Government accused of ‘soft-pedalling’ response to US strikes on Iran

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

The Taoiseach has been accused of offering a defence for “brazen” breaches of international law, as opposition parties charged him with refusing to condemn US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Micheál Martin was further accused of “soft pedalling” the Government’s approach to appease the US administration, ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump later this month.

During Leaders’ Questions in the Dail dominated by the Government’s response to the conflict, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the US-Israel assault on Iran was “an act of aggression that threatens to set the entire Middle East ablaze”.

She said: “A sovereign state has been bombed, its leader assassinated, 185 innocent schoolgirls killed.

“These are not defensive actions, they are the actions of powerful states acting in defiance of international law.”

McDonald said the Iranian government is “brutal and repressive” but this did not license another state to “set aside international law and engage in military aggression”.

History will see October 7 as a disastrous catalyst for the uncertainty and instability in the world

She asked Martin to “condemn the US-Israeli strikes without qualification” and “state clearly that they are in breach of international law”.

Martin replied: “Ireland is in favour of a multilateral, rules-based international order, and have consistently advocated for same.

“And we believe in immediate de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and particularly in Iran and we believe these issues ultimately, in terms of sustainable resolution of this, has to be via the diplomatic channels.”

However, he argued that the multilateral order “has been dysfunctional for quite some time” and said the UN Security Council has been “paralysed and powerless” in holding “repressive regimes to account”.

“For a long time now, Iran has been a very malign influence in the world and in the Middle East.”

Why is it that you will not call out this aggression and name it for what it is?

He added: “There was no UN mandate for this action. No one is saying there was. There wasn’t.

“But it’s impossible to get a UN mandate for even peacekeeping now.”

Martin went on to blame Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 for the wider instability in the region.

“I think history, in reflecting on this period, will see October 7th as a disastrous catalyst for the uncertainty and instability in the world.”

McDonald said his response was “very dangerous” and criticised his concern for stopping “short of condemning those that have launched this attack”.

She told the Taoiseach: “You have effectively offered a defence and a rationale for the indefensible and brazen breach of international law.

“These strikes were launched while negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme were reportedly making progress, while diplomacy was under way and while talks were described as constructive – and now, instead of dialogue, we have missiles.

“Instead of dialogue and negotiation, we have assassination and we have dead schoolgirls in large, large numbers.

“So why is it that you will not call out this aggression and name it for what it is?”

Martin contended he was a multilateralist who believed in peaceful resolution to conflict.

He said: “You can put whatever spin you like on my contribution, but I’m very clear in respect of those basic principles in terms of the conduct of international affairs.”

The Fianna Fáil leader further accused Sinn Féin of a “lack of clarity” for supporting the US Republican Party and Maga candidates, which was met with objections among the party’s benches.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik accused Martin of “doublespeak” by criticising the mechanisms of the UN Security Council while failing to recognise that multilateral institutions had contained Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

She accused Martin of “soft pedalling” the national response “in fear of upsetting Washington” before he meets Trump for St Patrick’s Day.

The Taoiseach said: “St Patrick’s Day will come and go – it’s the more enduring, sustainable relationship between the US and Ireland that’s important.”

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also accused Martin of a “very long-winded way” of saying the Government “will not condemn the breach of international law”.