This Article addresses a pressing issue of global concern - whether Israel and the United States would have a right under international law to engage in measures of self-defense against Iran if Iran creates a nuclear warhead. This specific question is considered in connection with two more general issues regarding the law of self-defense - first, the question of when an armed attack has commenced, and second, the question of when non-state actor armed attacks can be imputed to a state for the purpose of measures of self-defense against the state. As the Article notes, too few legal writers have paid detailed attention to various aspects of context that should be addressed when making realistic and policy-attentive decisions regarding whether an armed attack has begun. Meanwhile, too many legal writers have used the wrong test with respect to the interrelated issue of whether non-state actor armed attacks can be imputed to a state. With respect to imputation, the Article provides detailed attention to circumstances of direct and complicit aggression by a state and clarifies the substantial involvement test.
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