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The International Court of Justice ruled that the US freeze on Iran’s assets was illegal and required it to pay compensation. Photo/Illustration/Sindonews
THE HAGUE – International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided United States of America (USA) has illegally allowed courts to freeze the assets of several companies Iran . The international court also ordered the US to pay compensation with the amount to be determined later.
Even so, the ICJ said it had no jurisdiction over $1.75 billion in frozen Iranian central bank assets.
The case before the ICJ, also known as the World Court, was originally filed by Tehran against Washington in 2016 for allegedly violating a 1955 friendship agreement by allowing US courts to freeze Iranian company assets. The money will be given as compensation to victims of terrorist attacks.
The Islamic Republic denies supporting international terrorism.
The 1950s friendship treaty was signed long before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed shah and further severed US-Iran ties.
Washington eventually withdrew from the agreement in 2018. Nonetheless, the ICJ ruled that the agreement was still in effect at the time the freeze on the assets of Iranian companies and commercial entities was effected.
“The court has concluded that the United States violated its obligations under the friendship agreement,” said presiding judge Kirill Gevorgian.
He added that Iran is entitled to compensation and the parties have 24 months to agree on an amount. If that doesn’t work, the court will start a new process to determine compensation.
The judges also made it clear that the court had no jurisdiction over the USD 1.75 billion worth of assets of Iran’s central bank held by the US because the bank is not a commercial enterprise, and thus not protected by the agreement.
