Iran opens legal action before the International Court of Justice in an effort to free billions of US assets
Prasannkumar 
As hopes diminish of reviving the landmark deal that former US President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018, which sought to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the International Court of Justice will be hearing the case.
Monday’s legal battle between Iran and the UN’s highest court will focus on releasing billions of dollars of US assets. Washington claims that these assets must be transferred to victims of terrorist attacks in Tehran.
As hopes diminish of reviving the landmark deal that was signed by former US President Donald Trump in 2018, which sought to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the International Court of Justice will hear the case.
After the US Supreme Court had ordered $2 billion worth of Iranian assets to be frozen in 2016, Tehran went to Washington via the Hague-based ICJ. The cash was to go to relatives and survivors of terrorist attacks on Iran.
These include the 1983 bombing at a US Marine barracks near Beirut that killed 299 people, including 241 US soldiers. The 1996 Khobar Towers bombings in Saudi Arabia left 19 people dead.
Iran however claimed that the freeze of funds violated the 1955 Treaty of Amity between the United States and Iran. This agreement was signed prior to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which severed relations between both countries.
Tehran claimed that the United States illegally took Iranian financial assets as well as those of Iranian companies. With Iran’s clerical system facing severe economic problems due to sanctions and rising consumer prices, it is vital to resolve the case.
Washington tried unsuccessfully to disqualify Washington’s lawsuit by arguing Iran’s “unclean hand” — a reference to Tehran’s support of terrorist groups — should disqualify it from its lawsuit to recover $2 billion in assets.
In October 2018, the US announced that it would be withdrawing from the Treaty of Amity. This was after the ICJ had ordered Washington to lift sanctions related to humanitarian goods for Iran.
The ICJ, the highest court of the United Nations, was established after World War II in order to settle disputes among member states. The ICJ’s decisions are final and binding. However, it does not have the ability to enforce them.
Monday’s hearing will be followed by a response from the US on Wednesday. This is as US representatives try to revive hopes of a 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and the West, which provides Iran sanctions relief in exchange for limiting its nuclear program.
Donald Trump, former US President, pulled out of the 2018 “terrible” international nuke agreement and began to impose sanctions. This prompted Tehran to reverse its commitments under the pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.
Since April last year in Vienna, talks have been going on to restore the agreement. They aim at lifting sanctions against Tehran and force Iran to fulfill its obligations.
European powers raised serious doubts nine days ago about Iran’s sincerity to seek a nuclear deal. They also stated that Tehran was continuing “to escalate its nuclear program way beyond any plausible civilian justification.”
France, Germany, and Britain made the statement after US Secretary Antony Blinken said that Iran’s recent response to the nuclear agreement was a “backward” step.
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