Iran, Israel-US worked outside the context of international law: Finnish President

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) As the conflict in West Asia intensified, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said both Iran and the Israel-US combine have worked “outside the context of international law”.

In a video interview with the India Today network, Stubb also said that Iran made a “strategic mistake” by attacking Gulf nations in retaliation for the Israel-US strikes, because now the Gulf states are going to rally around together to see what they can do with Iran.

The conflict in West Asia began after the US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Following the military offensive, Iran has carried out a wave of attacks targeting Israeli and American military bases in several Gulf countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

In the last few days, the conflict has widened significantly with attacks and counter-attacks by both sides.

During the interview on Wednesday, Stubb was asked how he saw the military strikes on Iran when negotiations were underway.

“It's difficult to say. I come from Finland, which shares 1,340 km of borders with Russia. So, my main concern from the security perspective is what is going on in Ukraine.

“I can't say I am an expert. But, if I listen to experts, as to why this attack took place, usually there are four arguments – one is nuclear weapons; second, missiles; third is proxies like terrorist organisations such as the Hamas, Houthis and Hezbollah; and the fourth is regime change,” Stubb said.

How this conflict is going to pan out, “I don't think anyone knows”, he added.

“As someone who always advocates international law, needless to say, both Iran and Israel and the US have worked outside the context of international law. Usually, if you have these kinds of strikes, you do one of two things: get a UN mandate, or you have a ‘coalition of the willing’.

“But, now that Iran has attacked the Gulf states, you are starting to see a ‘coalition of the willing’ emerging, more skin in the game for big countries in Europe such as France and the UK,” the Finnish president said.

With more and more conflicts happening around the world, Stubb was asked if the rules-based order was facing challenges.

"Yes and no. The rules-based order was created pretty much 80 years ago, and right now it is under stress and strain. And, there are two schools of thought on it – one group says it’s a rupture, the old order is dead. And, the other school, to which I belong, says no, it is in transition.

“It has served us quite well for over 80 years. And, what we need to maintain the UN, the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank is to give more agency and power to the Global South, that is how we fix it,” Stubb said.

He argued that it is countries like India that “will decide the direction in which the world is going to tilt”.

“And, if we want to maintain the multilateral order, and by we I mean the Global West, we need to give more agency and power to countries like India,” Stubb added.

"That is why I have, for instance, advocated a permanent seat in the UN Security Council for India, because that would keep India promoting multilateralism rather than multipolarity,” he underlined.

The Finnish president is on a four-day visit to India starting Wednesday, to shore up bilateral cooperation across a wide spectrum of areas, including trade, investment and critical technology.

The crisis in West Asia figured prominently in the bilateral talks between Stubb and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

During the interview, the Finnish leader also spoke of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, and conjectured that after several negotiations, there “might be a peace deal”, though it will not be de jure, but a “de facto” one.

He also asserted that Finland would have never joined NATO had Russia not attacked Ukraine, and dubbed Moscow's military move a "strategic mistake" because it "strengthened NATO".

Asked if NATO was facing an existential crisis, Stubb said, "No, not at all. We are seeing the birth of NATO 3.0." “The US is now shifting the burden when it comes to conventional warfare. That is why we are increasing our defence expenditure to 5 per cent. That is why Finland joined, that is why Sweden joined,” he said, counting NATO's military prowess.

Asked how he looked at US President Donald Trump's leadership, the Finnish leader said, “Let’s be pragmatic about the relationship (with the US), understand that President Trump is a deal maker. Be honest and open about differences... You have to work with the US.” Underlining that one should be pragmatic when it comes to the relationship with the US, Stubb urged to “not throw the baby away with the bathwater”. PTI KND ARI ARI