Monday, May 2, 2016

Iran sues United States over terror compensation ruling

The United States and Iran
The United States and Iran
Thinkstock
Iran has filed a lawsuit against the United States in the International Court of Justice following the American Supreme Court’s ruling that it would have to compensate families of victims of terrorist attacks linked to the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Vice President for Legal Affairs, Elham Aminzadeh, blasted the decision on Sunday and announcing that lawsuit filed by Tehran.

"The government has powerfully stood against the practice of this ruling because these assets belong to the (Iranian) nation and should be spend for its welfare," Aminzadeh said on Sunday, according to Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency.

Noting that legal procedures are underway to take back the money, she said that Iran "has filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice and is pursuing it".
Iran rejected the Supreme Court ruling shortly after it was issued, calling it “a theft of the assets and properties of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and saying the ruling is "tantamount to ridiculing justice and law and it does not create any right for the U.S. nationals."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday described the ruling as an example of Washington's “continued enmity towards Iran”.

"That a court or judiciary in a corner of the world wants to decide about the Iranian nation's rights and properties is fully illegal and against the international laws and the central banks' legal immunity," Rouhani said, according to Fars.

He called the ruling “international robbery” and added that the move indicates Washington's continued hostility against the Iranian nation.

Also, last Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif lambasted the court ruling, stressing that Iran doesn’t recognize it.

"The U.S. has long been taking decisions against Iran which contradict the international laws and the Americans have filed different lawsuits against Iran during the past years; (but) we don’t recognize the U.S. courts' rulings," Zarif was quoted by Fars as having said in a joint press conference with his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Poposki in Tehran.