Both campaigns have been framed differently at different times, with dubious claims of defensive action and a curious reluctance to label it war
Shifting goals, unclear timelines and a flimsy pretext: at times, the US-Israel campaign against Iran carries curious parallels of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The comparison is far from exact. In 2022, Putin sent a massive army across Ukraine’s borders in an unprovoked invasion of a democratic state, a campaign that quickly resulted in heavy losses. The United States has so far largely limited its involvement to airstrikes against Iran’s authoritarian regime.
Yet the echoes are hard to ignore.
In both wars, the aims of the campaign have been framed differently at different moments, while the legal justification, scholars say, is nonexistent.
