News / Politics

ICJ to hear Iran's lawsuit against US over frozen assets

Saturday, 23 June 2018 7:34 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 23 June 2018 7:37 AM ]

The file photo shows a view the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in session in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) says it will in a few months hear a case brought by Tehran against Washington over the latter's attempt to pay billions in Iran's frozen assets to alleged terror victims.

In a statement released on Friday, the Hague-based court said it would “hold public hearings in the case concerning Certain Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America), from Monday 8 to Friday 12 October 2018.”

The ICJ, which is the principal judicial organ of the UN, also noted that its hearings “will be devoted to preliminary objections raised by the United States."

In April 2016, the US Supreme Court ruled that nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be turned over to American families of those killed in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut and other attacks.

Two months later, Iran filed a formal complaint with the ICJ about the "illegal verdicts" issued by American courts."

"The government will follow the case until the nation's rights are realized and the money is back, along with its compensation," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

Iran’s frozen assets have long been subject to a witch hunt by the Americans who have used Washington’s animosity toward the Islamic Republic to easily win lawsuits against the country in US courts.

Iran says the US is breaking the terms of the 1955 Treaty of Amity signed with the then regime of the Shah concerning economic relations and consular rights.

PressTV-Not linked to 9/11, Iran has to pay billions: US judge

The judgement, issued by Manhattan federal judge George Daniels on Tuesday, is also hollow because Iran has never responded to the lawsuit and is unlikely to ever pay.

Last month, a federal judge in New York ordered the Islamic Republic to pay $6 billion to the alleged families of the September 11, 2001 attacks even though a state investigation has found no link between Tehran and those who carried out the bombings.

The order also made the families eligible to collect from a fund of seized Iranian assets.

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