Qatar rejects Iran’s justification for attacks, saying civilian impact is ‘well-documented’

Qatar has rejected Iran’s attempt to justify attacks on its territory, saying Tehran’s arguments have no legal basis and do not remove its responsibility under international law. Doha set out its position in two letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the president of the UN Security Council.

The letters, delivered by Qatar’s permanent representative to the UN, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, responded to a communication from Iran’s acting charge d’affaires at the United Nations. Qatar said the attacks, which began on February 28, violated the UN Charter.

Iran invoked several arguments, including the right to self-defence under Article 51. In an official statement published by Qatar’s Foreign Ministry on September 4, Doha said the conditions required for self-defence had not been met. It also cited UN Security Council Resolution 2817, which condemned Iran’s attacks and affirmed states’ right to defend themselves against armed attacks.

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Selectively extracting a sentence from that document while disregarding broader context is misleading.

Qatar argued that Iran’s own reference to the UN General Assembly’s 1974 definition of aggression weakened its case. That definition includes bombing another state’s territory, using weapons against another state and blockading ports or coasts. Doha said those provisions covered Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Qatar, as well as actions affecting navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Qatar also accused Iran of selectively quoting a security assessment. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said the document had been prepared for the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference and was neither a complete factual record nor a legal assessment. He said Iran had extracted one sentence while disregarding the wider context.

Al Ansari said the same document acknowledged direct attacks inside Qatar, including the March 18 strike on gas facilities in Ras Laffan, the temporary closure of Qatari airspace and the effect on civilian life. Qatar’s UN submissions recorded missile launches over civilian, commercial and residential areas, with 16 people injured in attacks documented in a March 1 letter. A July 20 letter recorded further attacks that injured three people, including a child.

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Regrettable