Legittima difesa e targeted killings. Gli Stati Uniti e il “caso Soleimani”

On January 3, 2020, the United States conducted a raid with a Reaper drone at Baghdad international airport with the aim of killing General Qassem Soleimani. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the conformity of this operation to international law. Following the letter sent to the UN Security Council by U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, the main considerations are related to the assessment of the drone strike pursuant to its obligations under art. 51 of the UN Charter. The rules of ius ad bellum constitute the cornerstone of the international security system and determine the legality of the use of force also with regard to activities conducted by drones. Moreover, as the U.S. action occurred on the territory of Iraq, the paper has also paid attention to the legal issues related to this specific aspect. In addition, it is discussed that the legal considerations dealing with the compliance with the rules of ius ad bellum do not exhaust the assessment of the lawfulness of the targeted killing operation against General Soleimani pursuant to international law. In fact, the drone strike against Soleimani has significant implications under international human rights law and international humanitarian law profiles.