We're all asking if the Iran war is legal. Here's what Winston Peters will say about it

Wednesday, 4 March 2026

The prime minister declined to comment on the legality of the US and Israel's open-ended attack on Iran.

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has spoken with morning media about the legality of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and why the prime minister was shying away from taking a strong position.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking from Argentina, Peters was asked why Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wouldn’t take a stance on the legality of the attacks against Iran that began Saturday night (NZ time).

The Government has been under mounting pressure to clarify its position, after an initial statement that said “we acknowledge that the actions taken overnight by the US and Israel were designed to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security”. Luxon has declined to take a definitive stance, while signalling concern about Iran’s long history of backing militant proxies and the repression of its population.

“Well, I’m the minister of foreign affairs, why didn’t you guys ask me?” Peters told Newstalk ZB on Monday morning.

Hosking replied: “Well, we did, and you couldn’t talk until this morning.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters.

When asked if he backed America despite the legality debate, Peters said New Zealand was facing new circumstances, and should have to look at them with new eyes.

“[Iran] have been financing proxies all around the world, even as far as Australia, in major terrorist activities,” said Peters.

“They’ve been doing it for decades, but all of a sudden now you’ve got a sort of a concertina of concern where some countries are saying enough.”

He said “all of a sudden” geostrategic experts in history are now saying we should have a rule of law.

The former PM said the possibility of New Zealand supporting a US-led mission inside Iran was something that needed to be put to the Government.

“But my point is, you’re not looking at the same circumstances,“ he said. “Now, it’s not about backing anybody or opposing one.

“We are facing new circumstances in 2026, and we should, we have to look at them with new eyes.”

Peters said that he’d rather have “serious international legal experts deciding this than people like Helen Clark and others who are not qualified in that very critical area of academic understanding and circumstantial understanding.”

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has been outspoken on her belief that Aotearoa must not militarily support the “illegal invasion” of Iran in recent days.

He said there has been 47 years of terrorism growing out of Iran, and mentioned the loss of 88 lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Possibly referring to an incident where a Jewish centre was bombed by suspected Iranian backed militants.

“At the very time Helen Clark was saying we live in a benign geostrategic environment,” he said.

“She was wrong then and she’s wrong now.”