‘Bombing a sovereign country is not preemptive’: Politicians, activists react as US and Israel strike Iran

The United States and Israel launched a wave of strikes against targets in Iran on Saturday, triggering explosions in the capital Tehran and an escalation across the region.

“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally — again — obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy,” said US President Donald Trump in an address from his Florida home posted to his Truth Social platform.

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation aimed to “remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran”, and urged Iranians to overthrow the Islamic Republic’s clerical leadership.

In response to the Israel-US aggression, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran later in the day confirmed the launch of the “first wave” of missile and drone attacks against Israel in response to the strikes on its territory.

Political figures and analysts in Pakistan have condemned the recent developments, particularly criticising US President Donald Trump, and warned that the escalation could have grave consequences for the region.

In a statement issued by the PPP Media Cell, former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the Israeli attack on Iran, calling it a “matter of serious concern” for peace in the region. He further stated that the “cowardly attack” by Israel was an attempt to cover its atrocities in Gaza.

The PPP chairman also called on the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to take all possible measures to stop the Israeli aggression. The international community should take notice of Israel’s open violation of Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, he added.

Author and journalist Zahid Hussain noted in a post on social media platform X that “predictably, the US and Israel have attacked Iran”.

“The so-called ‘peace time president’ has invaded two countries and attacked several others in the first year of his term,” he added, seemingly referring to Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that he has played a role in stopping multiple wars.

Hussain also warned that the “latest US aggression will have serious consequences for Pakistan and the entire region”.

Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, UK and United Nations Maleeha Lodhi called on Pakistan to condemn the US-Israeli aggression against Iran “without delay”.

“The people of Pakistan expect no less than to stand in solidarity with Iran,” she said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, former senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed pointed out that the Israeli-American aggression against Iran has “grave implications” for the region and Pakistan.

“If God forbid, Iran loses, then Israel’s de facto border will be at Taftan on the Pakistan border […] India-Israeli axis will tighten the squeeze on Pakistan, creating a nutcracker situation.

“Balochistan and Pakistan’s nuclear program could then also be targeted! Hence, urgent need for Pakistan to defuse tensions with Afghanistan as well as give a healing touch at home to defuse political polarisation,” he said.

Lawyer and human rights professional Reema Omer noted that “preventative” or “preemptive” attacks had no basis in international law.

“They are mere euphemisms for the crime of aggression, i.e. the use of force against another state without legal justification,”she wrote on X.

“The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg described the crime of aggression as the ‘supreme international crime’ as it ‘contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole’,” she added.

Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan former emir Sirajul Haq termed the attack on Iran “state terrorism” and urged Muslims to unite instead of “merely condemning it and waiting for their turn”.

“Following Israeli aggression, Muslim countries should announce their withdrawal from Trump’s so-called peace board,” he said.

Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari said: “Terrorist Israel has launched multiple attacks against Iran just as Iran and the US were supposedly near an agreement.

“Given the lack of support within the US to attack Iran, Trump most likely sought an attack by Israel, knowing Iran would respond, which would allow the US to ‘justifiably’ attack Iran.”

Separately, journalist Iftikhar Firdous said that with Iran being attacked during an active conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the entire Western border strip “is now under fire”.

“The dynamics that emerge out of this conflict will shape global and regional geopolitics for the decades to come,” he wrote in a post on X.

Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) chief and Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas condemned the “reckless and unlawful military attacks launched” against Iran.

“This timing makes it clear that the talks were used as cover for a pre-planned aggression. Diplomacy was sabotaged deliberately. Who can trust any negotiation process now when advances in talks lead straight to bombardment? The Israeli claim of a ‘preemptive’ strike is absurd. There was no evidence Iran planned any attack on Israel,” he said.

“Such actions by the US under Trump and Israel under Netanyahu are a grave violation of international law, including the UN Charter. They risk turning the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East into a catastrophe. The entire prospering region is now on fire because of this madness,” he said.

He added that Iran’s response was a “legitimate act of self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter”.

“I call on the government of Pakistan to categorically and unequivocally condemn this aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.

Author and activist Fatima Bhutto said, “If they succeed in Iran, Israel will turn to Pakistan next. They are the greatest threat to the world — a rogue terror state.”

She further stated, “Bombing a sovereign country is not preemptive. The only state that has a right to defend itself now is Iran. May they do it, they would acting on behalf of the world.”

Former federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the Israeli attack on Iran with American backing was “state terrorism”.

“It is the fundamental right of the Iranian people to determine Iran’s national security priorities. The US and Israel cannot dictate this,” he said.

“Attacks on Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear energy are nothing but global tyranny,” he said.

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Header imager: Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. — Reuters

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