Topic: 2026 – Clarification of Article 51
Country: South Africa
Delegate Name: Margrit Rayes
SCUNC
1. Article 51
Article 51 of the United Nations Charter is an extremely vital, yet vague provision. As per the article, all members of the UN have an inherent right to self defense in the face of danger. As this committee is aware, Article 51 has been used 80 times since 2021, indicating an acute increase in comparison to previous years. This article is needed as it serves to protect countries under the United Nations, and strives to maintain peace between all nations. However, due to a lack of clear and concise explanation, Article 51 had been abused in ways that cost civilian lives.
An example of the use, or misuse, of Article 51 is displayed through the actions of Israel on June 13th of last year regarding Iran. On June 13th of 2025, Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion”, an attempt to “eliminate the threat” of Iran. 4 days after the attack, a letter was sent to the President of the Security Council by an Israeli foreign minister, whilst not directly stating Article 51, still stating that these attacks were to defend the “security and existence of Israel”. No matter the intent, upwards 220 innocent Iranian citizens were killed amongst these attacks. Are innocent people the cost of national security, and if they are, what does that say about international law and incompetence? As a nation, South Africa stands against Israel’s use of Article 51 against Iran and against the Palestinian people as a whole, as civilian deaths outweigh Israel’s national threat.
Another example of the use of Article 51 is seen on June 22nd of 2025, where the United States struck Iranian nuclear factories, and in a later report excused their actions through Article 51. As the US claimed in the report, they had taken all “necessary measures” to “defend” Israel, claiming that “all peaceful measures were exhausted” and therefore insinuating that Iran was not cooperative – that the only option left was to strike, and that the United States was only acting in accordance with international law. However it may seem, this action only worsened the ongoing Iran-Israel tensions, and made it even harder to maintain peace. Although Hassan Abedini, an Iranian political director, assures that this operation did not harm Iran as severely as claimed since weapons were evacuated before the attack, this event still increased tensions between nations and did not provide security to the nation of Israel as it originally set out to do.
On behalf of the delegation of South Africa, preemptive strikes should not be considered viable under Article 51, as they do far more harm than good by creating hostile tensions for nations to be in with no original reason for self defense. If an attack is presumed by a nation, that nation must gain permission of the UN, to ensure that an attack is absolutely necessary, and that as little tensions rise as possible. To ensure this, a feature could be added to Article 51 that has to do with the concept of Article 39. Article 39 states that it is the responsibility of the Security Council to decide what measures need to be taken in the event of a possible attack, NOT the responsibility of the nation under possible attack. If this was implemented, ARticle 51 would be far more specified and would therefore result in less civilian deaths and continue to maintain international peace.
Works Cited:
Mackintosh, Thomas. Yousif, Nadine. “What we know about US strikes on three Iranian nuclear strikes” BBC News, 2025
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o
Lam, Lena. Williams, Nathan. Lukiv, Jaroslav. Santos, Sofia. “Israel-Iran: How did the latest conflicts start and where could it lead?” BBC News, 2025
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdj9vj8glg2o
Karnavas, Micheal. “SOUTH AFRICA’S ICJ APPLICATION: A convincing genocide claim or a compelling off-ramp for Israel (and cautionary refrain for the US)” Blog, 2025
Shany, Yuval. Cohen, Amichai. “South Africa vs. Israel at the International Court of Justice: A Battle Over Issue-Framing and the Request to Suspend the War” Just Security, 2024
Official sites:
Security Council Report of the United Nations, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2025-10/in-hindsight-the-increasing-use-of-article-51-of-the-un-charter-and-the-security-council.php
Media report of the Islamic Republic of Iran, https://southafrica.mfa.gov.ir/en/newsview/768419/South-African-Foreign-Ministry-Media-Statement-Condemning-Zionist-regimes%E2%80%99-Attack-on-Iran
United Nations Charter, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text#:~:text=Article%2039,restore%20international%20peace%20and%20security.
