Credit: .icj-cij.org / International Court of Justice Courtroom in The Hague, Netherlands

By Gary Raynaldo  DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled Wednesday that it has proper legal jurisdiction hear a case brought by Iran to recover $2 billiion in frozen assets that the United States says must be paid to victims of attacks it blamed on Tehran. The Court rejected US claims that the case should be thrown out because Iran had “unclean hands” due to alleged links to terrorism, and that the The Hague tribunal did not have jurisdiction in the lawsuit.    The court ruling comes four months  after the ICJ ordered the  US to ease sanctions re-imposed after President Trump pulled out of 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The Republic of Iran forced Washington before the ICJ in June 2016 to oppose a US Supreme Court ruling that the $2 billion should go to victims of terror attacks blamed on the Islamic republic.   Iran said the case breached a 1955 “Treaty of Amity” between Washington and Tehran signed before Iran’s Islamic revolution. Washington has taken the iron-clad position that Iran’s “support for international terrorism” qualify for the case to be tossed out of the world court. The case can now proceed and is expected to take months or years to resolve. 

US Says Iran Action is “Misuse of Court For Political and Propaganda” purposes

On Oct. 8, 2018, U.S Secretary of State Pompeo weighed in on the Iran v. US assets issue before the ICJ:

“Today, oral proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began in The Hague in a case brought by Iran against the United States, Certain Iranian Assets. As I have stated previously, Iran’s filings before the ICJ are a misuse of the Court for political and propaganda purposes.  The actions at the root of this case, among many others, involve the Iran-sponsored bombing of the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, which killed 241 U.S. peacekeepers. We owe it to our fallen heroes, their families, and the victims of Iran’s terrorist activities to vigorously defend against the Iranian regime’s meritless claims this week in The Hague, where we will show that Iran’s case should be dismissed.”    U.S Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo statement.

The ICJ  is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the UN Charter and began work in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America). The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.