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Judge Kirill Gevorgian read out the ruling in the case involving Iran and the United States at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Thursday.Photo courtesy of the International Court of Justice
Members of the Iranian delegation watched as Judge Kirill Gevorgian read a ruling at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday.Photo courtesy of the International Court of Justice
Richard Visek, head of the U.S. legal team, heard a ruling from Judge Kirill Gevorgian at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Thursday.Photo courtesy of the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, ruled on Thursday in a case Iran brought against the United States in 2016.Photo courtesy of the International Court of Justice
March 31 (United Press International) — Both the U.S. and Iran claimed victory after the U.N. World Court ordered Washington to pay damages for freezing Iranian assets, even as it kept Tehran out of access to nearly $2 billion.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague its verdictOn Thursday, a case filed by Iran in 2016 was final and binding, accusing the United States of violating the Treaty of Amity by freezing the assets of Iranian companies to compensate American victims of state-sponsored terrorism in Tehran.
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The court ruled that the United States violated the treaty and withdrew from it in 2018 because the 1955 document stated that the property of nationals and companies would not be confiscated if timely payments were not made. Reparations to Iran will be determined at a later date.
However, the court sided with the United States, stating that the panel of judges did not have jurisdiction over approximately $1.8 billion in bonds frozen in New York-based Citibank, better known as Bank Markazi, belonging to the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The two countries celebrated the ruling as a victory Thursday, the State Department said. explain This is a “major victory for victims of US and Iranian state-sponsored terrorism,” while Iran’s foreign ministry said on Twitter call it “Another proof of the justice of the #Iran Islamic Republic and the lawlessness of the US government.”
Iran filed a court case in 2016 accusing the United States of violating the treaty, creating a law that would allow lawsuits against Tehran seeking damages for terrorism, notably the October 1983 bombing that killed 241 U.S. service members Lebanon and the 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US service members. Tehran has denied the allegations.
Vedant Patel, the U.S. State Department’s principal deputy spokesman, called Thursday’s ruling against Bank Markazi a “significant blow” to Iran’s attempt to evade its responsibilities to the families of the victims.
They were, however, “disappointed” by the court’s decision to hand over the assets to other Iranian institutions, he added, saying the funds had been used to compensate victims “for the severe loss they and their families have suffered”.
He was quick to add that the ruling made it clear that because of the termination of the treaty, U.S. law allows victims of terrorism to seek compensation in U.S. courts from Iran or any other state that sponsors terrorism, which has no effect.
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