Analyzing the Concept of "Existential Threat" and Evaluating its Consequences in the Light of Carl Schmitt's Views (Case Study of the Israel and United States Attacks on Iran)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Law, Faculty of Administrative Science and Economics,, University of Isfahan

2 Department of Law, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

3 Department of Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

10.22099/jls.2026.55449.5460

Abstract

Despite the humanistic evolution of international law in the second half of the twentieth century, the survival of the "state" is the main basis of the fundamental core of the rules of classic international law. But if a state is faced with a credible threat to its existence and being, to what extent does international law allow it to use this situation as a pretext for deviating from the conventional rules of international law, and does such a threat, as a “State of Exception”, allow international law to continue to operate as normal conditions, or does a special legal regime govern the situation? The answers to these questions are important because Israel justified its attacks on Iran in June 2025 on this basis and invited the United States to the battlefield. The research hypothesis, which is proven by a descriptive-analytical method, is that the Israeli approach is influenced by the Schmittian views of international law, which considers war to be a political rather than a normative/moral matter, and recognizes the right to use of force, especially in light of the perception of an existential threat to any state. However, international law after the UN Charter is the exact opposite of this approach and has limited the use of force to "self-defense". However, the International Court of Justice has left room of claiming the possibility of violating some rules, including the use of nuclear weapons.

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Journal of Legal Studies

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 14 February 2026

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