Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and others, truly reflecting the multipolar world order.
It is vital to understand the real ambitions of the United States and Israel. The US is not driven by protecting its citizens but by seeking global hegemony.
Their goal is to dismantle the UN and the international rule of law—a campaign doomed to fail. Meanwhile, Israel aims to create a Greater Israel, eliminate the Palestinian people, and dominate hundreds of millions of Arabs throughout the Middle East (stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, as recently asserted by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee).
Original article: iol.co.za
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