Judges at the ICJ in The Hague ruled on Thursday that the US had violated international law by allowing American courts to confiscate nearly two billion dollars in assets from Iranian companies, and ordered Washington to pay compensation, the amount of which will be determined later.
The ICJ said Washington's freezing of funds belonging to several Iranian individuals and companies, including $1.75 billion from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), was “manifestly unreasonable.”
The court, however, said that it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the freezing of assets from the CBI, Press TV reported.
In a statement after the announcement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the ICJ ruling on March 30 was another proof of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s righteousness and the violations committed by the US government.
“In the ruling on Thursday, the ICJ rejected all the defenses and claims of the US government and dismissed Washington’s rationales,” it added.
“The ICJ stressed that the US government has violated its international commitments and reiterated that the US government's obligations laid out in Article 3 (paragraph 1), Article 4 (paragraphs 1 and 2) and Article 10 of the Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights between Iran and the US on August 15, 1955 and that the court has established the international responsibility of the US government in this regard,” the statement said.
“After ascertaining the international responsibility of the US government, the ICJ required that Washington make reparations,” it noted.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the ruling issued by the International Court of Justice shows the solidity of Iran’s arguments and the righteousness of Iran's request. In this important verdict, the ICJ correctly rejected all the fake defenses of the US. It also underlined the violation by the US of its commitments and recognized Iran as the rightful side. The fact that court’s ruling requires the US to make reparations for the losses is the key reason for the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s demand,” the Foreign Ministry underlined.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers claiming the rights of the country’s people as an inherent duty and will use all diplomatic, legal and judicial means to demand the rights of the honorable people of Iran and the national interests of all Iranians,” it added.
The case before the ICJ was initially brought by Tehran against Washington in 2016 for breaching a 1955 friendship treaty, signed before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, by allowing American courts to freeze the assets of Iranian companies.
The US Supreme Court in 2016 ruled that about USD 2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be turned over to American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine Corps barracks in the Lebanese capital of Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran. Tehran has long rejected allegations of involvement in the 1983 Beirut bombing.
The money confiscated under the US court ruling belongs to the CBI. The assets were blocked under US sanctions.
The US formally withdrew from the 1955 treaty in 2018 after Iran filed two claims based on the accord.